Source: Publisher

Recent Reads | The Fury and What Happens in Amsterdam

Posted May 22, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

Unlike everyone else on the planet, I actually haven’t read THE SILENT PATIENT yet. It didn’t stop me from grabbing THE FURY in my BOTM over a year ago though – classic Lauren. I thought the premise sounded pretty good without carrying all the hype of his other book. The story is narrated by one of the characters – Elliot – and breaks the fourth wall a lot, along with a stream of consciousness kind of narrative voice. He and his famous friends (Lana and her husband Jason and son Leo, plus their friend Kate) head to Lana’s private Greek island for a little R&R. The story kind of “unravels” from there when one of them is murdered. The setup and format of the storytelling was interesting, but the idea was better than the execution. I think the structure of the book was meant to create tension but really it ended up being boring. I don’t feel like I can say more about how he narrated it without directly spoiling, but it was basically like “oh I told you all this now let’s go back in time to talk more about what happened first” or “I actually left a few things out that you may find important now, so here’s more details.” I can understand why the format was like this – it’s almost like the author knew he wanted to make a very basic mystery more interested by using this kind of storytelling and then figured out what the […]

Recent Reads | A Proposal to Die For and The Missing Half

Posted May 16, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I requested this book on a whim to try to get into other mystery authors – it seemed cozy and I loved the premise of a proposal planner going to a fancy spa/resort. Unfortunately this book didn’t really work for me! Jess used to be a wedding planner but after some drama and burnout, she decides to create a new venture in the proposal planning space. She links up with rich dudes who want to spend money on an over-the-top proposal and Jess handles all the logistics. When a frenemy from high school wants to redo her fiance’s proposal, she insists Jess help them and he’ll pay anything to make it happen. Jess needs the money and agrees – they head to a resort to work on the planning… and a dead body or two make an appearance. My biggest issue with this book is that it felt very disjointed – the way the characters interacted with each other and the scenes progressed felt so weird and underdeveloped. It’s very hard to explain but I was glad to see from other reviews that I wasn’t alone in feeling this way. The plot wasn’t the issue but the way the author wrote the dialogue, character relationships, and overall scene structure was just very hard to read and sometimes confusing. The romance was the most underdeveloped part; I didn’t believe any of it or see any progression for them throughout the book. All of a sudden they were kissing after a few […]

Recent Reads | Swept Away and Magpie Murders

Posted April 23, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve loved quite a few of O’Leary’s books but actually DNFed her last release – for whatever reason the story just wasn’t clicking for me and I haven’t felt pulled to start it again. I was really hoping to get back on track with her for this novel and I’m happy to report that happened! The story follows Zeke and Lexi as they deal with the aftermath of a one-night stand. They realize when they wake up in the morning that the houseboat they were using has somehow gotten untied and was swept out to see. They don’t have power, they’re running out of food, and – to top it all off – they literally don’t know each other at all. Obviously the premise alludes to a bit of a survival story but for some reason I didn’t realize how intense it would be! I kind of just assumed they’d get rescued in a few days but there was actually a lot of peril and accidents to deal with. Some early reviews had folks unprepared for this and it affected their enjoyment, but I still really enjoyed it. It’s just not a straightforward fluffy romance. The ending had some twists that I didn’t see coming (which makes me feel like an idiot because maybe they were obvious?). It took a little while to get on board with those reveals but I was pretty pleased by the end of the book with how everything turned out. This was a super emotional […]

ARC Review: Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)

Posted March 31, 2025 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I really enjoyed the first VERA WONG book and was pumped to hear there would be a sequel! I thought the premise was well-suited to a series because Vera is such a unique and interesting main character. I loved the found family vibes and all of the people she brought into her life (that she originally accused of murder…). I thought they’d turn into a nice crime-solving crew for future books! This story follows Vera as she tries to solve the mysterious death of Xander Lin. Is that even his real name? Or just his online persona? She finds a young distressed woman crying over his death and then just so happens to see some case files in Selena’s briefcase… suddenly Vera has another case to spice up her life. Vera always describes herself as a “Chinese mother” and that’s why she’s so good at everything she does lol. She has a unique personality that honestly is a little abrasive and off-putting at first. Once you get used to her unique charm, her behavior can be lol-funny at times! I also am desperate to eat some of her food. Vera collects her suspects and people connected to Xander (very much like the first book). The bones of the book are very similar to the original Vera Wong story in this way. However, the actual plot/mystery is a lot darker and more grim – especially for a cozy mystery. I don’t want to spoil it but look up trigger warnings if […]

ARC Review: Say You’ll Remember Me

Posted March 24, 2025 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I decided that in order to start the year on the right foot, like I have done many times in the past, I wanted a guaranteed 4-5 star read. Who better than Abby Jimenez to deliver that? I decided to read her upcoming April release right on January 1st to ensure a solid start to 2025 and of course she delivered. The synopsis is really vague and I genuinely had no idea what to expect from this book. All I knew was that a grumpy vet and headstrong woman would have a magical night together, only to be told “just forget about me.” Turns out, she’s moving away to the other side of the country to deal with some family issues. I loved Xavier and Samantha from the very beginning and still managed to laugh in between the crying. The story follows them and their long distance love story. There really is just something about the way Abby Jimenez writes – this was a HEAVY read and at times repetitive, but her characters and their chemistry and emotions just make it all worth it. I really don’t like reading sad books and if this was written by anyone else, it would never make it on my TBR (knowing what I know now at least – as I said, the synopsis is super basic). Samantha’s mom is suffering from dementia and Xavier grew up in an abusive household so there’s a LOT of tough things to work through. Because the two […]

