Blog

Book Review

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer

Author: Maxie Dara

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: October 1, 2024

Genre: Paranormal Mystery

Series: S.C.Y.T.H.E Mystery #1

My Rating: 4/5

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara

BOOK BLURB

Murder is not her department. 

It’s not like it used to be. Modern-day grim reapers wear business casual, not black cloaks, and they don’t carry scythes, they work for S. C. Y. T. H. E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), where the Department of Natural Causes is the least exciting gig. And that’s how Kathy Valence likes it: boring and predictable. She has enough stress in her personal life; she’s mid-divorce, pregnant, and terrified she doesn’t have what it takes to be a good mom.

Then, she goes to pick up a new client and finds his soul is missing. When she finally tracks down Conner Ortiz, he angrily insists he was murdered, and he refuses to move on until Kathy finds out why and by whom.

Kathy has only forty-five days to solve the mystery before the boy’s soul is doomed to roam the earth as a ghost forever. To do that she’ll have to call on the help of her retired mentor, her almost ex-husband—and, inconveniently, Conner himself. This is the wildest case of her career . . . and one wrong move could cost Kathy her job, not to mention her life.

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara

MY REVIEW

Kathy is a modern day grim reaper working for S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences). She works in natural causes, but runs into a problem when she goes to collect her latest soul. He claims he was murdered, and refuses to go with her until she finds who killed him.

Kathy is in her forties, in the middle of a divorce, and pregnant. She does not want to help solve a murder, but feels she must. For one, if she doesn’t collect her client’s soul in time, he is doomed to stay a ghost forever.

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer has a cast of quirky characters. The story is witty and lighthearted. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the S.C.Y.T.H.E. Mystery series:
  1. A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer
Book Review

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Hitchcock Hotel

Author: Stephanie Wrobel

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: September 24, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

BOOK BLURB

Alfred Smettle is not your average Hitchcock fan. He is the founder, owner, and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a sprawling Victorian house in the White Mountains dedicated to the Master of Suspense. There, Alfred offers his guests round-the-clock film screenings, movie props and memorabilia in every room, plus an aviary with fifty crows.

To celebrate the hotel’s first anniversary, he invites his former best friends from his college Film Club for a reunion. He hasn’t spoken to any of them in sixteen years, not after what happened.

But who better than them to appreciate Alfred’s creation? And to help him finish it.

After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a body.

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

MY REVIEW

Old college friends are reunited at The Hitchcock Hotel. Alfred runs the hotel, and invites his old film club friends to celebrate the hotel’s one year anniversary. Once they’re all reunited, things take a dark turn, and someone ends up dead.

The Hitchcock Hotel is told using multiple points of view and timelines. The timelines are past and present, with one major event happening in college that changed their friendships. The characters are intriguing and the setting is unique.

Atmosphere and tension make The Hitchcock Hotel a compelling read. Recommended for fans of dark and twisty murder mysteries.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Stephanie Wrobel:
  1. Darling Rose Gold
  2. This Might Hurt
  3. The Hitchcock Hotel
Book Review

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: You Will Never Be Me

Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: August 20, 2024

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

BOOK BLURB

Influencer Meredith Lee didn’t teach Aspen Palmer how to blossom on social media just to be ditched as soon as Aspen became big. So can anyone really blame Mer for doing a little stalking? Nothing serious, more like Stalking Lite. Then, Mer gets lucky; she finds one of Aspen’s kids’ iPads and swipes it. Now, she has access to everything: the family calendar and Aspen’s social media accounts. Would anyone else be able to resist tweaking things a little here and there, showing up in Aspen’s place for meetings with potential sponsors? Mer’s only taking back what she deserves—what should have been hers. 
 
Meanwhile, Aspen doesn’t understand why her perfectly filtered life is falling apart. Sponsors are dropping her, fellow influencers are ghosting her, and even her own husband seems to find her repulsive. If she doesn’t find out who’s behind everything, she might just lose it all. What everyone seems to forget is that Aspen didn’t become one of TikTok’s biggest momfluencers by being naive. When Meredith suddenly goes missing, Aspen’s world is upended and mysterious threats begin to arrive—but she won’t let anything get in the way of her perfect life again.

