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My Favourite Books of 2025

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. As you will have seen last week I shared my least favourite books of the year so far, excluding December as that month has not finished yet, and now I am sharing my favourite books of each month so far this year.

January – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

This year started off with a bang. I had been putting this book off since it came out, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it and now, I think about it every day. It also started a dragon obsession, I now own over ten dragon teddies.

February – Murder by Candlelight by Faith Martin

I read this book one night while I was in the hospital as it was a deal on my kindle and I ended up absolutely loving it. I can’t wait for the third book to be released in January.

March – Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

Another book I had been putting off, I liked the first two but I didn’t love them but this one I must have read it at just the right time because I loved this one. It was fun and action packed.

April – Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco

This year is definitely the time for reading the books I have been putting off, this is another one. It is the final one in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series. I loved getting to see the end of this story though I love the characters and would want to spend every day with them, currently this is up there as my favourite book of the year.

May – In Want of a Suspect by Tirzah Price

This book follows Lizzie and Darcy as they solve mysteries together, I adore this series and while there are some things I would change about the two characters I will read any book by this author.

June – The Protest by Rob Rinder

The third in his series, following a lawyer who gets more involved in solving cases than a usual lawyer. I love this series, I have so far read every book the day it came out. The mysteries are great but I just love Adam and can’t wait to see what happens to him next.

July – A Deadly Night at the Theatre by Katy Watson

The fifth? I think, in the three dahlias series. Even though this was my favourite read this month, this was my least favourite of this series so far. I felt that the relationship between the three lead characters was different and not as good as usual. But I still loved it.

August – Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Oh the nostalgia. The emotion. This book has my heart definitely. It was beautifully told and made me understand Hyamitch’s character a lot better.

September – The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

A great mystery, as usual from Janice Hallett. I love the way these stories are told through mixed media, it makes it much more interesting.

October – Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman

I loved this book. It had both a gothic and a historical feel about it. It was much darker than I expected it to be but I really enjoyed it, I loved the character of Dora.

November – Fate of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell

The third in the Way of the Argosi series, a spin off of the Spellslinger series. I have loved following Ferrius Parfax and seeing how her character became what it is in the Spellslinger series. This series is all about adventure and the unlikely hero. I love it.

What are some of your favourite books of this year?

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The Best Crime Fiction So Far This Year

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. As you can see by the title of this blog post, today I will be sharing with you all the books I rate in my top ten of the crime fiction books that I have read so far this year. It will be interesting to come back to this list in December and see how things have changed, or maybe it won’t have we shall have to see.

As you may or may not know, I enjoy a good crime fiction book, so much so I am doing my thesis on it, but I am very picky with what I like. So, I can tell you that so far this year I have read 28 books that fall into the category of crime fiction. That’s quite a lot, isn’t it. Anyway, from those I’d say there’s only four that I really have not liked at all. Most of them I would say were just okay, maybe nothing special but today I am sharing my top ten with you.

At number 10:

Murder at the Village Fair by Helena Dixon. This is somewhere in the middle of the Miss Underhay mystery series, I have so far this year read seven or eight of this series so for this list I tried to limit myself to only choosing one and this one was it. It was reminiscent of old Agatha Christie stories, set in a village fair on a sunny day, very nostalgic, and the mystery was clever too which is always a bonus. I love revisiting these characters, Matthew and Kitty with each new book, if you’re looking for a quick and easy read then this series could work for you.

At number 9:

In Want of A Suspect by Tirzah Price. This is part of the Jane Austen style murder mystery novels, starting with Pride and Premeditation, but it is also sort of a spin off of that series. It follows Lizzie and Darcy, who we meet in Pride and Premeditation, and we see a continuation of their story which is not really connected but also it connected to the rest of the series. That is probably a bit confusing but it makes sense if you read the books. I enjoyed that this had a regency feel to it and I loved continuing Darcy and Lizzie’s story, they were my favourite characters from the series so far.

At number 8:

The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro. As you can see by these three books on this list so far, I am quite partial to a historical mystery. 1920s/1930s and victorian are definitely the sweet spot for me though. This one is set in victorian london and you follow two characters: Inspector Bell of the police and Gemma Tate who was a nurse in Crimea but returned home to negative opinions. I loved seeing the relationship forming between these two main characters, it worked alongside the mystery brilliantly. I will say this series is a lot darker than I first thought it would be, you might need to check the trigger warnings for it but safe to say I love it, I bought the series about two months ago and I have read books 1-3 already.

