krayreads's reviews
1217 reviews

this was a cute and fun cozy mystery! vera wong is a tenacious 60 year old chinese woman who owns a tea shop in chinatown. living a lonely life, her world is turned upside down when she walks in one morning and find a dead body in her shop. this bring julia, sana, riki, and oliver into her life as each one of them had some relation to the dead man.

i really enjoyed the found family aspect of this - each character had a unique story and voice which created a chaotic but interesting dynamic when they were together as a group. i also found vera hilarious in her persistence with trying to solve the case. the author did a great job of capturing a true elder asian auntie HOWEVER, she made vera sound more like 80 years old rather than 60.

the mystery plot felt like it did drag on a bit while the story focused more on the characters and their individual arcs. i was a bit gagged by the reveal because it was actually pretty twisted. overall, a fun start to a cozy mystery series!

i've read jillian's work before and have loved her romances! this was just as lovely as her other books - the perfect amount of character growth, romance, emotional depth, and humor! i loved that we had both main characters, millie and finn, working in different departments at a museum and that we were able to see the passion each had for their respective fields. throughout the story, these two were incredibly supportive of each other and what was the most refreshing was the honesty between the two - they were straightforward with their feelings and always spoke up with any issues or problems.

finn also had two twin nieces that he is now the guardian of and it was the cutest thing reading about his relationship with them and how millie became a part of their lives. absolutely loved this one!

there is a lot to unpack with this sometimes unserious yet emotional story. the main character, david, is a previously best selling novelist who is struggling to find the creativity for his next big hit. his strive for perfection, to become what he once was at the peak of his career, caused his relationship with the love of his life to crumble and he is now trying to piece his life back together by doing the one thing most of us do to get over someone - getting under someone else. except when david wakes up the morning after having a whirlwind one night stand, his prince charming is laying next to him in his bed very much dead.

this is the catalyst that sets off a chain of absolutely ridiculous events that you really have to suspend your disbelief to go along with. but if you can push through it, i think you'll end up having a good time like i did! the "mystery" aspect of this book is the overarching plot but as that's going on in the background, the book tackles different layers of loneliness and sense of self by exploring the meaning of foundation. because david was raised by an immigrant parent and stepmother, his family and home life had never really been the ideal environment for a closeted gay kid. he never truly formed friendships that lasted past college, and because he'd been consumed by his work, entered and had been through adulthood without forming many new connections. the only person he can really count on is his literary agent, stacey (who was, without a DOUBT, my favorite character). without anyone else to really cling on to, to support him, especially because he is the one who doubts himself the most, he is floating through life without really living. i thought the author did a great job of capturing those moments of feeling like you're on autopilot without direction and no one to hold your hand through it who truly understands you.

stacey and david try to cover up this death through a series of unfortunate and completely unbelievable events, but that was my favorite part of the book! i loved watching them form a genuine friendship outside of their working relationship. and i have to say, stacey is a fucking ICON. i want to be her!!! she was such a charismatic and chaotic person, but the only one holding it down while david was constantly losing his shit.

"david, there are only two things you should never ask a woman - how many fake designer pieces she owns and whether she's killed any of her husbands." STACEY THE WOMAN YOU ARE!!!!!!

the final third of the book does bring a somewhat satisfying conclusion in what happened the night that david can't remember, and there were some twists and turns that i fully was not expecting. there were times that i didn't like david because a handful of his decisions and actions felt very selfish, but his character came a long way at the end of the book - i fully appreciated the growth he showed, especially in the last scene!

this was fun wild ride that was totally insane but i did enjoy the deeper meaning behind it all. i'll be keeping an eye out on what this author will be writing in the future!