Whenever I’m in the mood for a twisty and bingeable thriller that I can read in one sitting I know I can pick up a Minka Kent book and it will satisfy me. When I started this I felt like I knew exactly where it would all go and I’m so pleased to say that I was pretty off. Sure I saw some minor things coming but overall I was wrong and parts left my head spinning with questions and theories that changed almost every chapter. This is super fast paced and the kind of book you don’t want to put down until you finish. I loved the old Hollywood noir vibes next to a ton of lies, betrayals and suspicions and thought that overall it was a solid suspense read and other winner from the author.

So I didn’t realize before I started this that it’s the 12th book I’m a series 😳 I’m not sure that it really mattered in the end, it didn’t seem like I was missing anything but I could be wrong because how would I know what I missed haha?? This is told by Pinky who is a PI working for a lawyer. I tend to enjoy a PI as a protagonist since they’re not bound by the law and can push the boundaries more than a cop and Pinky was quite the character. She’s super quirky, which I liked but at times she almost felt too much like a caricature of “quirky female character” for me. This was billed as a legal thriller and it really was more of a mystery detective type of story, which is fine but my expectations were off. In the end this was a run of the mill, typical kind of story for me and was missing something to make it fresh and exciting. I would try the author again though and Helen Laser as the audiobook narrator was fantastic. 

This one will not be for everyone and I have already seen mixed reviews but it did work for me. I think there’s a few things you should know before you decide on adding this to your TBR or not though because it’s very different. It may be one of the most zany stories I’ve ever read and the energy throughout the whole thing can only be described as chaotic and out of control. Besides the fact that the entire premise is wacky it still has an extra level of craziness that I wasn’t expecting. Bettie already has a frenetic air about her and with the addition of Hall things just get taken to a whole new level of insanity. Think Will Ferrell’s character in Elf and add some hyperness and that’s him. It that doesn’t scare you off though this one was actually pretty fun. There is so much Christmas cheer and lots of magic with a side of fake dating which is always a favorite for me. I had no idea how this one would end or if there even would be a HEA and I never would have predicted the route the author took to get there but overall it worked for me. I listened to most of this and thought Tavia Gilbert did a fantastic job at bringing Bettie and Hall to life and she really captured the energy of the story. If you’re looking for a unique and quirky holiday read try this! 

I have read all of the authors books and enjoyed almost all of them (I wasn’t a fan of When the Lights Go Out) but this one missed the mark for me. I think my biggest issue was the writing felt off, if I had read this without having any idea who wrote it I would have never guessed it was a MK book at all. Her style wasn’t the same, it felt staccato and abrupt. It was just very weird and I had a hard time settling into the story because of it. Maybe it’s going to go through another round of edits before it actually comes out and things felt off since I read such an early copy, I don’t even know. Besides that issue things were ok, I was invested enough in the plot and curious to see where things would go but for a book that felt a little slow at times the ending felt rushed and there were some loose ends that needed to be tied up. Overall not my fave from the author but of course I’ll still read her books because some of them have been really good. 

This one was a mixed bag for me, and that kind of makes sense because I feel like the whole book was a mix too. Basic idea is five siblings who barely know each other as they weren’t raised together get thrown together under unusual circumstances and are forced to work together for the first time. So there were lots of characters to keep track of and unfortunately I don’t feel like any of them were all that well developed. Dimple especially seemed weak as a character and her naivety bugged the shit out of me. I felt like we really just got glimpses of the rest of the siblings and would have liked to see them more fleshed out in the end. I did enjoy the authors writing style and liked what she explored as far as family and how that’s defined but my issues with the characterization and the unbelievability of the plot made this one just ok for me