Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
YA author Moke (Hood) makes her adult debut with this winning romantic mystery centered on a bestselling novelist. When Kate Valentine agrees to attend her ex-fiancé's fancy wedding on a private island in the San Juan archipelago, she expects to spend most of the weekend hiding away to work on her newest manuscript. Once she arrives, however, her plans are upended. First, she's forced to share a room with the dreamy Jake Hawkins, an ex who Kate has recently become convinced is the one that got away. Then someone at the wedding dies in a poisoning that eerily mimics the plot of one of Kate's novels, and she enlists Jake's help to determine who among the party might be responsible. Predictably, sparks fly between the amateur sleuths, but it's to Moke's credit that little else about this brisk and charming whodunit is predictable. With truly surprising twists, fully developed characters, and a satisfying balance of courtship and detection, this has more than enough for a potential series. Agent: Elizabeth Bewley, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Jan.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
YA author Moke's (Samantha Knox series) funny, fast-paced adult debut is a mystery/romance hybrid set at a wedding weekend on a private island near Seattle. Among the attendees is Kate Valentine, struggling to write her next mystery, whose deadline has long passed. The groom-to-be is her ex-fiancé, but he's also her editor, so Kate couldn't say no to his invitation. On the bright side, she's hoping a weekend at an atmospheric estate will refuel her writing mojo. Then she stumbles across a body and is suspected of poisoning her ex's new fiancée. When another member of the wedding party dies, Kate begins investigating to prove she isn't the culprit. Helping her out is her former writing partner (and also former flame), Jake Hawkins. As Kate investigates this real-life mystery, she realizes that what she thought would never be possible with Jake just could be. The colorful cast of characters have complicated relationships, many of which give them reason to kill. VERDICT The dialogue sparkles and the eccentric characters will delight readers. For fans of the movie Knives Out and those who zipped through Jesse Q. Sutanto's Dial A for Aunties.--Jane Jorgenson
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
When Kate Valentine, author of the bestselling Loretta Starling mystery series, decides to attend the wedding of her editor (and ex-fiance), her sleuthing skills are put to the test. Kate knows that attending her ex-fiance Spencer's wedding is probably a bad idea, but when she finds out that he'll be marrying Kennedy Hempstead, of the wealthy Hempstead family, she can't resist the temptation, especially since the invitation came from the infamous Rebecca Hempstead, Kennedy's aunt, known as the "Bitch Bull of Wall Street." Things become infinitely more complicated--and sexy, due to some convenient forced proximity--when Kate discovers that her longtime crush, Jake Hawkins, a former professional surfer, has been mistakenly invited as her plus-one, and that Spencer might be harboring feelings for her even after their disastrous break-up. When Rebecca suddenly changes the Hempstead family's inheritance plans, throwing the celebration into utter chaos, and the bride-to-be is poisoned in a way strangely reminiscent of one of Kate's novels, Kate finds herself turning to her fictional detective to help solve the mystery and clear her name. Kate's vivid imagination and reliance on Loretta Starling means that the plot bounces between the events surrounding the wedding and excerpts from Kate's novels. While this is a clever device, it has a tendency to muddy the tale rather than clear things up, especially since the author juggles a large and unruly cast of characters. But while this sometimes falls short as a detective novel, it works as a second-chance romance, and the combination of the two in this adult debut make it a charming and highly entertaining addition to both genres. A delightful, light-hearted whodunit with a touch of romance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
