Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
 

First line: It’s a widely known fact that most moms are ready to kill someone by eight thirty A.M. on any given morning.

Summary: Finlay Donovan is beyond stressed out. Her ex-husband unexpectedly fired the nanny, the novel she’s trying to write isn’t coming together and the bills are all past due. But then unexpectedly someone overhears Finlay discussing the plot of her new book and assumes she is a contract killer and is looking for a job. When she is offered enough money to pay the bills she starts to wonder, how hard can it be to kill someone? As it turns out real life crime is much harder than it appears in her books. Now that she is tangled in a murder investigation, she needs to find out how to stay out of jail for a crime she didn’t even commit.

My Thoughts: Finlay Donovan is a highly flawed character even before the story begins. She has been banned from Panera and been arrested for putting Play-Doh in her ex-husband’s fiancée’s tailpipe. But she is also a good mom who is trying to provide for her children and balance her life since her divorce. I found I immediately liked her even though some of her choices throughout are a little silly.

This book does give you all the things you want from a darker cozy mystery. There is humor in the way Finlay and her friend/nanny, Vero, handle the dead body scenario but it also has dark tones of hiding from some rather sinister gangsters too. In addition, we are given several love interests to add some romance to the mix. It was a good time all around and keeps you wondering how she will get out of the giant mess she has dug herself into. I listened to the audio and enjoyed the reader. The author left us with a cliffhanger which made me immediately check out book two in the series, which I cannot wait to start this week.

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
 

First line: It was an ordinary day when Evie met The Villain.

Summary: Evie Sage is desperately in need of a job to take care of her family. No job is too big or too small or too evil? When a chance mishap brings Evie and The Villain into contact it is the perfect opportunity to earn the title of his assistant. Keeping the true nature of her current career path from her family she slowly acclimates to the truly terrible things that she is asked to do. But then she starts to wonder if there is a rat inside the operation who is trying to take down The Villain. Evie is determined to keep her job with her distractingly handsome and terrifying boss by hunting down the saboteur before it gets them all killed.

My Thoughts: I find the cover of this book to be so much fun! I am not usually influenced by BookTok recommendations but I kept seeing this everywhere and decided that it was finally time to give it a try. At the start I was not sure if I was going to keep with it. The writing seemed rather juvenile and choppy. It just did not draw me in as quickly as I wanted but as the story progressed I found it less so. I got used to the writing and got more invested in the story. It was a cute fantasy with some added gore along with twists and turns. If you are looking for something easy to read but has some corny fantasy then I’d suggest this one. Don’t take it too seriously or expect too much from it. It ended up being rather fun and I will definitely pick up the next book to see how Evie and The Villain’s story continues.