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

MY REVIEW

Meredith and Aspen are social media influencers and former best friends. Aspen’s influencer career has taken off and Meredith envies her for it. Meredith gets the opportunity to improve her own social media accounts, and takes it, even if it hurts Aspen. Meanwhile, Aspen’s image starts to fall, and she’s not going to let her perfectly curated life go away so easily.

Meredith and Aspen are both unlikable characters. The story alternates between their two points of view, and it’s hard to choose which one to root for. The story is well-paced, and the influencer storyline is entertaining.

You Will Never Be Me is an intriguing and creepy psychological thriller.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review

Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Talking to Strangers

Author: Fiona Barton

Publisher: Berkley Books

Publish Date: August 15, 2024

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: Elise King #2

My Rating: 3/5

Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton

BOOK BLURB

When Karen Simmons is murdered on Valentine’s Day, Detective Elise King wonders if she was killed by a man she met online. Karen was all over the dating apps, leading some townspeople to blame her for her own death, while others band together to protest society’s violence against women. Into the divide comes Kiki Nunn, whose aggressive newsgathering once again antagonizes Elise. 

A single mother of a young daughter, Kiki is struggling to make a living in the diminished news landscape. Getting a scoop in the Simmons murder would do a lot for her career, and she’s willing to go up against not just Elise but the killer himself to do it.

Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton

MY REVIEW

Elise is a detective working the case of a murdered woman. A determined reporter is also wanting to find the killer.

Talking to Strangers is a slow burning mystery. Told with well-developed characters and a compelling atmosphere. This is a complex and clever murder mystery.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Elise King series:
  1. Local Gone Missing
  2. Talking to Strangers
Book Review

Buried Too Deep by Karen Rose [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Buried Too Deep

Author: Karen Rose

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: August 13, 2024

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Series: Romantic Suspense #30, New Orleans #3

My Rating: 4/5

Buried Too Deep by Karen Rose

BOOK BLURB

Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.

Employed as the nighttime security guard of Broussard Investigations, Phineas Bishop has been working through overwhelming PTSD episodes from his army service while still utilizing his military skills. But when a violent break-in occurs at the office, the accusatory eyes of the NOPD are on Phin, and he resolves to track down the intruder and clear his name. 

Phin’s only lead is Cora Winslow, a spirited librarian who also needs answers. The body of her father, murdered twenty-three years ago, has just been discovered under a recently demolished building. So who has been sending her handwritten letters—written and signed by her father—every year since she was five? Someone wants to keep Cora in the dark. And now, they’re coming for her. 

As Cora’s self-appointed bodyguard, Phin is surprised by his growing fondness for the woman and her fierce determination and research prowess. But New Orleans’s Garden District holds secrets as old as the streets themselves. With help from the entire Broussard P.I. team, Phin and Cora enter a labyrinth of fraud and homicide that threatens to bury them all.

Buried Too Deep by Karen Rose

MY REVIEW

Phineas is a security guard working when a violent break-in occurs. The police look at Phineas as a suspect. Cora is a witness, and looking for answers of her own. Phineas and Cora are drawn into a world of secrets and homicide.

Buried Too Deep is the thirtieth book in the Romantic Suspense series by Karen Rose. It is the third book in the New Orleans series. I have read the other books in this series, so I was excited to read this latest one.

