Dodi and Jake have great chemistry, she is intrigued by the temp and thinks he could even be a serial killer. People have been “falling” from the tops of office buildings for over a year… or are they being pushed?? Dolores (Dodi) likes to think about serial killers and if she could spot one.
“HR’s not having a good time unless you’re having a good time.”
With some fun commentary on working life and workplace culture, Serial Killer Games is not what I expected. My top two genres read are mystery and romance, so I thought I would love this. It is definitely more romance than mystery, although it has some elements. The pacing and dialogue are all banter and typical romcom tropes. None of the slow burn, strategically paced reveals and third act twists and turns you expect from a mystery.
“I hate white carrots.” “They’re parsnips.” “I hate them.” “That’s irrelevant.” “YOU’RE an elephant.”
Some of the dialogue is very cute and sweet, the ending tied everything up pretty nicely.
The way that the romance had dark and morbid background was slightly unsettling to me. I think some people would really enjoy it and even find it exactly the right kind of spicy/hot. But others would find it disturbing- so read a few reviews and the blurb to see if this is the book for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the ARC. Book to be published 4/29/25.
Our story begins as Cynthie is hiding from the world. She’s just been caught in somewhat of a scandal, as this actress slept with her married director. He told her they were separated, and on the way to divorce, but you know how that story goes.
Her agent tells her that unfortunately, she has been removed from the newest Marvel film, but there’s a good opportunity here. She can star in a sequel to a film that she was the romantic lead in 13 years ago. The only problem is, her costar Jack is going to be reprising his role as well. Back then, they put together a fake dating publicity relationship. And the studio would like them to repeat this and do fake dating again. And he is her sworn enemy!
I like this book, I didn’t love it. Your tropes here are enemies to lovers, Second Chance, romance, and fake dating. All of those things have all of the little subtleties that they imply. This book takes place in the same universe as the authors former novel, and those characters have supporting roles in this novel as well. It’s fun to catch up with Theo and Clemmie.
There is no shortage of references to Jane Austin, pride and prejudice – the original enemies to lovers romance. I counted 12 in total. I love it when an author pays homage to the classics.
The book also has good pacing, but some of the characters motivations were a little bit confusing. I can’t honestly understand why they didn’t like each other, except that they did? There are a few cute scenes, one involving ice cream and the other involving Steve Carell. There was a lot of yearning in this novel, which is always good. It was a cute relationship with cute side characters. I’m just not sure it was necessary for them to not speak for 13 years. Except that it created the plot.
Thanks to NetGalley and atria books for the ARC. Book to be published July 1, 2025.
It pains me to rate this 1 star. The first few chapters are some of the best character building, best dialogue, one of the cutest meet cutes of the last 10 years. Samantha and Xavier have wonderful back stories, they are great characters, I would want to be friends with them. I never really like an “insta love”trope, as it feels like lust to me. I prefer the time tested “friends to lovers” or even “enemies to lovers” can be done well. But that is the least problematic thing, even though it is insta-love, it feels not like lust but instead like a REAL connection based on shared interests and good chemistry.
I appreciate how daunting of a task it is to write about dementia, it is an issue that affects more and more families every year. It is heartbreaking and raw and hard. And if someone sees their pain on these pages and feels seen and understood, I am grateful for that person. But the way the family handles Samantha’s mother’s early onset dementia really bothered me. She was very unsafe, they were completely incapable of assisting her, there were 5 adults living with her and they were failing daily because they “promised her she could stay at home.” It is painful to watch.
And although Samantha and Xavier had a great connection early on, they decided to have a long distance relationship from the very start. I had a visceral reaction to how BAD of an idea this is, how you cannot be in a real relationship with someone without a foundation. This tricked the characters into thinking they loved each other more than they could have. A good connection is a great start, but you cannot commit to someone thousands of miles away. There was a lot of “yearning” in this novel, and it was so painfully obvious that the characters were trauma bonding over their situation, their financial problems.
Xavier was a gem, a wonderful person despite having horrible parents, he had good boundaries and kept his distance. I applaud the author for having a character with estranged parents that was a good situation, there is no reconciliation. That is a lot of people’s stories and this was well done. But honestly, they were SO awful, almost comedically so, and Xavier continued to make bad decisions in order to “show” them.
