I’m biased. I see a romance book featuring cryptids and I’m intrigued. I discovered Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe last year and specifically asked for this book for Christmas. Once I received my physical copy, I prioritized reading this book this month. Love And Other Conspiracies was such a lovely, heartwarming romance book. I am obsessed and cannot wait for the sequel to come out later this year.

Hallie Barrett is a producer for a popular website that produces short web series. After her relationship ends, she’s left without a show to produce. After stumbling upon Hayden Hargrove’s Cryptid Hunting docuseries, she asks Hayden to sign on and become the new show she’s making. Hayden agrees but asks Hallie to step in as co-host. She’s never been a co-host before especially because she’s always been behind the camera. As Hallie starts to get to know Hayden, she realizes how great of a guy he is and while they may not find Bigfoot running around, she finds love instead.

This was adorable. Hayden’s love for conspiracy theories and his show is genuine. Hayden even has a cat named Cthulhu. Once I read that, I knew this would be a five-star book. There was no way this book would let me down, not even a little bit. Hayden and Hallie were cute together. Hallie was clearly crushing on Hayden for a while before they got together. I was rooting for her to make the first move. In most of the romance books I rate highly, the characters have to be good together or I have to believe they will be together after the book ends. I feel that way for them.

I liked the setting of this book. I could picture Hallie in LA, stuck in traffic, and rooming with her best friend. The production company she works for reminded me of Buzzfeed or Dropout. In the episodes that Hallie and Hayden filmed, they would film onsite. One of the scenes in the book features Hallie and Hayden in West Virginia at the Mothman statue. I went to see the Mothman statue several years ago, so it was fun to reminisce as they were there in the book.

There isn’t much else to say. Love And Other Conspiracies was cute and I can’t wait to read the sequel. I rated Love And Other Conspiracies five stars on Goodreads.

A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey wasn’t a book I included in my February TBR post. I have a list of audiobooks I want to listen to this month, but I didn’t want to set a firm goal regarding how many I would finish. A Thousand Miles has been on my TBR for way too long. This book was written for me, I mean a romance taking place while the two main characters are on a road trip together, adorable. A Thousand Miles was so cute and was my favorite audiobook I listened to.

Dee Matthews is the cohost of the podcast “Did I Forget To Tell You” which is primarily an interview show. She speaks with friends and family and frequently talks about her experiences, often referring to one person as “Redacted”. Redacted is known as Ben Porter, a science teacher who used to date Dee when they were in high school. While they dated, they buried a time capsule in Ben’s grandma’s backyard. Presently, Ben turns up at Dee’s door asking her to come with him on a road trip to his grandma’s house to dig up the capsule. Dee agrees to accompany him because it’s not like anything would happen between them anyway. As the miles fly by, Ben and Dee quickly reignite their chemistry from all those years ago.

The road trip aspect of the book was so fun. As someone who has driven to Colorado several times, I could easily picture where Dee and Ben would stop on their adventures. The adventures they have are over-the-top, to say the least. I found myself looking forward to the moments when I could listen to this on my commute home or when I cleaned the house. I was glad I listened to the audiobook because the narration differs from Dee’s podcast transcripts to another audiobook narrator reading Ben’s point of view. It was easier to follow along as I listened to each chapter.

Ben is the best guy. He’s a science teacher and loves baseball. He adores Dee. While Ben is laid-back, Dee is the opposite. She’s opinionated, flirty, and stubborn. Out of the two, I felt Ben was more established and Dee came off as immature. I didn’t mind that though since a core theme of the book was that Dee and Ben dated in high school. Throughout the book, I felt that Ben and Dee reuniting was meant to be.

A Thousand Miles was the road trip, baseball, rom-com I needed in a book. This was one of my favorite audiobooks I have listened to and part of me wants to buy a copy of this book to have on my bookshelf. I rated A Thousand Miles five stars on Goodreads.

It’s February which means it’s my annual romance reading month. I have big reading goals for this month as I’m going to attempt to read four books in a month plus audiobooks on top of that. It’s ambitious for sure, but I think it can be done. The books I have chosen for this month are roughly 350 pages each, so they aren’t long books. I have to aim to read a book a week and if I’m good with my time management, I can achieve this. I’m going to summarize what I read last month and what romance books I will read this month.

