I am so happy that I decided to take a chance and pick this as my first BotM selection. This book was amazing. I had heard a lot about it and of course was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype because I have burned before by that, especially with romances. But this book was just....it had everything for me. It had a flawed MCs. It helped to show the different ways people do or don't process grief. It talked about how people sometimes just accept things from their loved ones when others feel they should walk away from the situation. *sigh*

Ultimately it was about two flawed and damaged people reuniting, realizing that they were and honestly always would be a bit flawed and damaged, and making an effort to still make it work with one another. The banter is delightful, as always, but there is also a sense of realness in tis that I will admit admit you don't find in a lot of romances contemporary or otherwise. Despite the title being what it is, there is more meat to this than one may expect from your fun of the mill beach read.

Again I'm glad I took a chance on this one because it did not disappoint.

Y'all this book was so good. I love romance and Farrah is fast becoming a favorite. But even with that I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

First and foremost I really appreciated the friendship between Samiah, London, and Taylor and how that was almost the primary focal point. I mean, yes of course there was romance between Samiah and Daniel, but the book also paid a good amount of attention to the development of their friendship. In other types of genres written by other authors, it might have been combative from the start. But it served as a growing part for the story and everyone involved. I am happy to see ohw it develops in the other books as well.

I also really enjoyed the strength of Samiah and how it brought light to the fact that not a lot of women are accepted in STEM fields, especially women of color. Even if my brain isn't wired to think that way I know there is a dearth of us in that field. And while I've never personally experienced someone taking credit for my work, I know it would enrage me. I gave Samiah massive props throughout the entire book for how calm she was whenever this happened.

Also appreciated was how the ending didn't drag out the misunderstanding and it was resolved in a very believable and mature way. I won't give too more since that is spoiler territory but it was noticed.

Overall? Great book. Amazing author. Can't wait to read the rest in the series.

I downloaded this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This was my first book by this author and the seventh in the series. But the fact that I didn't read the others didn't lessen my enjoyment of the story. When Lucy helps Bertie plan for a weekend reunion with her former classmates, no one expects the murder of Helena Sanchez, former head librarian of the Lighthouse Library to be part of the itinerary. Lucy is determined to find out who the culprit is and bring them to justice.

As with most cozies, not having read the previous books in the series didn't leave me lost in any way. The story was able to be picked up on, and the personalities of the secondary characters, as well as Lucy's opinions on the, were apparent without knocking you over the head. That said, some of them seem a little too much. I wasn't a fan of Louisa Jane, and while I realize I wasn't suppose to be I felt that Lucy put up with her too much considering her less than favorable feelings. I also found Lucy to be a bit dense in one certain aspect of the story that I won't go into because it's spoiler territory.

The descriptions of the scenery and the food were delightful, and made me want to go on a coast trip myself. I was surprised at the ending since I didn't foresee how it would all pan out. Fans of cozies will like this book and series since it has all the hallmarks of what makes cozies fantastic. I will definitely be going through the back list on this series and pick up more.

Good, quirky, fun humor. That cliffhanger though....