Source: Spotify Audiobooks

Recent Reads | Not Quite Dead Yet and Mean Moms

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

I’m a huge fan of Holly Jackson and have loved all of her books (I still haven’t read one of them though), so I was really looking forward to her adult debut mystery. The concept sounded so interesting: the main character is attacked in an attempted murder and the aneurysm in her brain will trigger within the week, so she has less than seven days to try to solve her own murder before she dies. I loved the idea that she’s really “not quite dead yet” and by the time she does die, it will be literally her solving her own murder. I started this book via audio when I was setting up our new house and unpacking, so I managed to read the first third of it in one sitting. However, the audiobook narrator was utterly terrible. I thought her normal voice and Jet’s narration were perfectly fine but the voices she used for other characters were SO bad. She was basically using weird accents and caricatures of how normal people talk. Her mom, sister-in-law, and friend all had horrific voices and I couldn’t bring myself to listen to any more of it. I read the rest of the book physically. Jet goes out on the case with her childhood best friend, Billy, and they get really close during this time period. It makes her inevitable fate even sadder honestly. I’ll say my biggest issue with this book is that I really did not like Jet – she was […]

Recent Reads | It’s a Love Story and Sounds Like Love

Posted August 7, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 1 Comment

I’ve become a huge fan of Annabel Monaghan based on her previous two releases, and I’ve been saving her adult debut for a rainy day. This book is technically my least favorite but honestly it was quite enjoyable regardless! Annabel Monaghan’s books have a way of growing on me as I read. I consider her an auto-buy author but I never get addicted right away. It’s like a slow burn (with the plot, not the romance) where I’m halfway through and realize I’ve fallen in love with everything finally. That moment happened a little later than usual which is why I wasn’t as invested in the characters as I could have been. I didn’t love the MC here but she’s as imperfect as all of Monaghan’s others, so nothing unexpected. Jane and Dan had a lot of logical reasons for why they behaved the way they did, and also why their romance worked; it felt very realistic. I just didn’t connect to them as strongly as expected or as I prefer in a romance. I love that they were visiting his childhood home away from Hollywood – more on that later – for his parents anniversary party. They started the trip as colleagues and ended it as something a little more. The premise was enjoyable and quiet but also had some fun Hollywood stuff that I tend to enjoy. Jane was a former child star known for goofy antics and Dan is a not-super-successful cinematographer. He’s interested in the script […]

Recent Reads | The Berry Pickers and Night Watcher

Posted July 14, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I bought this book on a whim (because of all the positive reviews and hype) at a book event a couple of years ago and it sat on my shelf. I was never sure literary mysteries – especially historical fiction – would be for me. I had a few major success stories with them this year and then my book club picked this for our July meeting, so it was finally time to try it… and it’s really not a mystery honestly. The book follows a Native American family as they come down to Maine from Nova Scotia to pick berries each summer. Their youngest daughter, Ruthie, goes missing one summer and they are never the same. Meanwhile, there’s another POV following Norma – a young girl growing up in Maine. It kind of sounds like a mystery of trying to find this missing girl but it’s painfully obvious what’s happening the entire book. There’s really no actual mystery – it’s more a story of how Norma and Joe (Ruthie’s brother) survive and go through struggles over the years. I really have no idea how the rest of book club will feel about this one. It has such a high rating on Goodreads but honestly I was completely underwhelmed. Yes, some of it is because I was expecting a historical literary mystery – I absolutely loved THE GOD OF THE WOODS and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK. I was hoping for something similar. Even once I realized the book […]