In January, I wanted to read three thriller books. In total, I read four books and listened to two audiobooks. They are as follows:

• The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James 2/5 stars
• The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley 5/5 stars
• Critical Role: Bells Hells – What Doesn’t Break by Cassandra Khaw 3.5/5 stars
• What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall 4/5 stars
• All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson. Unrated
• Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, Early Motherhood – And Trusting Yourself and Your Body by Erica Chidi. Unrated.

The two books that stood out to me from last month were The Hunting Party and All Boys Aren’t Blue. I love Lucy Foley and while The Hunting Party is my least favorite thriller she’s written, I still enjoyed it. All Boys Aren’t Blue was an interesting memoir. I like when the authors read their own audiobooks. I found it engaging to listen to.

Here are the four books I’m going to try to read this month:

Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

Hallie Barrett is a producer working for a company similar to BuzzFeed. Hallie is tasked with producing a new web series that will gain popularity online. Hallie finds Hayden Hargrove’s podcast which is dedicated to conspiracy theories and cryptids. Hayden agrees to partner with Hallie to turn his podcast into a live show. After several stays at haunted locations throughout California, Hallie and Hayden may not find Bigfoot, but they do find that they have feelings for each other.

I started this book already and I’m obsessed. Hayden has a pet cat named Cthulhu, how cute is that. Is this book cheesy? Yes. Am I loving every bit of this book? Also yes.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane builds algorithms to predict how customers will spend their money. While Stella has had success in her professional life, dating has not been working well. Stella is on the Autism Spectrum and she decides to hire an escort to help her find a date. Michael Phan is smitten with Stella from the get-go and she pays well, so he has nothing to lose by helping her. While their partnership is innocent at first, once they learn more about each other, are they compatible together?

This is a re-read as I read The Kiss Quotient several years ago. I have been trying to re-read more books from my collection and I remember loving this book when I originally read it several years ago. I rated The Kiss Quotient four stars which feels too low. This book has stuck with me and I tend to compare the romance books I have read to this one. It wouldn’t surprise me if I were to re-read this and bump up my rating.

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

Do Your Worst follows Riley Rhodes, an occult expert, who is hired to investigate a curse at a Scottish castle. She meets Clark Edgeware, an archaeologist, who has had some career bumps. Clark doesn’t want Riley stealing his thunder, but he also has no right to chase her away from the castle. Riley and Clark are forced to work together to break this curse.

Do Your Worst has a 3.48 average rating on Goodreads which feels low. However, I can’t pass on the premise of this book. I don’t need every book I read to be a masterpiece.

The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson

Daphne Brink loves baseball and it’s been a good distraction as she finalizes her divorce. Daphne heckles baseball player, Chris Kepler during a game. Feeling bad, she reaches out to Chris to apologize although she fails to mention that she was the one to heckle him in the first place. Chris responds and finds that it’s easy to make conversation with Daphne. Daphne feels bad for not telling Chris the truth. There’s no way that Chris won’t find out about this, right?

I listened to With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson last year and I liked it a lot! The audiobook narration was cringy, so I wanted to physically read Alicia’s other books. I’m looking forward to reading this one, it looks cute.

Am I going to be able to read all four of these books? It will be a lot of reading, but I’m sure that I will manage.

CW: SA, using sex as a coping method for trauma

When I finished reading What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall, I thought to myself that I should watch an animated movie after this. I don’t mind darker thrillers, but this was heavy to read. This book was a rollercoaster because I wasn’t sure if I liked the way this book was written and then I ended up reading 250 pages in a day. That’s how thrillers can be sometimes. I enjoyed this book and I will look into reading Kate Alice Marshall’s other books.

Naomi Shaw is a survivor. When she was young, she was stabbed 17 times by a serial killer. Her friends were witnesses and Naomi was rescued. Her testimony put a serial killer in prison. Several years later, this serial killer dies, so Naomi visits her small town to reunite with Cassidy and Olivia. As they talk, it’s clear lies bind them and what they said on the stand is not what played out. Is it worth digging up what happened all those years ago? or should things stay as they were?

What Lies in the Woods was interesting in the way the story unfolded. It’s clear something happened in the woods all those years ago and how Naomi is lying about something. Olivia is the first to mention a woman named Persephone, but she isn’t explained initially. I found that frustrating. As the reader, I was being left in the dark. Additionally, flashbacks of the three girls are in the same chapter as present-day events which was a little confusing. If the flashbacks were separate chapters, I would have liked that better. With all of that said, once I was a third of the way through the book and Persephone was revealed, I was invested in learning about what Naomi went through.

