The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (★★☆☆☆)
Print • Owned (indie bookstore) • Mystery • 2023
Short synopsis: When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth.
Oh, I just really didn’t like this novel. A part of me is wondering if we even need the continuation of this series. (And there’s a third book coming out!) Everything I adored about Molly in the first book just felt trite and over-the-top in this novel. The novel dipped back and forth in time: present day where an author dies at an event at the hotel Molly works at, and then the past where Molly is a child and her grandma is working as a maid for a very rich family. This rich family felt like caricatures. They had no nuance to them and I struggle to understand where all of their money came from because the main occupation of the husband in this family is not one that lends itself to incredible wealth. Like, they had a whole room of silver! That kind of wealthy. All in all, this was a rather lackluster mystery, which is such a disappointment since the first book was one of my favorite reads of the year.
The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce (★★★★☆)
Print • Owned (Barnes & Noble) • Contemporary Romance • 2024
Short synopsis: Estranged exes Georgia and Eli must stick close together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters in this swoony and steamy second-chance romance.
I adored Jessica Joyce’s first novel, You with a View, and I was happy to get my hands on her second novel. While I didn’t love it as much as YWAV, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. The FMC, Georgia, was a tough character to like at times, and I struggled to feel invested in her. She is someone who has a hard time asking for help and depending on people, and that has led her to doing everything for everyone else to keep their love and attention. (She is very much an unhealthy Enneagram 2, I think.) Eli, on the other hand, is a man who has missed out on a lot in life because of his addiction to work and success. Both of them have a lot of work to do on themselves (and they do–by the end of the novel, both of them are in therapy!) but they also find themselves drawn back together while trying to make sure their best friend’s wedding goes off without a hitch. I loved their sweet second-chance romance and they way they slowly but surely found their way back to each other. Also, I really loved the way the author took us on a journey of their past relationship without delving into past-and-present chapters. It was nestled into the story in a very natural way, and it was so refreshingly different than other books I’ve been reading lately. This was a wonderful romance and after two great books, Jessica Joyce has become an autobuy author for me!
Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano (★★★★☆)
Audiobook • Library • Mystery • 2024
Short synopsis: Finlay Donovan and her nanny Vero head to Atlantic City for a rescue mission that quickly spirals out of control. When a loan shark they’re trying to negotiate with turns up dead, the duo must dodge police, exes, and family while searching for Vero’s boyfriend and stolen car.
I was looking for a light-hearted audiobook to listen to right after dealing with the hurricane madness, and the fourth book in the Finlay Donovan series was exactly what I needed! Are these books realistic in any way? Absolutely not. But are they fun to read? They sure are. I always love the ride-or-die friendship between Finlay and Vero, and the budding relationship between Finlay and her hot detective was icing on the cake. I found the mystery at the heart of this novel fairly easy to follow along with and it came to a very satisfying conclusion. I will also say that I gasped out loud at the last sentence of the book so needless to say, I need the fifth book to come out soon. (Okay, I checked: book five comes out in March!)
What are you reading?
I didn’t love the first Nita Prose novel (or I liked it less than others did) so your review makes me glad that I did not continue with the series! I loved You With a View but am not sure I want to read that next book as I struggle when the main character is someone that it’s tough to root for. That is how i felt about the main character in “Slow Dance” by Rainbow Rowell. I ended up giving it 3 stars, but it’s probably more like 2.5-2.75.
Now I am reading “Dead Romantics” which is a book that usually wouldn’t work for me as there is a ghost in the storyline but I’m enjoying it enough to stick with it.
Stephany, I need your help. I need an enemies-to-lovers book for my reading challenge and I have DNFed three books in that category. I do not like sniping and fighting. Is The Ex Vows suitable for me? Do you have any recommendations for something in this category that isn’t terrible?
The last one on your list sounds really good to me! It’s going on my wish list. It’s so disappointing when the second book in a series is a failure. I feel sorry for the author, too, because there must be so much pressure to write a sequel after a big success.