Well-developed and interesting characters in an intriguing story. Buried Too Deep is a fast-paced and intense thriller.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Karen Rose:
  1. Don’t Tell (Chicago #1)
  2. Have You Seen Her?
  3. I’m Watching You (Chicago #2)
  4. Nothing to Fear (Chicago #3)
  5. You Can’t Hide (Chicago #4)
  6. Count to Ten (Chicago #5)
  7. Die for Me (Daniel Vartanian #1)
  8. Scream for Me (Daniel Vartanian #2)
  9. Kill for Me (Daniel Vartanian #3)
  10. I Can See You (Minneapolis #1)
  11. Silent Scream (Minneapolis #2)
  12. You Belong to Me (Baltimore #1)
  13. No One Left to Tell (Baltimore #2)
  14. Did You Miss Me? (Baltimore #3)
  15. Watch Your Back (Baltimore #4)
  16. Closer Than You Think (Cincinnati #1)
  17. Alone in the Dark (Cincinnati #2)
  18. Every Dark Corner (Cincinnati #3)
  19. Monster in the Closet (Baltimore #5)
  20. Edge of Darkness (Cincinnati #4)
  21. Death Is Not Enough (Baltimore #6)
  22. Say You’re Sorry (Sacramento #1)
  23. Into the Dark (Cincinnati #5)
  24. Say No More (Sacramento #2)
  25. Say Goodbye (Sacramento #3)
  26. Quarter to Midnight (New Orleans #1)
  27. Cold Blooded Liar (San Diego #1)
  28. Beneath Dark Waters (New Orleans #2)
  29. Cheater (San Diego #2)
  30. Buried Too Deep (New Orleans #3)
  31. Dead Man’s List (San Diego #3)
Book Review

Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Fire and Bones

Author: Kathy Reichs

Publisher: Scribner

Publish Date: August 6, 2024

Genre: Police Procedural

Series: Temperance Brennan #23

My Rating: 4/5

Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs

BOOK BLURB

Always apprehensive about working fire scenes, Tempe is called to Washington, DC, to analyze the victims of a deadly blaze. The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and when Tempe delves into the property’s history, she becomes suspicious about the ownership.

The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle. Soon the duo learns that back in the 1930s and ’40s the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang. While interesting, this fact seems irrelevant—until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attack? So many questions.

As Tempe and Ivy dig deeper, an arrest is finally made. Then another fire claims one more victim, and slowly, Tempe’s instincts begin pointing to the obvious. But her moves since coming to Washington have been anticipated—and every path forward seems to bring with it a lethal threat.

Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs

MY REVIEW

Fire and Bones is the twenty-third book in the Temperance Brennan series. In this book, Temperance works in Washington, DC on a mysterious fire that left at least four dead.

Temperance is a strong protagonist with her intelligence, wit, and drive. I have enjoyed this series for years, and this book shows the series continues to be intriguing.

Fire and Bones is an enjoyable addition to the series. Recommended to readers who enjoy crime fiction and medical thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Temperance Brennan series:
  1. Déjà Dead
  2. Death du Jour
  3. Deadly Decisions
  4. Fatal Voyage
  5. Grave Secrets
  6. Bare Bones
  7. Monday Mourning
  8. Cross Bones
  9. Break No Bones
  10. Bones to Ashes
  11. Devil Bones
  12. 206 Bones
  13. Spider Bones
  14. Flash and Bones
  15. Bones Are Forever
  16. Bones of the Lost
  17. Bones Never Lie
  18. Speaking in Bones
  19. A Conspiracy of Bones
  20. The Bone Code
  21. Cold, Cold Bones
  22. The Bone Hacker
  23. Fire and Bones
Book Review

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: House of Glass

Author: Sarah Pekkanen

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publish Date: August 6, 2024

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

BOOK BLURB

On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.

A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny – in the midst of her parent’s bitter divorce – and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella’s mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there’s something eerie about the house itself: It’s a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny’s murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella’s supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

MY REVIEW

Stella is a best interest attorney called to work on the custody case of a nine-year-old girl. The girl witnessed the death of her nanny and has stopped speaking. Stella is concerned for the girl, and troubled by the family.

The story is told from Stella’s point of view. She doesn’t normally work with children as young as her latest case, but the judge believes she’s the best fit to help the girl. Stella suspects the family is keeping secrets, and she tries to uncover the truth. As she tries to find a way to connect with the girl, she also suspects there may be a killer in the home.

