Tag:

Romantic Comedy

Review

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

by Jeff Ayers

Carter’s latest novel answers the question: What if Agatha Christie wrote a rom-com? Maggie Chase writes cozy mysteries, and Ethan Wyatt writes thrillers for the same publisher. Maggie wants nothing to do with Ethan, and for some reason, he keeps calling her Marcie. Forced to fly together when a private jet takes them to a Christmas party hosted by a reclusive fan of their books, they are stunned to learn the host is none other than their favorite author, Eleanor Ashley, who inspired Maggie to start writing. Things get complicated when Eleanor vanishes, and shortly after that, murder joins the party. Maggie and Ethan are forced to trust each other since nobody else on Eleanor’s invite list appears innocent. This fast-paced novel reads like a mix of a terrific Hallmark movie and a Cary Grant movie from the 1930s. The dialogue alone is worth the price of admission. This is the perfect book for fans of Christmas romance and locked room mysteries and it’s understandable why it’s being compared to the last Knives Out movie.

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Review

It’s Elementary

by Brian Kenney

Mavis is one busy single mom. Pearl, her seven-year-old, is smart, funny, and chatty. Her ex, who tries to be a good dad, is a musician who is regularly on tour across the country. The non-profit Mavis works for has the bad habit of skipping her over for promotions. And Trish, the incredibly bossy head of the PTA—when will a house fall on her?—tricks Mavis, as one of only a handful of Black moms at the school, to head its DEI committee. “DEI means diversity, equity, and inclusion, sure,” Mavis says. “But it also means free labor to be given willingly to fix problems we didn’t create.” The novel is barely underway when the new school principal suddenly disappears while Mavis, while walking her dog late at night, passes the school, only to see Trish loading up her car with cleaning supplies and heavy plastic bags…filled with the remains of Principal Smith? Joining forces with Jack, the “superhot” school psychologist, Mavis sets off to find the lost principal. Beautifully written and well-paced, this delightful novel explores the many friends and family who surround Mavis, the struggles she experiences, and the love that flows throughout. Elise Bryant is the NAACP Image Award-nominated author of the young adult novels Happily Ever Afters, One True Loves, and Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling.

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Review

Finding Mr. Write

by Henrietta Thornton

At first, Finding Mr. Write reads like hearty rom-com fare: Daphne McFadden, a struggling writer who can’t get an agent, hires a dishy man to pose as the author of her book. She wants to hate “Zane Remington” but can’t, and complications ensue, not to mention increasingly lingering looks. While the enjoyable rom-com type misunderstandings and drama continue throughout the book, there’s also more here. Crime and mystery come into play when Daphne’s publisher and the book’s rabid fans get ever closer to finding out that Zane isn’t really the author of the wildly popular “dark zombie thriller with a teen girl protagonist,” and Daphne worries about her legal future. There’s also a lot to absorb about the economics, biases, and general messed-up-edness of the publishing industry, with an overworked publicist, one in a long string of underpaid young women, one of the tale’s quiet heroes. This well-plotted look at a maybe-romance and the bizarro world writers inhabit is a fun mix of mystery and romance, and well worth a read.

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