Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately. Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel. In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel. To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that the most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.
A semi naive aspiring sleuth teams up with a former fling to uncover the identity of a mysterious author using a pen name. Want to read my other reviews of Jenn Bennett books? Click here for Starry Eyes. Click here for Alex, Approximately.
I was ready for it to end a little sooner. Otherwise this book MIGHT have been 5 stars for me.I also didn't always love Birdie. But I did for the most part. Her indecisiveness got old. To be fair, that was addressed by the end of the book.There is also storyline with Aunt Mona that was 100% predictable to me.
A main character obsessed with mysteries? Sign me up! I love BBC masterpiece mysteries and consider myself to be an amateur sleuth of sorts. Okay, I don't really consider myself to be one, more like I think I'd be good at it if I ever tried it. (Oh, come on. Like you didn't watch the Bourne movies and think you'd make an awesome Bourne! I'm basically the same except more like Veronica Mars).Jenn Bennett writes some really funny dialogue, but also some hard hitting dialogue. Here's a couple snippets from the book to wet your appetite.
"Come on, Nick. Are we solving a GD mystery, or aren't we?"A slow grin split his face. "Nora, my dear, you know I can't resist it when you use profanity."
"We didn't come out here to help you seek vengeance.""No one plans vengeance," she argued."Yes! They do!" I said, exasperated. "It's a planned act of revenge.""For you maybe. For me vengeance just happens."
"When you pin impossible ideals on someone, nobody wins... Judging other people unfairly doesn't define them; it defines you. And in the end everyone will be disappointed... Most of us are just living our lives, trying the best we can. Accepting people for who they are is hard, but in the long run, it's easier than sitting around, wishing they were something they're not."I mean... I know you're wanting to run out and get this book right now. And you should. But just wait a minute because I'm almost done with my review.If you don't follow me on instagram (you should), then you don't know that I'm obsessed with berets. In fact you can often see me sporting the hashtag of #beretoftheday. Picture this, I'm just sitting and reading...minding my own business and adjusting my beret when necessary, when all of the sudden I stumble upon this gem of dialogue:
"Don't bother being polite to Old Man Jessen. If an asshole could were a beret, that's what it would look like."
A line featuring a beret?! YES!! Okay, so it wasn't totally favorable. But still. I'm throwing a party for a beret mention!If it wasn't totally clear with the above line, this book features some profanity. It also starts out recalling a (sort of) one night stand. Yes, this book is YA. It's not "open door" descriptive in the romance scenes but mentionable nonetheless. There is also trigger warnings for suicide in this book.I can't believe I went this long in the book without talking about my main man Daniel! Daniel is our male protagonist and he is amazing! I dare you not to develop a crush on him and his grand gestures. Go ahead and try... you will not be successful. Shout out to diverse reads here because Daniel Aoki is in fact Asian. There's nothing I'm more of a sucker for in a book than an interracial couple! Bring them all to me!!! I will read those books os fast!
Watch: Veronica MarsRead: Agatha Christie booksListen to: David Bowie