At number 7:

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano. I had put off reading this book for ages. Honestly, I read the first book in the series, about a woman who writes novels and is overheard while talking to her agent and winds up being hired as a hitwoman, and loved it and then book two wasn’t that good in my opinion but I already owned book three – this one – so I wanted to give it a go but I was worried I’d hate it so it took me ages to read it. But I am glad I did, it is one of my favourite books of the year so far. It was the perfect blend of fun and danger.

At number 6;

A Deadly Night at the Theatre by Katy Watson. I won’t say too much here because I am doing a full book review for this novel but as part of the Three Dahlias series, I think it could be my favoruite so far. I loved the setting of the theatre and the way everything played out.

At number 5:

Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead by Antony Johnston. This series follows Gwinny, an older woman who used to be an actress but has been out of work for a while. While getting back into it she encounters a bunch of murders. Again the books in this series are hit or miss for me but this one, book three I believe, was really good. It takes place on a film set which was great for including red herrings and disguises and fun things like that.

At number 4:

The Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis. And back to the historical mystery. This series, that starts with the vanished bride, follows the Bronte sisters as they solve different mysteries. The first book in the series is very classical, a manor house mystery, this second book got a lot darker. The mystery they have to solve is a set of bones, of a child, being found hidden away in a house and they find out what happened and whose bones they might have been. This book literally gave me chills.

At number 3:

The Last Word is Death by Faith Martin. I think I will probably do these two together because number 3 and number 2 are the first and second books in the same series. A Murder by Candlelight and The Last Word is Death by Faith Martin. This series follows Arbie, he travels around writing books about places that are supposedly haunted even though he doesn’t actually believe in ghosts, and his friend Val as they end up in different places together and in the process of ghost hunting end up solving murders too. This was the biggest surprise of the year for me. I ended up in hospital in February and all I could find on ebook was Murder by Candlelight and I remember thinking I’ll give it a go but not hoping too much, and I ended up loving it and reading the second book immediately after.

At number 1:

The Protest by Rob Rinder. This is the third book in his series following a young, newly qualified, lawyer as he gets caught up in different cases. It took a little while to warm to the character who seemed not very confident to begin with, but now I’m on book three and I am loving it. I read these books as soon as I get them and I just cannot get enough. Can’t wait for book four.

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Contemporary Cosy Crime

Happy Friday bookish people! How are you all today? I hope you are all doing well. Today I am bringing something a little bit different. If you have seen a lot of my posts you probably know that I am doing a PhD surrounding the topic of Cosy Crime and so I have had to read a LOT of it, especially recently. When I started my degree I thought, this will be fin I love Cosy crime, it’s my favourite style of murder mystery novel. And it still is, which is good at least. However, I have thoughts. And I thought it might be fun to share some of these thoughts and see what other people are thinking about the genre at the moment. If you are a cosy crime reader, let me know what you think of some of these books!

The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman

Okay, I have a love hate relationship with this series. I didn’t mind the first book, I enjoyed the second book and then hated the third and fourth books so I have decided not to continue the series with number five when it comes out later this year. It’s difficult to explain what I don’t like about this series, I’m not overly keen on elderly characters as the sleuths because it is so overdone now but this series was one of the first to do it so that didn’t bother me so much with books one and two. I think one of the things that I dislike is that the tone, trying to stay cosy, goes too far into conversational and the people who are meant to be villains their voices are too similar to each other and to the ‘heroes’ of the story. There are also mentions of our main four characters, especially Elizabeth, being involved with these other things that really belong more in a thriller than in cosy crime in my opinion. As it has gone on these things have grated on me more and more to the point that after I have finished my PhD I will be unhauling the series.

The Miss Underhay series by Helena Dixon

Now, from a love/hate relationship to one of pure love. This series took over my life from the minute I picked up the first book. It follows Kitty Underhay, her Grandmother runs a hotel called The Dolphin in Torquay and the series is set in the 1930s England. (It’s actually set close to the area where I live so being able to recognise locations is really fun). When it starts we learn that Kitty’s Mother went missing when she was a child and has never been found. Then we meet Captain Matthew Bryant. Over the series Matthew and Kitty become involved in a variety of murder mysteries. If you are looking for something groundbreaking then this series is not for you but if you like something classic, with good twists and brilliant loveable characters then you will enjoy this.