Over and over they fell more and more in love despite not even knowing each other. It didn’t even make sense for Samantha to move to California into such a crowded house to help her mother when she was so incapable. And then honestly on EVERY OTHER PAGE these terrible things would happen and it was so much trauma bonding I could not handle it.
Girls, do not get into a committed relationship with someone you barely know, particularly one with abusive parents, in a long distance situation. You will be tricked into thinking you are more in love than you are, and when you finally come back together you will put up with a LOT that you would not have put up with. Because of all the work it took to get together! You will ignore all the red flags.
Not since Twilight have I been so angry at a “romance” that was not romantic.
After all that, again, I have to repeat myself. I am sure a lot of people will rate this 5 stars, and I GET IT. It has SO much going for it. But I do not find this romantic at all, I am drowning in red flags.
Other things I loved- Samantha’s brother and Xavier’s friends and his mentor, Dr Hank.
In short, this book is perfect in every way except for what HAPPENS in it.
Friends, this one was not for me. I really liked the publishing industry and a good second chance romance. Jack was a decent character and I found him to be a relatable person that I felt empathy for. The pacing of this book was really strange, big jumps in the narrative and not explaining things that needed to be explained. There was a big build up on this enemies-to-lovers plot of wondering what had happened back in the uni days that made Andi hate Jack so much. Once this was revealed, and this was at least two thirds of the way through the book, it was very frustrating and a dumb thing. I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope when it could have been fixed with ONE conversation, but mostly this one fell flat for me specifically because I found the FMC to be so self-centered and unlikable.
Honestly there wasn’t a lot of romance. The aspects of the book that dealt with grief and needing therapy were well done. This would be a good addition in a collection of “books that are heavy handed in wanting the reader to go to therapy.”
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC. Book to be published May 20, 2025.
A sparkling, sweet debut that has absolutely everything. I read in another review that this book is “Emily Henry for Gen Z” and I cannot agree more.
Bennet is 25, barely getting by in New York City. Her late boyfriend, Sam, died in a car accident and always dreamed of living in Manhattan, she is now living there with her roommate Sophia in his honor. In grieving Sam’s death from 2 years ago, Bennet has lost contact with Sam’s family, and they were like a second family to her. But it hurt too much to maintain a relationship with those closest to him. Her friends decide she has to get out into the world and sign her up for a dating app, the first date is a disaster, she realizes she isn’t ready and ghosts the guy and ends up getting drunk and full of pasta at an Italian restaurant across the street.
Turns out, the failed date, Henry Adams, happens to work at that restaurant, where she left her wallet in a sloppy mess. She admits she isn’t ready and they decide to be friends, and they decide to do adventurous things to discover her passion in life around the city.
What follows is a friends-to-lovers, heavily New York centered, rom com with incredible characterization, the wittiest of witty banter and one of the best book boyfriends there is– Henry Adams. I can hardly believe this is a debut, I will read anything London Sperry writes. This book is excellent, it has been so long since I read a “five star” romance, and this reminds me of Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, Sarah Adams and Jessica Joyce. Some spice, but mostly a perfectly paced plot that doesn’t rely on tropes and has quirky yet lovable side characters. This novel keys in on one of my favorite themes- that we all are at least a teensy bit afraid that we are unlovable. In Bennet’s case, because of the pain she feels at losing what may have been her great and only true love.
++ points for Mamma Mia and Pride and Prejudice references
a best romance of 2025 a best debut of 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin/ Viking for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Book to be published April 8, 2025.
I didn’t know how much I loved Ferris Bueller until I read this book. It was SO cute, so perfectly Young Adult, the sweetest romance. Very believable characters, good inner dialogue and good on audio. One of my favorite audiobook narrators plays Everett. I loved how true it was to the original Ferris Bueller movie but also quite a love letter to Philadelphia. The sibling character (played by Jennifer Gray) is now her brother James. Best friend Isa is in love with James, and Grace (who has faked her illness for epic senior skip day) is in love with Everett.
