The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year | Book Review

Being a mood reader can sometimes be difficult, especially when you struggle to find a book that matches your mood. But every so often, you get a book that matches what your brain wants, and it is everything.

Why I read it: My brain said it wanted something fun, a little silly, and contemporary. This book was on my shelf. So even though I’m not a holiday romance reader, I shrugged and said, “Why not?” And it was everything I didn’t know I needed.

Review #insixwords: Read it in a single evening.

More:

• THE BANTER.

• Listen, there is nothing about this setup that’s realistic and that’s why I loved it.

• It’s rivals to lovers, but are they really rivals? This romance unfolds between past and present, but not in a dual timeline way. Every so often, we get a scene from Maggie’s or Ethan’s past that’s relevant to understanding the characters.

• They’re snowed in! They need to find someone who disappeared from a locked room! There are murder attempts. Everyone is a suspect!

• Good thing there’s always time for a little romance. This is closed door (because they absolutely banged in that cottage).

• Is cozy rom-com mystery a thing? Because that’s what this book was. Still, each character has their own scars (figurative and literal) that they confront in the course of the story.

• I maybe? even kind of enjoyed? the Christmas setting? Maybe that’s because neither Maggie nor Ethan had much enjoyment around the holiday, and it’s not heavy on the holiday part.

Recommendation: Sometimes you just need a book that takes you out of your life for a moment, that’s a fun little romp, and that doesn’t overly tax your brain. This was absolutely that book for me, and I enjoyed it enough to want to pick up The Blonde Identity, also by Ally Carter.

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