illstoptheworldandreadwithyou's reviews
736 reviews

It’s the winter of 1906 and Lady Emily and her husband, Colin, are at a house party in Bavaria near Neuschwanstein Castle. Although they are unfamiliar with the majority of their fellow guests, they quickly discover that not everyone in the party is beloved. What appear to be murder attempts start occurring soon after everyone convenes.

When one of the guests is murdered and everyone is isolated at the villa due to a snowstorm, Emily and Colin begin questioning everyone to determine who committed the crime.

The primary action is set during the house party, but there is a dual timeline aspect to this one. The secondary timeline covers the story of a young German, named Niels, who grows close to King Ludwig, who is famous for his construction of Neuschwanstein Castle (among other things), nearly 40 years before the house party Emily and Colin attend.

I will openly admit that when I requested this one, I did realize that it is part of a series but did not realize that it is book 18 in that series. I feel I probably would have enjoyed this more had I already been a fan of the series.

I appreciated the setting and varied cast of characters as well as how Emily and Colin treat each other as equals.

Although there are various clues and red herrings planted in regards to the murderer’s identity in the narrative, when it comes time for the reveal, there is more telling than showing.

The lead-up to the murder and the investigation themselves drag in this one.

And while I learned more about King Ludwig than I had previously known, I do not feel like the entirety of that plot line is necessary background to the events set in 1906.

All that being said, I could see this book (or this series) being adapted and made popular by PBS.

I had advance copies of both the ebook and the audiobook. Bianca Amato’s narration portrays British, German, and French accents in this one. There’s a large cast of characters, and Amato utilizes different voices for each one.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Minotaur Books and an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio. All review opinions are my own.

 

Two people, each saving the world in their own way—one using more legal means than the other, end up careening into each other in The Hero and the Hacktivist. 

 

Be prepared to cackle, but also be ready to be hit with steam. Pippa Grant is fantastic at writing quirky/kooky main characters and bringing them together with sizzling hot chemistry. 

 

This is the fourth book in the series, and while it isn’t necessary to read the others first, I highly recommend reading the whole series for a better understanding and background of the complete cast of characters. 

 

This is a quick read and is super fun on audio. Teddy Hamilton and Maxine Mitchell capture the humor in this one perfectly. 

I concur with other reviewers who have likened this to a mashup of Finlay Donovan and The Blonde Identity. 

 

This one is cute, with many relatable mom moments. In many ways, she’s “a walking comedy of errors,” but some of those mishaps work out in her favor espionage-wise. 

 

It would make a fun spy-themed sitcom—like a present-day Get Smart with a mom figure in the affable Maxwell Smart role (but where the mom has more substance than Max did). 

 

I would have loved a bit more tension or sizzle between the FMC and her love interest. The kissing-only heat level feels right for this one, but I wasn’t completely sold on their attraction to each other. 

 

I received an advance copy of the book from Forever. Review opinions are my own. 

You know how some books just fit your mood perfectly and make you smile? This is one of those for me.

At a glance:
- Pro hockey player + baking show host
- Giant ginger + petite, curvy FMC
- Older brother's best friend
- Childhood crush (longtime pining)
- Fake dating
- Tattoos
- Tenderness and caring
- Family issues
- That combustible chemistry I've come to expect from Lana Ferguson
+ She calls him "Cupcake".  *happy sigh*

I highly recommend listening to this one on audio for the dual narration by Zachary Webber and Samantha Summers. 🔥 Their narration captures these characters perfectly.

If you’re in the mood for an emotionally heavy, new adult sports romance, check out Enemies from Tijan.

Former childhood friends-turned-enemies enter into a situationship before admitting they're in love in this one.

There's just something about Tijan's writing style that always pulls me in. I did not want to put this one down.

Strap in for the drama and lots of back-and-forth feelings and animosity; stay for the caring, the unexpected found family, and the irrepressible chemistry between Dusty and Stone.

There are some heavy content warnings for this one. Check them out if you are sensitive to triggers.

Check out the new paperback edition for bonus content. Thanks to Entangled Publishing for sending me a copy!

4.5⭐️

This series just keeps getting better and better. 

In The Worst Duke in London, book 3 of the Taming of the Dukes series, Amalie Howard gifts us the 10 Things I Hate About You / Taming of the Shrew retelling we never knew we needed.

You know this setup: the sister that has no interest in relationships or marriage, whose younger sister is desperate to (date) have her season but is only allowed to go to town if her older sister does, meets the love interest, who is coerced—for lack of a better term—into charming her by the ne’er-do-well who is interested in the younger sister.