Diving into the characters, I couldn’t stand Naomi at first. There is a moment in the book where Naomi tries to seduce a married man. Naomi uses sex to make herself feel better and not be trapped with her thoughts. I felt bad for her, but it doesn’t excuse her actions. As the book went on, I think Naomi recognized this and grew as a character. By the end of the book, I didn’t mind Naomi and could understand why she was the way she was. Cassidy, who goes by Cass, is mean. The way she treats Naomi is deplorable which Naomi pushes off as that’s how Cass has always been. Olivia, going by Liv, processes her trauma quietly and seems to be with her thoughts. This friendship is fascinating to read because I don’t believe their friendship would have lasted if they had not endured this together.

The only grievance I have with this book that I wanted to mention is Naomi. The way sex was described in this book made me uncomfortable. I think it can be realistic that instead of drowning your sorrows or trauma in alcohol, using sex can be a coping mechanism. As a reader, I was uncomfortable reading these portions of the book. I don’t think it was wrong to include this, but I felt the book would have proceeded the same without it.

I liked this book a lot! It was dark, but a page-turner which is exactly what I was looking for. I rated What Lies in the Woods four 1/2 stars on Goodreads.

Lucy Foley has written four thrillers and I have read three of them. I save her books to read every January because it kicks off my reading year with a bang. The book I started this year with was The Hunting Party. The Hunting Party reminded me of This is Our Story by Ashley Elston, a YA version of this book. Both books focus on a murder that happens with hunting as the background to the setting. While I liked The Hunting Party, I think it was Lucy Foley’s weaker book out of the ones I have read.

For a New Year’s Eve trip, several friends rent a lodge in the middle of the wilderness. Emma, Mark, Samira, Gilles, Nick, Bo, Miranda, Julien, and Katie reunite to reminisce about their days attending Oxford together. A few days later, one of them is found dead. Meanwhile, Heather and Doug who work at The Lodge are trying to find the missing guest. The Hunting Party is told from both the past and the present before converging into the pinnacle reveal of who killed whom.

I described The Hunting Party as Lucy Foley’s training wheels book. This is the first thriller she released before The Guest List and The Paris Apartment. The Hunting Party walked, so The Guest List could run. This book felt slower than her other books. It wasn’t until page 200 where secrets started to drop that I was invested in this mystery. The Hunting Party had more red herrings and dropped plot points which left me feeling disappointed as a reader. In case it’s needed, a red herring is a clue, story point, or information written in a book that is meant to be distracting, so the reader thinks it’s important when it might not be. I won’t go into those since it would spoil the entire book.

Besides the story, this friend group was awful and I was here for it. The story is told from the perspective of five characters, three of them were a part of the friend group. There’s Meredith, who’s meant to be the attractive, bubbly friend whom everyone is jealous of. There’s Emma, the newest to the friend group as she started dating Mark, one of the original friends. Finally, there’s Katie, the introvert and quiet friend in the group. One of these friends needs to be put in friend jail because the betrayal is obscene. With thrillers, I don’t mind reading books where I hate everybody. It’s nice to root for someone, but I’m okay with being invested in the drama. This friend group was chaos and to see it dissolve as the book unfolds was interesting to read. There were plenty of motives amongst the friend group as to who would have the motive to kill someone else. I felt there was enough going on where I didn’t put two and two together until closer to the end which was a nice surprise.

This was my least favorite Lucy Foley book I read. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. It still kept my interest which is what I want with a thriller. It wasn’t on the same level as The Guest List and The Paris Apartment. I rated The Hunting Party five stars on Goodreads.

I’m starting 2025 off strong by finishing my first book of the year. In January, I usually read thrillers. Thrillers are quick reads for me and I find it ramps up my reading year. I had wanted to read The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James for a while. I fully went into this book thinking it would be a new favorite of mine. On top of that, I added some of Simone St. James’s other books to my reading list as well. The Book of Cold Cases had so much potential, ultimately, this book didn’t work for me.

In 1977, Beth Greer was tried and acquitted for the murder of two men. Beth continued to live in Claire Lake, Oregon where the crimes occurred. Currently, Shea Collins is a blogger for her own True Crime website. She’s written extensively about the Lady Killer case, which Beth was linked to. After meeting Beth in a chance encounter, Shea asks her for an interview and is surprised when Beth says yes. Will Shea finally solve this infamous case and did Beth do it?