House of Glass is an atmospheric and intriguing thriller. Fans of this author are sure to enjoy this book too.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Sarah Pekkanen:
  1. Gone Tonight
  2. House of Glass
Book Review

It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: It Had to Be You

Author: Eliza Jane Brazier

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: July 16, 2024

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier

BOOK BLURB

Two contract killers, each with a hit out on the other, must fight their growing attraction as they face off in an epic game of lust and murder across Western Europe.

When Eva and Jonathan hook up on the sleeper train from Florence to Paris, they think they’ll never see each other again. Which is too bad, because neither has ever felt a spark like this for another person. But love isn’t on the agenda in their line of work. 

Six months later, they run into each other in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. This encounter is not by chance, because Eva has been hired to kill Jonathan. She’s a contract killer, but what she doesn’t know is that he is too.

Their meeting kicks off a high-stakes adventure across Western Europe. There will be tourism. There will be bodies.  Eva and Jonathan might even fall for each other.

As the two get closer to completing their assignments, it becomes clear that they are also being hunted—by something even more dangerous than love. . . .

It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier

MY REVIEW

Two contract killers, Eva and Jonathan, meet by chance and fall for one another. They soon realize they have been hired to kill one another.

Flawed characters in a quirky story. It Had to Be You is told from the alternating points of view of Eva and Jonathan. They are damaged, but likable characters. The story is fun and the romance is steamy.

It Had to Be You is a fast-paced romantic thriller. Exciting and suspenseful.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Eliza Jane Brazier:
  1. If I Disappear
  2. Good Rich People
  3. Girls and Their Horses
  4. It Had to Be You
Book Review

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: One Big Happy Family

Author: Jamie Day

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publish Date: July 16, 2024

Genre: Domestic Suspense

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

BOOK BLURB

The Precipice is a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters–Iris, Vicki, and Faith–have come for the weekend to claim it. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters harboring dangerous secrets, there’s murder in the air– and not everyone who checks into the Precipice will be checking out.

Each sister wants what is rightfully hers, and in the mix is the Precipe’s nineteen-year-old chambermaid Charley Kelley: smart, resilient, older than her years, and in desperate straits.

The arrival of the Bishop sisters could spell disaster for Charley. Will they close the hotel? Fire her? Discover her habit of pilfering from guests? Or even worse, learn that she’s using a guest room to hide a woman on the run.

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

MY REVIEW

Three sisters return to their family-owned hotel on the Maine coast to claim their inheritance. A storm headed their way has stranded the sisters and others in the hotel. When someone is murdered, they realize they are trapped with a killer.

One Big Happy Family is told from the point of view of the hotel’s maid, Charley. Charley is young, and worried about keeping her job and providing for her grandmother. Interesting characters and an atmospheric setting.

A slow paced locked room mystery. One Big Happy Family is an entertaining whodunit.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Jamie Day:
  1. The Block Party
  2. One Big Happy Family
Book Review

On the Surface by Rachel McGuire [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: On the Surface

Author: Rachel McGuire

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Publish Date: July 9, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

On the Surface by Rachel McGuire

BOOK BLURB

A YouTubing cruiser couple sails the world living their best lives—until one of them goes missing and their whole world capsizes, in this captivating psychological thriller perfect for fans of Something in the Water and Saint X.

Sawyer Stone III and Dani Fox, a young couple who spend their time circumnavigating the globe aboard their 42-foot sailboat and documenting it for their fledgling YouTube channel Sailing with the Foxes, have anchored in Exuma, in the Bahamas. As they wait for the price of crypto to rebound so they can provision and continue their journey, they’re partying and exploring with their fellow cruisers offshore. On the surface, everything looks perfect. But one night, Dani vanishes after a boat party, and Sawyer has no memory of her disappearance.

The search for Dani is initially fueled by concerns that she drowned during one of her daily ocean swims, but Dani’s prescheduled video posts, recorded before she went missing, soon reveal a darker side to her relationship with Sawyer. Meanwhile, Royal Bahamas Police Force Inspector Veronique Knowles has her hands full trying to keep the investigation on course as the story of the American woman missing in the Bahamas goes viral and the internet sleuths unearth secrets from Sawyer’s past. Sawyer Stone is far from perfect, but is he a murderer? 

