Publisher: Harper Collins

Recent Reads | The Ending Writes Itself and Once and Again

Posted May 4, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I was really excited about this one when I saw it was announced – I love when a debut can catch my eye, and hopefully have a lot of interesting books in the future. This was written by V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke so technically it’s also my first book by Schwab? The book follows a group of authors as they’re brought to a private island under the impression a famous mystery author, Arthur Fletch, has invited them there for a salon-type weekend. Instead, Fletch is dead and the publisher is desperate for a ghostwriter. I won’t spoil what happens because the synopsis doesn’t include some of the obvious occurrences, but we’ll just say the ending is a killer. I enjoyed this but I could see others finding it a bit bland. It reminds me a little of THE GOLDEN SPOON, which I loved but I know was polarizing. If you liked that, give it a try. It’s not quite a cozy mystery like THE GOLDEN SPOON feels, but it’s just a quieter kind of mystery maybe? The premise was good and the setting was really cool, like all locked room castle-on-an-island mysteries are. I’ve noticed a lot of books coming out lately with authors going to some retreat and seemingly having a similar premise. I enjoyed the format/POVs and ending, but was somewhat let down overall. I think maybe something twistier and darker would have resonated even more. I’d read more from this author duo for sure. I’ve really […]

Holiday Reviews: The Christmas Guest and Emergency Contact

Posted November 20, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Story This was my first holiday-themed mystery and I’m really excited for the others I have on my TBR now! This story follows Ashley, an American girl studying in England, who is invited to her friend’s family estate for the holidays. She immediately falls for her friend’s charming older brother and is brought into their cold, not-so-comforting home (and family) for the holidays. The brother, Adam, has been accused of murdering a local girl but this doesn’t really deter Ashley. Surely he had nothing to do with it? This is a story-within-a-story where someone is reading a diary years and years later. I really enjoyed the twist in this one! After it was revealed, I did lose interest for a few pages, but Swanson brought me back in somewhat quickly. I think the story took a few interesting turns and I really enjoyed how everything was revealed. Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels The holiday feels are interesting in this subgenre. Yes, it was creepy and gothic and had a mystery element. But it definitely also had cozy scenes in pubs and festive decor around the dinner table. It was a fun mix, to be honest! It creates a different kind of holiday feel but the setting was cold and wintery for sure. Overall I’m really glad that Swanson made this short as a novella – I truly think it was the perfect length and format for this kind of story. The twist packed more of a punch for me. Going […]

Blog Tour: The Boyfriend Candidate

Posted May 15, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Review I had only read IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE before starting this book and really loved it, so naturally I’ve added all of Ashley Winstead’s books to my TBR regardless of genre. I love when authors are able to write both excellent romances and excellent thrillers… not much more I could ask for! 😉 Needless to say, I was excited for the opportunity to read THE BOYFRIEND CANDIDATE! The story centers around school librarian Alexis and her quest to ditch her boring girl persona for one night… and how she ends up in scandalous paparazzi photos with a young hot-shot Texas gubernatorial candidate Logan. His campaign quickly pivots to let everyone know that that the two are actually together and my beloved fake dating trope begins – just long enough to get Logan through the election. It was really interesting to get a peek behind the curtain of how politicians have to work on their image, determine their platform, and deal with other politicians, union leaders, and the public. It didn’t go into a ton of detail but just enough to make the book feel realistic. Alexis quickly impacted his campaign to integrate not just stopping the education budget cuts, but increasing the budget throughout the state. Logan and Alexis had a lot of chemistry and the typical “oh no, they couldn’t possibly be actually into me” vibes were strong. I loved watching them integrate into each other’s lives in a natural way where you could actually see […]

ARC Review: Nine Liars

Posted November 28, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Are you kidding me with that ending?! Okay I know I should get more into other things but my jaw literally dropped. I won’t spoil anything about the actual end (and it wasn’t even a cliffhanger for the mystery but more for the personal/interpersonal stuff). As always, I’m thrilled to see more books added to this series. I’d keep reading and reading. Based on that ending I also have to assume there’s some kind of sequel coming. I’ve seen that some folks get sick of these books and the characters but I just find them compulsively readable. I need that in my life at this point because it takes me so long to read books unless they’re addicting and fun. The mystery at the center of this one was really interesting. Stevie and crew head to London to visit David and have some “cultural experiences” for school. While there, David’s new friend asks Stevie to help solve this mystery surrounding her aunt and her eight friends. Two of them were murdered one night and she’s never believed that it was a random robbery gone wrong. Naturally, Stevie can’t resist, and spends the whole trip trying to figure out what happened that night with “the Nine.” It was really an intriguing mystery especially because there were so many people involved. There were so many little clues that I absolutely could not put together but knew they all meant something, so it was really fun to try to figure out. David annoyed […]

ARC Review: The Change

Posted June 3, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

It isn’t very often that I request a book on Netgalley that I don’t really know anything about. I sometimes will see a contemporary romance with a cute cover being published by a favorite imprint and just request it, but that’s the extent of it. Requesting a mystery-fantasy-combo is definitely not something I usually do on a whim. Needless to say, I went into this with almost no expectations but hoped it would be a fun ride. THE CHANGE involves a few middle-aged women as they start to age and gain witchy powers. Jo has superhuman strength and some kind of fire energy that can melt things. Harriett has power over plants and nature. Nessa can see ghosts of the dead when they haven’t been laid to rest and/or have unfinished business. The story starts with these three women coming together, finding a dead body that a ghost led Nessa to, and helping figure out what happened to her. They each use their powers and strengths to solve the mystery, find other girls who have been murdered, and avenge them. The book is set in Mattuak, a fictional town on Long Island that I have to imagine is a play on Montauk in the Hamptons. The story also feels a littttle bit like a riff on the Long Island Serial Killer murder, where girls were kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered on Long Island and left on the beach. The cases are still open today and a lot of that has to […]