The Marlow Murder Club series by Robert Thorogood

This series follows Judith – an older woman, Suzy – a dog walker, and Becks – the wife of the vicar and their lives in Marlow and how they meet and become involved in murder investigations. This is another series that I absolutely love, I do think as we are going into later books that it might start feeling a bit flat with the way the characters are, I don’t think we learn much more about them as the series progresses but at the moment I love it. They are intriguing and keep my interest which is good because I get bored easily especially with series. I like the connection between the characters and I think that is what keeps pulling me back to this series.

The Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano

This series, well, I loved book one and then I found book two a drag to get through but then I loved book three so it is a bit up and down for me. I love the premise, a writer is accidentally overheard talking about her novel plot and gets hired to kill this woman’s husband. That was really different and intriguing and Finlay, the writer, is with respect, very chaotic and messy. Her life is falling to pieces and somehow she gets caught up in all these things while also holding a very interesting romantic subplot with a policeman no less. That ups the stakes drastically. It’s really just a very fun series that doesn’t take itself seriously. Sometimes the plots can be a little confusing but overall I enjoy it.

The Windsor Knot series by S J Bennett

This series is very interesting because it follows elderly characters like is the trend in cosy, but in this series that elderly woman is Queen Elizabeth II of England and members of her staff. It is another series where overall I enjoy it but the individual books can be hit or miss for me. I enjoy it’s uniqueness but it is middle of the road for me, I couldn’t tell you much about the books after six months from reading them.

The Dog Sitter Detective series by Antony Johnston

This series follows another older lady, named Gwinny, who is an actress that was big in the day but now has faded into the background but struggling for money she has had to get more roles again. As a character I don’t mind Gwinny, she dog sits hence the name, she’s independent, curious and frankly, finds trouble no matter where she goes. The romantic subplot that shows up here is not one that I am interested in and I’d prefer if the series didn’t have it but I can overlook it for the plots. So far there has been a rockstar on a canal boat, a theatre play and a film set murder and I enjoyed all of them. It’s not a favourite series but it is a fun, easy read.

The Vera Wong series by Jessie Q Sutanto

This series follows Vera Wong, a lady who owns a tea shop and comes downstairs one morning and finds a man murdered inside her shop, believing the Police aren’t doing their job she decides to investigate for herself. I liked the brazenness of the main character, Vera and I also liked the element of found family that develops in this book but I think there were some aspects that weren’t memorable so again it is a middle of the road series but I am looking forward to reading the new book in the series.

The Castle Knoll series by Kristen Perrin

This series is interesting. I actually have unhauled the first book because I didn’t like it but then I bought the second book because it sounded a lot better, so when I read that we will see what it is like. But for now lets talk about book 1, How To Solve Your Own Murder. It follows the Granddaughter of a woman who was told many years ago by a fortune teller that one day she will be murdered and she spends the rest of her time watching everyone and then when the novel begins her Granddaughter arrives at her house and finds her there, murdered. There’s also some flirting with the local policeman that somewhat disappointingly doesn’t come to anything in the first book but I am hopeful that there will be in the second book. The thing I didn’t like about this first book was that most of the plot progression came about in letters from the past, which I enjoyed reading but it felt like there wasn’t enough substance in the present day parts of the novel.

The Three Dahlias series by Katy Watson

This is one of my favourite cosy mystery series. It follows three generations who have played the character Dahlia Lively – Caro, Rosalind and Posy. In the first book you see the characters meet and form a team without knowing it and I love the way their characters interact with each other but keep their own distinct personalities. The mysteries are incredibly bingeable as well, twisty and well written. I can’t describe how good these books are. You get the perfect balance between plot and character.

Monthly Wrap Ups

April Wrap Up!

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. What a month April was. For me personally, there were many highs and lows to do with family and learning how to juggle those things alongside my PhD was difficult but here we are finally at the end of the month and things have settled down a bit. Anyway, in terms of reading I had a good month. I finished my TBR and I got through a couple of extra books too which was surprising alongside everything else but a nice bonus. It was also a good month for enjoying the books I was reading.

What was your favourite book that you read in April? I have started making a list of my favourite book that I read in each month of this year and then in December I’ll be able to see what my top ten books of the year could be. So far the list is: January – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, February – Murder By Candlelight by Faith Martin, March – Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun by Elle Cosimano and April – Capturing The Devil by Kerri Maniscalco.