On the Surface by Rachel McGuire

MY REVIEW

Dani and Sawyer have a YouTube channel chronicling their adventures sailing around the world. One morning, Sawyer wakes up to discover Dani is missing, and he has no memory of what happened. Soon, a prerecorded video of Dani is posted, and Sawyer is the prime suspect in her disappearance.

On the Surface is told through multiple points of view. The characters are complex and mostly unlikable. The setting is unique and atmospheric. The writing flows well and makes for an enjoyable read.

An intriguing and twisted thriller. On the Surface is good for fans of domestic and psychological thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review

The Confidence Games by Tess Amy [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Confidence Games

Author: Tess Amy

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: July 9, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

The Confidence Games by Tess Amy

BOOK BLURB

Life’s a game, and they’ve come to play. Two female con artists must pull off the ultimate heist in this rollicking caper.

Emma Oxley and Nellie Yarrow have been inseparable their whole lives. Ever since they reinvented themselves, changing their names and wiping clean their digital footprints, they have made a game of following wherever the next adventure leads and challenging themselves to thefts, street cons, and mind games.

Adhering to only two rules—they will only swindle men, and only ones who deserve it—Emma and Nellie are secure in their reputation as the most trustworthy swindlers on the European black market. Until suddenly, they must play to save their own lives.

Blackmailed into stealing a priceless bracelet from a high-security exhibit, Emma will reexamine everything she believed to be true. This heist takes her far beyond her comfort zone…and she and Nellie will need allies among the glitzy bejeweled gathering in London in order to survive. Will they be able to do the right thing before it’s too late?

The Confidence Games by Tess Amy

MY REVIEW

Emma and Nellie are best friends and con artists. They have a set of rules they adhere to and have created quite a reputation on the black market. Things are going well for them, until they are blackmailed into stealing a bracelet.

The Confidence Games is told from the alternating points of view of Nellie and Emma. Nellie is the more experienced con artist. Emma is the more timid of the two, but she has to up her game to save her friend. The friendship between them is strong, and they’ve been through good and tough times together.

For a fast-paced and fun caper, The Confidence Games delivers. A lighthearted and entertaining mystery.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review

The Hollywood Assistant by May Cobb [Book Review]

Posted on by Darinda
Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Hollywood Assistant

Author: May Cobb

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: July 9, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

The Hollywood Assistant by May Cobb

BOOK BLURB

Offered a dream job in Hollywood with a famous director and his actress wife, an insecure woman becomes their personal assistant where their secrets and lies place her in the crosshairs of a murder investigation.

Cassidy Foster is heartbroken, stuck in life, and getting a little too obsessed with plants. Then when a well-connected friend becomes sick of Cassidy’s moping and gets her a gig with famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy jumps at the chance to move to sunny LA.

The Sterlings are warm and welcoming. A perfect couple. All Cassidy has to do is be available a few hours a week for errands. In return, she has access to luxury: Designer clothes. A sparkling pool. Great pay.

When Nate takes interest in her, asking her to read scripts he’s written, Cassidy thinks this could be the key to kickstarting her writing dreams. As their business relationship grows, so does their attraction. Nate is sexy and talented, and Cassidy can’t believe her luck. Clearly, Marisol doesn’t know what she has. Maybe that’s why the two are always fighting when they think Cassidy isn’t around. 

But Cassidy learns she was hired for a different purpose. The Sterlings aren’t the perfect couple. Marisol isn’t the perfect wife. And when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect.

The Hollywood Assistant by May Cobb

MY REVIEW

Cassidy accepts a job working as a personal assistant for a famous couple. The perfect couple facade fades once Cassidy gets to know the couple more.

The story is told from Cassidy’s point of view and alternating timelines. One is the present day and the other is four weeks later. This gives the reader insight into what is to come, but there is still a lot of mystery in the story.

The Hollywood Assistant is a slow burning thriller. Dramatic, scandalous, and entertaining.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by May Cobb:
  1. The Hunting Wives
  2. My Summer Darlings
  3. A Likable Woman
  4. The Hollywood Assistant