Watch the Girls is such a creepy and disquieting book that kinda reminds me of Guillermo del Toro films. Similar to what I remember from del Toro films, Wolfe uses icons from deep within the subconscious (there’s a lot of wolf imagery, and people in wolf masks) to explore the idea of innocence and what happens when that is forcibly taken away.

Liv Hendricks is a former child star who just lost her job as ‘the Daphne’ in a Scooby gang of investigators on a scripted reality show. She has been watched all her life because of her fame and her ambitious Kris Jenner-esque mother, and is now just trying to pay the bills and stay away from her younger sister Gemma, who took up the mantle of child star when Liv quit.

Liv decides to post a kickstarter-like campaign to produce a mystery solving webseries, with her highest backer selecting the first mystery she’ll solve. The highest backer turns out to be a del Toro-esque filmmaker, who wants her to solve the disappearances of several women in a small town hosting a festival of his work. So far, it’s a fairly standard thriller setup, but then Wolfe takes the story on a deeply disquieting labyrinth of twists and turns that blur the line between reality and script, nature and supernatural. The result includes strands from events 15 years in Liv’s past, that resulted in the disappearance of her other younger sister Miranda, and that prompted Liv to give up her acting career for years.

Liv’s search for the truth — given only the cryptic clue “Follow the white wolf” — leads her to some rather disquieting flashes of familiarity between the woods that she explores, animalistic sex scenes from the filmmaker’s body of work, and suppressed memories from her own life. Seemingly minor subplots like a budding romance with a nerdy-but-kinky innkeeper and the appearance of her sister Gemma to help her investigate lead to some rather chilling developments.

From the description, I was expecting grip lit involving paparazzi, a former child star, and possibly an obsessed fan. Instead, I got a book that’s certainly a thriller, with enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes throughout, but also one with some overtones of horror, and it creeped me the fuck out.

I found the writing strong and the plot tight, and while you will likely guess inklings about the various reveals throughout, none of that detracts from the atmosphere of this book. Kudos to Jennifer Wolfe for eliciting such a visceral reaction in this reader.

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Thank you to Hachette Book Group for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Good Luck Charm is a sexy second chance romance that tackles some real issues beyond just the initial breakup. Ethan and Lilah were high school sweethearts until Ethan breaks Lilah’s heart by breaking up with her (over the phone!) to pursue a hockey career. Now, Lilah is a nurse studying to become a nurse practitioner and Ethan has been traded back to his hometown team.

This is a fun, quick read. I like how goofy Ethan is in trying to win Lilah back, and especially one scene where he apologizes using a bag of her favourite candies from the local convenience store. His note includes a pun on the Hot Lips candy, and I love that bit of silliness.

I like that it didn’t take the whole book to resolve the conflict about why they broke up in the first place, and that instead the book chose to focus on how things can realistically work out for them this time around. I love how their present-day relationship made them both realize some uncomfortable truths about the lives they would’ve led if they’d never broken up in the first place. So often in second chance romances, the focus is on how much time was wasted when the couple wasn’t together, so I really like that this book showed how their initial breakup may have actually had some benefits for the lives they now lead.

I also love how realistic the main conflict of their present-day relationship is — how much Ethan wants to make up for lost time by having Lilah be a major part of his life, and how much Lilah (rightly) recognizes the risk of allowing her ambitions to be subsumed by his. I love that the risk to Lilah’s career isn’t the same old story of a man being jealous of his girlfriend’s career — on the contrary, Ethan’s very supportive of Lilah’s ambitions — but rather the more realistic situation of thoughtlessness and miscommunication between the couple. I can understand why Ethan wants to spend more time with Lilah, and I can also understand why Lilah would often acquiesce, even though she needs to study for an exam or work on an assignment, and I like how their decisions have some real consequences to Lilah’s studies.

The title is somewhat misleading, and to be honest, the part about Ethan’s being superstitious about her bringing him luck felt artificial. From the start, it’s pretty obvious he wants her for more than whatever luck she can bring his career, and I think that makes this a much stronger, more compelling story.

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Thank you to Forever Romance for an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How could I resist such an awesome cover?! Cherry Pies and Deadly Lies is the first in a cozy mystery series about Whitney Bloom, a disgraced ad executive (she ran a tampon ad during the Super Bowl) who now sells cherry pies online. In this book, she returns to her family’s cherry farm to support her parents and investigate a murder when her father is accused of the crime. Solving the crime with her is Jack, her former high school rival and the town’s only police officer.

Cherry Pies and Deadly Lies is a fun cozy mystery complete with a cherry pie competition, funny subplots involving Whitney’s best friends (a rivalry over a hot rich guy, and a minor betrayal over a pot pie dinner), and a Sasquatch sighting. I liked the small town feel and how close-knit the community seemed, and I liked the friendships among the characters.

There were some annoying, too-stupid-to-live moments, most egregiously the one where Whitney spills everything about her murder investigation to C-bomb, her mysterious (read: anonymous!) online suitor. And from what I could see, there was no reason beyond casual conversation and a slight suspicion that C-bomb could be Jack. What Whitney found mysterious and exciting (C-bomb’s refusal to reveal his identity until “the right moment”), I found creepy and disturbing, particularly when people in your immediate circle are getting murdered. Seriously.

The last few scenes as well seemed a bit over-the-top, with the series of big reveals and the Nancy Drew level of danger the heroine found herself in. I realize a big trope of cozy mysteries is the heroine landing in danger for whatever reason, but it was also one of those moments where she walks headlong into dangerous situations unnecessarily.

Still, overall, it’s a quick, breezy read and a solid addition to the cozy mystery genre. And the cover art is hilarious.

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Thank you to Thomas Allen & Son for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.