What I read in April: from my TBR –

  • Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun by Elle Cosimano – I had written my TBR for April around the middle of March and it turned out that I had time to squeeze this one into my March reading instead. I had been putting off this book for a while because I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue the series after book two, it was starting to feel a bit samey but I decided to read it and I ended up loving it and subsequently bought the next two books in the series which i am excited to get to.
  • Phantasma by Kaylie Smith – I did read this. After all the hype I was excited but apprehensive to get to this one because I had heard so many opinions, mostly positive, and I thought it probably wouldn’t live up to the hype. I will be posting my full review of this book on the 12th May.
  • The White Queen by Philippa Gregory – I did read this – there may be some historical inaccuracies within the novel but as a lover of history from the 1400s to the 1600s I still enjoyed this novel.
  • Capturing The Devil by Kerri Maniscalco – as you can see from above I did read this and it was my favourite read of April (though it was a close race between this one, unravel me and murder at highgate cemetary). This was the final book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series and I will be posting my full review of it on the 19th of May.
  • Reckless by Lauren Roberts – I did read this and I did enjoy it, I see where the negative reviews are coming from with the lack of substance to the plot but I generally just enjoy being in this world with these characters and that cliffhanger was quite something. I am looking forward to reading the final book in the series and seeing what happens.
  • Murder At The Country Club by Helena Dixon – I did read this and like all the other books in the Miss Underhay series it was fantastic.
  • Unravel Me by Taherah Mafi – I did read this. This is the second book in the Shatter Me series. This series has a way of sucking you in. I had some issues with Juliette’s character in this book and how little she stood up for herself but I also recognise that she needs the time to grow into that and I have a feeling it is going to happen in the third book. Otherwise I loved this book, its nearly 500 pages and I devoured it in a day easily.

Outside of my TBR I also read: Murder On Board by Helena Dixon, Murder At Highgate Cemetary by Irina Shapiro and Graveyard Shift by M L Rio that I was gifted for my birthday. Overall this means I read 10 books in April which I am very pleased with. There was only one that was a bit of a slog to read but everything else I really enjoyed, hopefully my reading in May will be just as good!

Monthly TBRs

April TBR

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. It is already April, I don’t know about anyone else but that has snuck up on me. What are you planning to read this month?

For this month I have tried to put together books that are a mix of genres so that I can have something fresh in between the big fantasy books.

My April TBR is:

Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun by Elle Cosimano

Unravel Me by Taherah Mafi

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Capturing The Devil by Kerri Mansicalco

Reckless by Lauren Roberts

Murder At The Country Club by Helena Dixon

Monthly TBRs

November TBR!

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I realise this post is quite a bit later in the month than it usually is but today I am bringing you what I want to read in the month of November!

What are you all reading this month?

Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun by Elle Cosimano

Nothing More To Tell by Karen M McManus

Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood – reread

Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman – reread

Gideon Green in Black and White by Katie Henry

Monthly Wrap Ups

April Wrap Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope the month of April has been good for all of you, for me it has been a rollercoaster nightmare! All medical things seemed to happen at once, so hopefully May will be a better month. BUT my reading has been okay this month, I didn’t really stick to my TBR but I was reading which is something good.

Books from my TBR:

  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – I started to read this book (finally!), I haven’t finished it but I have started it and it is a long book so I am pleased with myself for that.
  • Crescent City House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas – I did not start this book, waaaay too big for me to tackle this month!
  • Crownbreaker by Sebastien De Castell – I did read this, which means I finished the series!
  • The Girl In The Tower by Katherine Arden – I did not read
  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – I did not read
  • Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco – I did not read
  • Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber – I did not read
  • Sadie by Courtney Summers – I did not read
  • Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow – I did not read this
  • European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewomen – I did not read, another big book I don’t know what I was thinking when I made this TBR
  • Sense and Second Degree Murder by Tirzah Price – I did read this and loved it
  • Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano – I did not read this
  • A Little Bit Country by Brian D Kennedy – I did not read this
  • Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – I have been dying to read this all month but it just hasn’t happened yet
  • Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb – I did not read
  • The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon — I did not read

So, I read two books and started another from my TBR. outside of my TBR I also read: Gwen and Art Are Not In Love, Kingdom of the Cursed, The Bullet That Missed and I have started Murder Before Evensong. Overall in April I read 7 books!

How did you do in April?

What was your favourite book that you read this month?

Monthly Wrap Ups

November Wrap-Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. I am bringing you my November Wrap Up today. It was one of those months where I felt like I read a lot but I actually only read a little bit, do you ever have those types of months?

Anyway onto the wrap up!