To accurately encapsulate my adoration for this book, I’m going to share a list of assorted thoughts I had while reading this one:
- You’ve gotta love a crotch-grab meet-cute complete with kittens!
- Ooh, a sinkhole / mud pit rescue with “[l]usty mud”  👀
- Forearms!!!
- BANTER
- Lots of eye narrowing
- She’s a danger to his coats 
- [REDACTED]!!!
- I sure do adore the Hellfire Kitties!
- These inner commentaries truly are fantastic.
- Leannan *clasps hands* "Oh, my heart"
- There’s just something about a pugilist, Highlander duke.
- Yes! A let’s-do-this-without-feelings scenario—we all know how this ends.
- An unconventional party  👀
- I do so love carriage shenanigans 🔥
- “‘Good girl.’” Yesssss
- Lots of caber talk
- Giggles and guffaws
- The kilt 🔥

Just read it. I know you’ll love it.

I received an advance copy of the book from Forever. All review opinions are my own.

Schemes, hijinks, and seduction fill the pages of How to Fall for a Scoundrel, book 2 of Kate Bateman’s Her Majesty’s Rebels series. 

She sees herself as the sensible wallflower who easily blends into the background; he sees her as impossible to resist. When newcomer—and criminal?—Henri Bonheur enters the scene and pretends to take on the role of the fictitious “Charles King” of King & Co., Eleanor Law and her friends—and King &. Co. co-founders—find themselves partnering with a man whom they know next-to-nothing about.

This is another fun one from Bateman with plenty of chemistry between our leads. It’s not my favorite of her books, but it's still an enjoyable ride.

I received an advance copy of the book from St. Martin’s Press. All review opinions are my own.

 

When Marlowe Meadows is dumped by her boyfriend at the beginning of senior year, she doesn’t understand what has gone wrong. She feels like she has somehow missed the rules of how relationships are supposed to go, and she seeks help from an unlikely source to learn how to win back her boyfriend. 

 

Goth guy Ash is the opposite of popular boy Josh in practically every way, but as Marlowe learns when she’s partnered with him for a class project, one thing Ash does understand is romance. She proposes that he teach her about romance in exchange for her helping him with the website and social media presence for his band. 

 

With Ash’s help, Marlowe wants to pull a Cyrano on Josh to get him to give her another chance, but Ash has a different idea: he can help her learn about romance through romance novels and their own set of lessons. 

 

Marlowe thought Josh was the right person for her, but as things turn out, someone better has been in the background the whole time. 

 

Honestly, I absolutely adored this one. 

 

Read it for 

I received an advance copy of the book from Wednesday Books and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.
 

The granddaughter of a convicted serial killer finds herself in the center of a present-day murder investigation in the The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco.

Capri Sanzio has always believed in her grandfather’s innocence. Growing up, her grandfather was a banned topic in the household, but the suppression of those discussions only fueled Capri’s curiosity more. Now in her 40s, Capri has spun that interest in her grandfather’s alleged guilt into a tour business: she offers serial killer tours of San Francisco.

When her ex-mother-in-law cuts off funding for Capri’s daughter’s grad school tuition, Capri needs additional income to help out. She starts digging more into what happened when her grandfather was convicted so long ago, hoping to both prove his innocence and make some money from creating a podcast and writing a book in the process.

Then a copycat killer strikes in San Francisco, and Capri finds herself trying to figure out the culprit in those original murders and the ones impacting her family today.

This book ended up falling somewhere in the middle for me. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it.

It’s not a long book—in print or on audio—but it ended up feeling long to me. I liked the setting and setup but wasn’t enamored with the pacing and delivery of information. I liked when you get glimpses of information shared on tours as interstitials and would have loved to have seen more of that. I also wish that some of the details from the original murders had been included in a podcast format instead of getting into the weeds as Capri discovers that information.

I liked the hint of a budding romance but wish the little details and interactions had been played up a bit more.

Side note:  I will admit that I am too much of a scaredy-cat to go on the serial killer tours based on true crimes in the book, but if that tour agency were to put together the Alfred Hitchcock tour that's discussed, I would gladly go on that.

I had advance copies of both the ebook and the audiobook. Stephanie Németh-Parker’s narration kept me engaged in the story, and I liked her voices for all of the characters. It was easy to keep track of which character was speaking.

I had an advance copy of the ebook from Minotaur Books and advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio. All review opinions are my own.

This series makes me so giddy, y'all. 

I love the Villain's reluctance to admitting that he is falling in love, how he and Evie interact, and how Evie is coming into her own power in this one.

Between the fun cast of characters, the adventure, and Kingsley and his signs, this book kept me grinning the entire time I was reading it.