Recent Reads

Give Me Butterflies by Jillian Meadows (2023)

Millie is vying for a director position in her department at the museum when she starts taking notice of Finn, a coworker in a different department.  The two start spending more time together, leading Millie to wonder if she can have it all.  Although I loved the museum setting of this one, it was unfortunately a bit of a forgettable read for me.  Each time I picked it up, I really had to think hard about where I left off.  Millie and Finn each had some hard things going on in their lives (Millie coming out of an emotionally abusive relationship, Finn taking in his nieces after his sister passed away) and it was nice to see them support each other, but... I don't know.  The story felt overly long and yet not a lot happened.  The spicy scenes were very repetitive.  Ultimately, while there were some cute moments and good elements, this wasn't a winner for me.  3 stars

The Hollywood Assistant by May Cobb (2024)

Cassidy lands a job as a personal assistant to an actress and her director husband but finds herself in a precarious position as the lines between their professional and personal boundaries blur.  Loved the idea of this one, the look at how the "other half" lives combined with a murder mystery, but the execution was seriously lacking.  The main character is so immature and the dialogue is absolutely cringe.  She's supposed to be a writer, but she sounds and acts like a teenager.  And this is yet another mystery/thriller where I found the reveal to be completely lackluster. I guess in theory it was a good twist, in that I didn't figure it out, but it came from so far out in left field that it was quite unbelievable.  Cassidy might be somewhat of an unreliable narrator, but the gaslighting and secrets involved were unfair to her.  3 stars

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