I was under the impression that The Book of Cold Cases was a thriller. This book is a thriller, but it’s also a ghost story. When Shea interviews Beth, she notices some odd occurrences at the house. It’s revealed to the reader that there are ghosts in Beth’s house. I will be honest, I was not a fan of the supernatural element to the story. I am fine with ghost stories if I’m reading a horror book. I had expectations for what I wanted this book to be, so when it wasn’t what I had originally wanted to read, I was disappointed.

Regarding the characters, Shea was a dull character to follow. She had a traumatic event happen to her as a child which is supposed to explain why she writes her blog. I would have loved to read more character development from Shea. What’s the goal of her blog? Does she want to solve these crimes? Does she want to be an author? Instead, she isolates herself, but that’s all I know about her. It would have been more interesting to hear about her blog and what motivates her to continue writing. The Book of Cold Cases is story-driven, but arguably not character-driven, which is fine. However, I like to care about the characters I’m reading about and I didn’t feel that way about Shea.

Leading into the story, it was okay. Towards the middle of the book, it’s revealed who the true killer is. I didn’t find the reveal to be particularly interesting. On top of that, once the killer was revealed, I stopped caring about the book. In my eyes, the book was finished and all Shea had to do was write the story and what happened all those years ago. Instead, the final climax of the book features Shea trying to escape a ghost.

The Book of Cold Cases boils down to personal preference. I like thrillers and horror, but I don’t need bits of both in one book. I don’t think this author is for me. I read the premise of her other books and they follow the same format of thrillers mixed with supernatural elements. I removed them from my reading list. For those who liked this book, I’m happy for you! This book wasn’t for me. I rated The Book of Cold Cases two stars on Goodreads.

For the holidays, a few family members asked me for gift ideas of what I would want for Christmas. After some thought, I decided to send a long list of different books I wanted. I like providing books as gift ideas because books are relatively inexpensive and it sets me up to have a great reading year. I wanted to share all the books I got for Christmas and hopefully when I will make the time to read them.

A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

I have wanted to read a book by T. Kingfisher for a long time. The various book bloggers I follow have raved about her books and I was feeling left out of the loop. A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking is about a young wizard named Mona who doesn’t have the same magical powers as everyone else. Her magic only works when she’s baking bread. When a dead body is found at her bakery, she’s pulled into a conspiracy she didn’t want to be a part of. This premise reminds me of Legends & Lattes, so I’m curious if this is going to be a cozy fantasy book.

A Perilous Undertaking A Veronica Speedwell Mystery by Deanna Raybourn

This is the second book in the Veronica Speedwell series. This series takes place in London in the late 1800s. Veronica has rejected societal norms in which she is supposed to be married. She has teamed up with Stoker who has helped her solve various mysteries. In this book, Veronica is asked to help save an art patron before he’s executed for murder. I read the first book in this series while in Europe and I enjoyed it, so I wanted to continue reading the series.

Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

Love and Other Conspiracies is a romance between a web producer and a cryptid expert who also hosts a podcast. I don’t know about you, but I love cryptid conspiracy theories. I went to see The Mothman statue in West Virginia several years ago and now I’m a fan. I think the premise of this sounds too cute and most of the reviews have been positive. I hope to read this during February which is when I usually read exclusively romance.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

I loved Part of Your World when I read it last year. As a reading goal, I want to read more from authors that I have read before. Yours Truly takes off where Part of Your World left off. Yours Truly focuses on Alexis’s best friend, Briana, and her romance with a doctor. I loved Alexis’s friendship with Briana, so I’m looking forward to reading this.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

I own the original cover of Legends & Lattes, but I don’t own this edition. The artwork is stunning and I love the image on the spine with the sword through the coffee cup. I’m not normally someone who would collect special editions of books, but happy to make an exception as Legends & Lattes is a book I adore.

The Ashes & The Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent

The Ashes & The Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent is the second book in the Crowns of Nyaxia series. I read the first book last year and I enjoyed it. I described the first book as Hunger Games with vampires. The second book builds off the climactic ending from the first book and I’m curious to see what Oraya will do.

It’s a good feeling to have something new to read.

Before writing this, I read my “End of Year Book Survey” posts from 2023 and 2022. I like consistency in my posts, especially those I write every year. For these posts, I follow Perpetual Page Turner’s Book Survey questions. I love this blog tag and if you aren’t currently following Perpetual Page Turner, you should. Her blog tags always have a series of questions and I like to pick and choose which questions I want to respond to. I’m doing something new that I haven’t done in prior posts. I’m going to share my library savings. My library savings are the money saved by renting books and audiobooks from the library rather than buying physical copies. 2024 was a solid reading year for me and I can’t wait to dig into it in detail.