Maybe I was just in the mood for a YA romance, but I think this is my favorite KL Walther yet.
I genuinely love a closed-door romance that isn’t full of purity culture. It is such a special unicorn in my life.
This book follows a full year of 17/18 year old Mads’ life. This starts out when her brother Austin gets engaged to his girlfriend Katie in Paris. Mads feels a bit left out because she assumed she would know Austin was going to propose prior to hearing about it. She likes Katie but doesn’t quite love her yet. Then Katie asks her to be a bridesmaid, and she becomes fully part of the bridesmaid culture and group chat. The girls find out that Mads has never had a real boyfriend and they encourage her love life. Throughout the seasons she goes to prom, commits to a college, and dates several different boys as she seeks to find her “favorite person.”
There are a couple of different love interests, but for the most part this is essentially a love triangle. I like to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but I will say I was disappointed in which one she ended up with. The really great story, though, is Austin and Katie, their ups and downs, and how Mads learns to love Katie and accept her as a part of her family. That is a story not often told, and that is really well done. Mads is well written, appropriate level of maturity for her age and intelligence. She is both interesting and likable.
If you like YA romance, absolutely recommend this one. Its is fun and heartwarming. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC. Book to be published June 3, 2025.
Romantic/Adventure or Suspenseful romance! There are many action adventure movies with a romantic undertone, but not a lot of books. The Big Fix is reminiscent of movies like The Lost City or Indiana Jones– a “regular person” due to “chemistry reasons” finds herself in the middle of a crazy spy/fixer/crime novel. This book is great fun, I enjoyed the adventures of Penny and Anthony, as well as their banter.
Penny is a computer science professor on the tenure track, and while visiting her sister she goes to an estate sale of her sister’s neighbor. Only to find his nephew wholly uninterested in the whole affair. The whole room notices a spark between Penny and Anthony, everyone except the two of them. When they find a dead body, the adventure begins. Portia is the wife of a tech billionaire, and she has gone missing. It turns out the dead body is her bodyguard. But where is Portia and how does she relate to Anthony? Before she knows it, Penny is in a different world. Anthony is intimately involved in Portia’s disappearance, but is he one of the good guys?
She is a fish out of water, but there is a lot of humor when she tries to get her bearings. It is always fun, in a romantic book, when the reader is aware that the main characters are falling for each other before they do. It helps that this is NOT multiple POV, it is all Penny’s perspective, so we find out who Anthony really is at the same time Penny does. This had great dialogue and great pacing. I am a fan of Holly James/Holly Michelle’s other works, and I am happy to say I really enjoy this cross genre story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Press for the ARC. Book to be published March 25,2025.
What a fun premise- just like Mr. and Ms. Smith or The Incredibles, but this is a queer romance, Ms and Ms Smith. Yardley and KC are breaking up and moving out, although they both clearly still love each other. They both work for the same company as secret spies, but don’t know it about each other. They work together and realize they don’t know each other at all, although they very much love each other. Professionally known as Tabasco and The Unicorn, they are the best in their fields.
The biggest issue is that they are spies and really should have known each other’s secret identity, it didn’t make a lot of sense that they were both excellent and well regarded and didn’t know they were living with a spy fluent in so many foreign languages. I wish there was a bit more build up of the romance, the spy parts were fun, not silly. I do like some of the “Mae Marvel” books but this was not my favorite, I found it to be a bit disjointed. But it was a good story and setting.
Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s press for the ARC. Book to be published June 10, 2025.
All time loop stories now have a slight variation on the theme. It is a fun premise, that someone lives the same day over and over again. In this case, Noelle has landed in a time loop on June 20th, and quickly uncovers that another woman, Avery, is in the exact same loop. They are complete strangers except that they both got dumplings the day before the loop. Avery has been stuck in a bad relationship and Noelle has been stuck hiding away from relationships for the last 6 years. Is this loop meant for them to take the next steps they need to?
Part two has a fun twist and good characters. I liked Noelle and Avery and their friendship and partnership even more than Noelle’s romantic connection with Cam.
Great for fans of Ashley Poston and Kate Robb. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC. Book to be published May 6, 2025.