ARC Review: This Book Will Bury Me

Posted March 20, 2025 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

We’ve all been chasing the high of IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE since it was published, but Winstead’s mystery/thriller books since then have been a bit different. I’ve honestly skipped both of them for various reasons. This book, however, called to me – it felt closer to what I was looking for from her. While I don’t think you should come into it hoping for another IMDIHAK, I was definitely not disappointed. The story does read like a true crime book and breaks the third wall. Our narrator, Jane, is writing a memoir of her time working with online amateur sleuths to help solve a triple homicide on a college campus. (Winstead’s authors note does mention that she took inspiration from a lot of real cases including the Idaho murders – it’s incredibly similar to that case.) She’s “setting the record straight” with her own book, as others close to the case have written tell-all books that, according to her, are not accurate portrayls of the case and her involvement. We follow Jane in the wake of her father’s unexpected death. She finds solace in an online community (think Web Sleuths) and quickly falls in with a group of them: Mistress, Goku, Lightly, and Citizen. The group helps solve a case local to Jane and soonafter, the Idaho murders take place on a college campus. They mobilize in more ways than one and become intwined in the case in ways absolutely no one expected. (…except for me, as […]

Audio ARC Review: Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave

Posted March 13, 2025 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve loved this series, even when it goes off the rails a little bit. These are cozy mysteries with a slight edge compared to others I’ve read. I think this book specifically is more on the cozy side than the others and a bit more grounded than a couple of the previous ones. I was happy to encounter a new mystery instead of a continuation of the other plot that had run its course. The first four books each had individual mysteries that get resolved in each book, but there was a larger mystery and thread throughout all of those. It got a little tiring. All of that to say – this book follows a new mystery based in Finlay’s neighborhood. It was set up at the end of book 4 when a body is found in Mrs. Haggarty’s yard. Finlay and Vero spend this installment trying to figure out who murdered this dude and buried them in the yard, since her ex-husband is the one implicated in the crime. Finlay believes, as much as Steven sucks, that he isn’t responsible for it. I will say that I love how this book brought the series back to its roots, as I touched on before. There’s a new storyline to follow that kind of reads like a standalone story. The humor and heart of these books get met every time and keep me reading. I know that a lot of people are sick of the antics or thought the books veered […]

Recent Reads | Into the Woods and The Meadowbrook Murders

Posted February 28, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I put off reading CANADIAN BOYFRIEND for a while and now, with my review copy of INTO THE WOODS, I’ve spoiled a bit of that one. So I can generally recommend to not read this one first unless you have no interest in the first book in this shared universe lol. Moving on! This one follows Gretchen and Teddy as they work at an artsy summer camp. Gretchen is in the middle of buying a building to expand her dance studio but fills in for a pregnant friend, while Teddy is there reeling from his band’s breakup and hoping to work on a solo album. They have interesting and honestly sometimes off-putting personalities. I don’t know what it was but it took me a few chapters before I actually liked either one of them lol. The summer camp vibes are incredible here. I love the idea of adults at summer camp since I don’t read as much YA anymore. However, there was something about this story that just didn’t keep my interest. It took me SO long to read, which is not common for romance or books by Jenny Holiday for me. I was never in the mood to read this and think some of the story was a bit slow or repetitive through the middle. I feel like I could sum up the middle 50% of the book with a few sentences at most. Gretchen and Teddy were different than other romance book MCs – like I said, their […]

Blog Tour Review: Temple of Swoon

Posted January 6, 2025 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

When I first saw RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART, it immediately became one of my most anticipated books of the year. There’s something about a romance with a super unique, adventure-filled premise that intrigues me. I enjoyed the general concept of SOMETHING WILDER by Christina Lauren for example – yes that one got a little far-fetched at times but this kind of ~adventure~ story mixed with rom-com elements has me written all over it for some reason. I ended up enjoying RAIDERS quite a bit, and seeing TEMPLE OF SWOON announced soonafter was a dream come true. Another rom-com with archeologists and Indiana Jones vibes? Yes, keep them coming, Jo Segura! TEMPLE OF SWOON follows Miri (mentee of the MC from the first book) and Rafael (a journalist with an overbearing father who forced him on this mission even though he tried to quit). Miri is looking for the lost City of the Moon and leading her first expedition without any help. Rafael’s mother and her ancestors had been protecting the lost city for years; his real reason for being there is to sabotage the mission on her behalf (and his father’s) to ensure its legacy remains intact. He didn’t expect to start falling for Miri and her tenacity though! This book was even better than Segura’s debut – the same Indiana Jones adventure vibes were prevalent without being too unrealistic. The romance was excellent. Yes, the two had a little bit of instalove, but I enjoyed it a lot. […]

Holiday Reviews: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year and A Winter Wish

Posted December 25, 2024 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

Story I’ve been an Ally Carter stan since I was a preteen so you know I’m going to be here for anything she puts out. I didn’t love her previous adult mystery/romance and was really hoping this one would be better for me. I’m thrilled to report that it was! Maggie and Ethan are rival mystery book authors (according to Maggie at least). They’re both heading out on a mysterious Christmas trip, no clue that they were invited by the Agatha Christie of their time (Eleanor Ashley). They, along with members of Eleanor’s family, were brought to her huge mansion/castle in the English countryside for some reason. When Eleanor goes missing a few days before Christmas, Maggie and Ethan use their crime, poison, and general mystery trope knowledge to try to figure out what happened and where she is. I really enjoyed the romance between these two and the setting was incredible. Only one bed, enemies-to-lovers, he-fell-first… all the good tropes! The fact that there was also a mystery in the backdrop made this book even better. Carter did a great job balancing both genres IMO but I do wish there was a liiiittle more of the mystery. I think the Knives Out plus holiday rom-com comparison was perfect for this book, which also means additional puzzles, riddles, and time with other characters would have been welcome. Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels The book is set at a snowy castle on 20,000 acres in England with no phone signal, plus […]