2024 Reading Stats

Number of Books Read: 73

Number of Re-Reads: 1

Genre You Read the Most From: Historical Fiction

Library Savings: $300

I read 73 books in 2024. This is my third-highest reading year according to Goodreads (In 2022, I read 104 books and in 2021, I read 99 books). I’m happy with how this reading year went. I only re-read one book this year which was Snotgirl Volume #1. I read the first issue of Snotgirl several years ago and discounted the series, but ended up giving it another chance. I’m glad I did because this series has grown on me. I think my number of re-reads next year will be higher as I have already pulled books off my shelf that I want to re-read.

It’s tough to say what my most-read genre is since Goodreads focuses on the number of books read. I have started utilizing StoryGraph which does provide more data than Goodreads does. However, I only started using this a month or two ago, so I can’t say much more than that. I decided to highlight Historical Fiction not because it was my most-read genre, but because it’s the genre I rediscovered this year. I’m not sure why I was sleeping on Historical Fiction, but what a waste. I have already added more Historical Fiction books to my TBR to read in the coming years.

Finally, I wanted to talk about my library savings. In 2024, I rented 20 books from the library. On average, the cost of a brand-new paperback book can be anywhere from $10 – $18, so I decided to go with a middle-ground cost of $15. I multiplied 20 books with $15 per book and came to a savings of $300. That’s a lot! My go-to was to always buy my books, but knowing I can save hundreds of dollars by using my local library, makes a difference. I’m going to calculate my library savings in future reading years.

Best In Books

Best Book You Read in 2024?

The best book I read in 2024 was How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin. This was Knives Out in book form. I loved the premise, the mystery, and the flashbacks. I liked how there was a partnership between the main character and the detective, but not a forced romance between them. This feels hypocritical of me to say since I love reading romance, but not everything has to be romantic. The second book in this series is set to be released next year and I cannot wait.

Best Series You Started in 2024

Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine is the book I chose for this prompt. I loved this book. I liked Gwen and how protective she was of her kids. I liked reading about the town Gwen moved to and all the people she met. I felt this book set up the second book perfectly and created enough suspense to make me look forward to continuing the series. This was a book I rented from the library, but now I plan on buying the physical copies instead.

Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2024?

Fiona Davis is the author I love right now. Her book, The Spectacular was the last book I read this year. It’s a Historical Fiction book taking place in New York City in the 1950s. Marion is a young woman who auditions for the Rockettes but gets involved in a police investigation after she’s a witness to a bombing at a theater. This book was an emotional read and gave me a lot to think about. I added more of Fiona Davis’s books to my TBR. I’m not sure why I haven’t read more Historical Fiction in previous reading years.

Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Out of all the books I read this year, I chose Murder In The Family by Cara Hunter. This book was so addicting, it was on the back of my mind while I worked from home. I looked forward to reading this book each night and ended up reading close to 200 pages in one sitting. I stayed up way too late to figure out what was going on and it was worth it. This was unlike any book I have ever read and I would recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with reading in the past.

Most Thought-Provoking / Life Changing Book in 2024?

My Body by Emily Ratajkowski was an honest and refreshing take on women’s bodies. I appreciated how honest Emily was and how her body propelled her career. There were certain quotes from this book that were thought-provoking and beautifully written. I listened to My Body as an audiobook and I’m glad I did because I felt Emily’s voice to be soothing. In most audiobooks, the narrator doesn’t get emotional, but since Emily narrated her own book, I could hear her voice breaking at parts which felt authentic and real. This is a book I would want to own as a physical copy on my bookshelf.

OTP Of The Year (You will go down with this ship!)

OTP (stands for One True Pairing) is the couple who you’re most rooting for. This was an easy choice for me. Alexis and Daniel are the couple that will be together forever. Their chemistry was off the charts and I liked how this was an age gap with a woman being older than a man. I find that to be less common in romance books. It’s interesting because these two had great chemistry without having a lot of smut. I love smut, but if you don’t want to read about the two characters having graphic sex with each other, Part Of Your World by Abby Jimenez would be a good book for you.

Favorite Book You Read in 2024 From An Author You’ve Read Previously?