Five-Star Recent Reads | All the Colors of the Dark and Atmosphere

Posted June 26, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

It’s taken me a really long time to write this review because there’s SO much within this book that could be discussed. I got it a year ago with BOTM and put it off because of the length. I wasn’t sure how another historical literary mystery would go for me. I loved THE GOD OF THE WOODS but surely this isn’t a genre for me, right?! Very wrong. I loved this book! We picked it for my local mystery/thriller book club and there was no shortage of topics to discuss. Everyone gave it 5 stars with a few 4.5 stars sprinkled in. We love the fact that he tackled so many topics without ever feeling like too much, or feeling like the book was too long for a mystery. It’s very much a character study, a story of the time period, and a mystery all rolled into one. The reviewers who didn’t like this book thought the writing was trying too hard or thought it was boring, and I definitely disagree. I read this 600+ page book in two days and literally could not stop reading it. The short chapters coupled with the way he created suspense even within paragraphs because of the writing style made this impossible to put down for me. I will say, my only complaint is that some passages were confusing because of how he wrote them. Sometimes I had to read things more than once. The author was so careful with his language though because […]

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 | The Maid’s Secret and Great Big Beautiful Life

Posted April 29, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

This series is a really fun time. Molly the Maid has solved now 3.5 mysteries around the Regency Grand Hotel and I thinkkk this may be her final one? Not sure if other books have been announced but this really feels like a last book. This was another generally enjoyable installment in this series, but definitely my least favorite. The story alternates between Molly’s daily life/the overall mystery and her gran’s diary entries. Unfortunately I wasn’t super invested in either timeline, but I especially didn’t enjoy the diary entries. I thought they were so boring. Yes, it helps move the story along in some ways, but I wasn’t at all invested. I think the main mystery was a little lame as well. I never felt like the stakes were really high and the story was just kind of plodding along. I think the series has run its course from a plot perspective but I have to be honest – I would read additional books if they were to come out. As I’ve said a hundred times before, there are a few authors where I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting their next release and can guarantee I’ll read them during pub week (or early enough if I get an egalley). These days that includes Emily Henry, Christina Lauren, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carley Fortune, and Abby Jimenez. Typically these authors (for the most part) get fairly rave reviews but Henry and Jimenez always do…especially for me. 2025 has been weirdly polarizing for those two […]

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 […]

Recent Reads | The Searcher and The Lodge

Posted April 7, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

My book club is really getting me out of my comfort zone at times but so far it hasn’t been a successful endeavor lol. I guess I just know what I like, and this kind of book is not it. The books that were already on my TBR when we selected them have generally worked out pretty well, and the two books I’ve read ONLY because of the club… not so much. Why do we need to read about annoying men? This book follows Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago cop who moves to Ireland to fix up an old house and live quietly post-divorce. When a young boy approaches him one day and asks for help looking for his missing brother, Cal can’t resist helping him out. Unfortunately, this was SO INCREDIBLY BORING. I could truly sum up the plot in three sentences (just add one to the paragraph above that describes the ending) and yet I had to read almost 500 pages. Even the reveal at the end was incredibly obvious. Most reviews were surprised by it but I thought it was pretty glaring who was involved. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I just don’t like reading about men. Or cops / ex-cops. Or guns and hunting. Unfortunately all three of these things were present in spades. Tana French wrote Cal Hooper in a way that a lot of men write women – stereotypically and frustratingly. Did we really need to hear about him adjusting […]

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 […]

Recent Reads | A Killing Cold and The Five Year Lie

Posted February 19, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve been saying for years that I need to read a Kate Alice Marshall book and I’m glad I finally did! Apparently it just took me getting it in my BOTM. (By the way, I am getting much better at reading those…) The book follows Theo as she heads to her new fiance’s remote cabin in the woods to meet his family for the first time in their whirlwind romance. The mysterious, uber-wealthy family has spent years of summers and Christmases at their compound with cabins up in Vermont. When she finds a photo of herself in the abandoned cabin, memories of her childhood slowly come back. Is it possible she’s somehow been there before? I really loved this one and read the majority of it in a day. I found myself continually turning the pages to see what happened next. I was suspicious of the entire family at different points in the book and it really wasn’t what I expected to be honest. I think the majority of things I could discuss would be spoilery so I’ll just say that the atmosphere of this book was really well-done and perfect to read on a snowy weekend like I did! Some things were a little convenient (fate? IYKYK) and didn’t seem realistic at all. There were a couple of explanations for those things but do think the reader needs to suspend their disbelief to really buy into it. I ended up really liking the end of the book and the […]