  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I did not read this but I do have a reason, it’s literally on the top shelf of my bookcase and I can’t reach it without a step ladder which I also can’t get to at the moment.
  • The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas – I think we can safely say none of us are surprised I didn’t read this, romance is not my go to genre.
  • Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano – I did read this! And I really enjoyed it so look out for my book review coming soon.
  • The Girl’s I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe – I did not read this.
  • Emma by Jane Austen – Okay so I started reading this in November and I am currently reading it now, It is also on my December TBR so it is a bit of a crossover into both months.
  • The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley – I did not read this.
  • City of Brass by S A Chakraborty – I did not read this.
  • Finale by Stephanie Garber – I did not read this either.
  • Crownbreaker by Sebastien De Castell – I am still currently halfway through this book.
  • Amy and Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson – Another romance of course I didn’t read it.
  • From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout – I did not read this
  • Gallant by V E Schwab – I did not read this either.

So, that was the books on my TBR and I read one of them…oops. But outside my TBR I also read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, I borrowed the audiobook from my library for my trip to Liverpool and that was really enjoyable.

What did you read in November?

That’s it for my wrap-up I hope you all enjoyed it!

Monthly Wrap Ups

July Wrap Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! I know this post is going up on the first day of August when I usually post them at the end of the month I am writing about but July was quite the month! First there was YALC and Comic Con which I don’t really want to say that much about because it will turn into a rant, I did not have a good experience there this year because of the organization and well, they had no idea what to do with people who have disabilities so the less said about it the better. Then I found out I had gotten covid from YALC and I was so poorly, I still am a bit even a month on, I couldn’t do much. I rounded the month out with a trip to Bristol and a trip to Hampshire so I am pretty exhausted.

A good thing that happened this month is that I opened my Etsy shop! I have been thinking about this for a while and I have finally done it. I am creating bookish bookmarks, on card, wood and made of resin. If you’d like to visit my shop is TheBlindScribe

Anyway, my reading this month wasn’t great, I read some okay books but no books that I was really invested in. My book reviews of the books I did read will be coming on Mondays throughout August!

  • The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood – I did read this and actually I quite enjoyed it but I had one very specific issue with it which I will talk about in my book review of it.
  • A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn – I did not read this book
  • Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li – I did not read this
  • The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson – I did not read this book either
  • Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano – I haven’t read this book
  • The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – I haven’t read this book yet either
  • Nine Lives by Peter Swanson – I did not read this
  • Daughters of Night by Laura Shepard Robinson – I started this book a while ago but I haven’t continued with it yet
  • The Three Dog Problem by S J Bennett – I did read this!
  • The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah – I also read this book!
  • The Perfect Escape by Leah Konen – I did not read this book

Overall, I read three books this month which considering how poorly I was and how much has been going on this month is pretty good, I’m happy with it.

That’s it for my July wrap-up! I hope you all enjoyed it, my August TBR is coming on Friday!

Book Reviews

Book Review- Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you a review of one of the few books I read in February, Finlay Donovan is Killing it by Elle Cosimano.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It Plot:

For the first 100 pages I wasn’t sure what I thought of this book, there was so much happening in so few pages that it should have felt fast but it actually felt like it was pretty slow, it took me a week to read the first 100 pages but then I picked it up to read a bit more and ended up finishing the rest of the book in one sitting. So my opinion on it changed. I ended up loving it, the mystery had a twist that I did not see coming and it has a strong motive for Finlay, being her children and keeping her family together. It felt realistic and it was something that I really liked about this novel.

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It Characters:

So Finlay is the main character and she has a really great character arc, she has a focus on her children and her job and while her life is a mess at the beginning you see how hard she is trying to put it back together, I liked how relatable the character is even though the events of the novel aren’t realistic, it created a good balance.

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It Writing And Dialogue:

As I said the pace of the novel felt slow for the first part and that might be the writing a little but for the rest of the book the writing was excellent, clear and helped me to be dragged into the story.

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It Overall:

Overall I gave this book four stars because the second half was very entertaining but the first 100 pages let it down a little bit. I am excited to pick up the sequel as soon as possible.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Finlay Donovan is killing it…except, she’s really not. A stressed-out single mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: The new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written; her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her; and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors.

When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet. She soon discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.

Fast-paced, deliciously witty, and wholeheartedly authentic in depicting the frustrations and triumphs of motherhood in all its messiness, hilarity, and heartfelt moments, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is the first in a brilliant new series from award-winning Elle Cosimano.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!