For several years, I have started my reading year by reading a book by Lucy Foley. It’s become a tradition now and one I plan on continuing. I read The Paris Apartment and as always, I loved it. I think Lucy does a great job at capturing suspense and I tend to finish her books quickly. I have another book of hers that I will read in January.

Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent was interesting from a world-building perspective. I liked reading about the different vampire houses and what the vampires looked like. It reminded me of The Raven Queen from Dungeons & Dragons lore. While it took me a bit to get through the book, the world that Carissa created kept me going. I hopefully will read the second book sometime next year.

Your Blogging / Bookish Life

Best Bookish Discover (book-related sites, book stores etc.)?

One of the most memorable book-related memories in 2024 was discovering Tropes & Trifles. Tropes & Trifles is primarily a romance-only bookstore in Minneapolis. Each section of the store is a different type of romance trope. There is a dark romance shelf, contemporary, and paranormal romance. Books have stickers on them if they feature an LGBTQIA+ romance which I think is an added bonus. I have taken several of my friends there. One of the easiest ways I can support a local business is to go to a local bookstore. Tropes & Trifles is a store I look forward to visiting.

Looking Ahead

One Book You Didn’t Get to in 2024?

This is a trick question. I read all my unread books in my “to be read” pile on my bookshelf. This might be the first year I have ever done that. I will have new books to read in 2024 that I purchased recently or books I received as presents from friends and family. I have been committed to not buying more books when I haven’t read what I already have.

Books You Are Most Anticipating For 2025?

I have so many! I saw Goodreads had a list of all anticipated 2025 book releases, so I added a bunch of them to my shelf. I’m going to create a list of all my 2025 book releases I’m waiting on

• How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin.
• The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
• The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
• Critical Role: Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon

One Thing You Hope to Accomplish or Do In Your Reading / Blogging Life?

I have two things I want to accomplish. The first would be to continue listening to audiobooks. I want to listen to at least one audiobook in a month. The second would be to continually review my Goodreads TBR. My reading interests have changed a lot and some of the books I added back in 2019, I don’t see myself reading. I want my Goodreads TBR shelf to reflect all the books I want to read and I’d rather have fewer books on my shelf than have so many that I can’t keep track of them. I’m notorious for starting books and never continuing the series and I want to be better at committing to the book series I start.

This was a solid reading year for me. This was the year I rediscovered audiobooks and started renting books from the library regularly. I am looking forward to my reading year in 2025.

I didn’t write a TBR post for December. I decided that I wanted to read whatever I was in the mood for. I rented three books from the library that sounded interesting to me, who knows if I will get to them or not. The first book I rented was Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter. I didn’t know much about this book before renting it. Murder in the Family is like the “Hunt a Killer” boxes if the boxes were books instead.

Successful filmmaker, Guy Howard, was 10 when his step-father, Luke Ryder was murdered. The murder has gone unsolved for close to 20 years. Guy decides enough is enough and partners with a TV producer to launch a six-episode series reinvestigating the crime. Guy wants the truth, that’s all that matters to him. In six episodes, readers will become hyperfocused on the crime, the secrets, and who could gain from Luke’s death. Can you solve the crime or are you simply along for the ride?

This is unlike any book I have ever read. Throughout the book, there are images of newspaper clippings, emails, and text messages between several characters. Most of the story is told through the episode transcripts which highlight which characters are discussing what part of the story. That’s why I feel this is similar to the Hunt A Killer boxes because it feels less like a book and more like evidence being presented to the reader. I didn’t realize this when I rented the book and enjoyed this concept. I would read more thrillers from this author or more thrillers presented in this way.

When I began reading this book, I was immediately hooked. It’s not often that I stay up until midnight reading a book. I finished this book in a few days and towards the end of the day, I couldn’t wait to continue where I left off. Any book that feels addicting will automatically be a book that I rate highly even if I’m not a fan of how the story plays out.

With that said, I liked the first half of the story. The first reveal was jaw-dropping. I had to re-read it several times to make sure I fully realized what the reveal meant and how that changed the course of the investigation. I can’t say much more than this without spoiling the entire book, so I will leave it at that. While the book started strong, I felt the second half to be lackluster in comparison. I mentioned the similarity between this book and the Hunt A Killer boxes. I have completed some of the Hunt A Killer boxes where the killer reveal seems out of place and I’d put Murder in the Family in that category.

I’m glad I read this! The story could have been more refined, but it didn’t make me enjoy the book any less. I hope to see more books written in this format. I rated Murder in the Family four and a half stars on Goodreads.