Review Round Up | The Paris Apartment and Book Lovers

Posted May 27, 2022 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! While not my favorite of Lucy Foley’s three books I’ve read, it’s a bit different from them at least! Both THE HUNTING PARTY and THE GUEST LIST involve remote locations/islands where someone is murdered and everyone is a suspect. THE PARIS APARTMENT has a different setup, which I appreciated. Jess is heading to her brother Ben’s new place in Paris because she needs to escape her previous life… only when she arrives, he’s nowhere to be found. Jess begins creeping on the apartment buildings’ inhabitants and trying to figure out who knows something. I didn’t find this one to be quite as addicting as her other books for the beginning portion at least. I did sit down and read the final third in one sitting, which is always a good thing for me! As with most mysteries, I had a few theories and felt like I knew what happened. I enjoyed that this book was paced out nicely with surprises and twists – there’s one revelation around the 50-60% mark that definitely impacted the rest of the book and made me more intrigued. The final portion of the story was interesting and definitely ended in a way I didn’t expect! I honestly don’t have a ton to […]

Holiday ARC Reviews: The Christmas Village and Duke, Actually

Posted December 22, 2021 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Story I love Annie Rains’ books – that’s no secret around here. I’ve read them all so far under the Forever Romance umbrella, and can’t wait to dive into the novella that occurs right after this book! I can always count on her to deliver an enjoyable Christmas story each year and THE CHRISTMAS VILLAGE was no exception. This is the second book in the Somerset Lake companion series, a setting we’ve only seen so far during summertime. Lucy and Miles were high school sweethearts who were once engaged before Miles unceremoniously called it off. Neither of them truly moved on from it though. Now they’re back under “one roof” (more like “one yard” as Miles is renting Lucy’s garage apartment temporarily) and sparks are flying again. I do love a second chance romance and this couple was totally worth rooting for! I don’t love reading books about cops but the “Christmas Crankster” mystery that Miles worked on throughout the book was entertaining and he’s really a great guy. Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels Somerset Lake’s residents love Christmas and that was clear in this book! They spoke about the holiday season in its debut novel so I was really looking forward to seeing how they celebrated. There were a lot of decor references and holiday events that made me feel Christmassy, especially decorating Lucy’s big pink house for the neighborhood competition. Overall This series continues to impress! I was sad that Sweetwater Springs was no longer the setting for […]

ARC Reviews: The Box in the Woods and The Next Wife

Posted June 10, 2021 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I was obsessed with the TRULY DEVIOUS series and was completely over the moon when I saw a fourth book announced. The first three involved Stevie at Ellingham Academy trying to solve the school’s murder from many, many years ago, so I expected the series to end after that. This is a “standalone” installment where she spends the summer at a camp where infamous murders happened in the 1970s, in an attempt to solve it too. I could easily read a hundred books, Nancy Drew-style, where Stevie just goes around and solves mysteries everywhere. I liked that this crime happened in the 1970s so there were actually people in the town who were alive and/or involved with what happened back then. (I’ll also say that the 70s-based mystery involved a lot of Led Zeppelin references, which is always welcome for me.) The Ellingham mysteries were so long ago that she couldn’t rely on any actual witnesses or people from that time period. I love that this took place in a small Berkshires town in MA because I could completely picture it. It was nice to have her friends at the summer camp too because this felt like a continuation of the Ellingham series while also managing to be a standalone story. Good references to the past but not a ton (thank god because my memory for the rest of the series is terrible). This one was so twisty – I truly don’t think anyone could figure out the mystery in […]

Review Round Up | Chasing Lucky, The Hunting Party, and How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Posted January 1, 2021 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I’ve pretty much loved all of Jenn Bennett’s books and this one was good! I have to say it might be my least favorite, but still a very cute, atmospheric read. Annoyingly, I can’t really put my finger on the things that bother me or prevent it from being a fave. Josie returns home to Beauty, RI (kind of like Newport, in my eyes) and encounters her long lost best friend, Lucky, after they were essentially ripped apart five years before. Josie and the women in her family are “cursed” and have bad luck with men. This didn’t really play into the story as much as I expected but was somewhat of an underlying theme. She and her mom are back in Beauty to run her grandma’s bookstore while she’s away with her aunt. It was fun to read about this coastal Rhode Island town but I didn’t get as many fun New England seaport vibes as I was hoping for? The bookstore was THERE but not as present as I would have liked either for some reason. There are a lot of plot points I didn’t expect or remember from the synopsis, if they were in there, like the breaking of a store window and a […]

Holiday Reviews: One Way or Another and A Princess for Christmas

Posted December 9, 2020 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

Story I’m a sucker for a parallel life/universe kind of story. Should she go to NYC or her crush’s cabin for the Christmas holiday? I love seeing both timelines and how they end – will she end up in the same place? The main character, Paige, struggles with anxiety and decision-making; when she hits her head on the grocery store floor, the story and her life split into two universes so we can see how it plays out. I enjoyed the best-friends-to-more situation that was possibly brewing too – Paige had had a crush on her best guy friend for years and is trying to figure out how to move on and get over it. I liked reading both stories/settings. I think the wintery cabin with Fitz and his family was more interesting because they were actually spending time together. The NYC timeline was cool for her to travel and spend time with her mom’s friend’s son, Harrison, but she spent a ton of time still thinking about Fitz. Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels NYC during the holidays is always a dream setting. I’ve been near Christmas and it was a chaotic time that I don’t want to relive ever again. I’m not a city girl. I can definitely see the magic in it and love reading Christmas books set there! It’s the closest I’ll get haha. The Christmas feels were medium because those elements weren’t the point of the story. It was just the time of year where the […]