(May 2026)
1. Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead
Author: Elle Cosimano
Length: 384 pages
Published: Jan 2023
Genre: fiction
Audience: adult
SUMMARY
Finlay Donovan is―once again―struggling to finish her next novel and keep her head above water as a single mother of two. On the bright side, she has her live-in nanny and confidant Vero to rely on, and the only dead body she’s dealt with lately is that of her daughter’s pet goldfish.
On the not-so-bright side, someone out there wants her ex-husband, Steven, out of the picture. Permanently. Whatever else Steven may be, he’s a good father, but saving him will send her down a rabbit hole of hit-women disguised as soccer moms, and a little bit more involvement with the Russian mob than she’d like.
Meanwhile, Vero’s keeping secrets, and Detective Nick Anthony seems determined to get back into her life. He may be a hot cop, but Finlay’s first priority is preventing her family from sleeping with the fishes… and if that means bending a few laws then so be it.
With her next book’s deadline looming and an ex-husband to keep alive, Finlay is quickly coming to the end of her rope. She can only hope there isn’t a noose at the end of it…
MY REVIEW
This was the third book that my husband and I purchased to read over spring break, and it was the only one I didn’t get to in the course of the week. When we got home, I decided I would save it to enjoy as the perfect kickoff-to-summer book in late May or early June. But then I found myself smack at the beginning of grading week, and I knew this easy fast-paced read would complement my other required reading and grading well.
Finlay #2 was so much of what I predicted. I appreciated–as one can with a series book–that there was no introduction necessary to allow me to become familiar with characters of understand what was going on with the plot. We just jumped right in with the second plot.
For me Cosimano wavers between predictability and surprise. Just when I find myself getting tired of Finlay and her “I’m not supposed to be dragged into this plot but here I am,” Cosimano throws in a twist–an unexpected character or plot surprise–that kept me reading.
As she did with her first book, she left book number two hanging just enough to make the reader want to plunge into book 3. I’m not going to say I won’t ever read the next book in her series, but I also feel I’ve had my fun with Finlay Donovan, stay-at-home-mom/hitwoman.
If you’re looking for an easy read with a quick-moving plot, I definitely recommend Finlay #1 and possibly even Finlay #2 to you. What you choose to do with Finlay #3 and beyond it up to you.
2. The Wedding People
Author: Alison Espach
Length: 384 pages
Published: July 2024
Genre: fiction
Audience: adult
SUMMARY
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, without luggage, alone. Everyone in the lobby mistakes her for one of the wedding people at an impending wedding on the site, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t there for the big event.
Phoebe is there because she’s dreamed of coming for years. She hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.
MY REVIEW
May was a busy month with very little free time for reading. This one came highly recommended as a “light read” with a “comical twist” so I thought it would be the perfect choice for my limited breaks.
I was wrong.
I was about halfway through when a colleague of mine posted that she had just finished reading this same book. The coincidence! Unfortunately, she did not enjoy it. I should have taken my clue there and stopped reading it, but I was convinced to finish it before beginning something else.
Before I entirely mislead you, it’s not that bad of a book. I’m quite sure I’ve read worse this year. It could actually make for a decent beach read on vacation. It was just not a good fit for my Maycember the way that Finlay Donovan was.
My colleague did not appreciate how the author used the topic of suicide as a main plot, and used it quite playfully. I simply did not care for any of the characters; Espach intentionally created characters who appeared shallow and typical, spearheaded by a bride who is the textbook definition of “Bridezilla.” As a result, I found no connection with any of them and as the book progressed I realized I had no interest in what happened to them. I am not the world’s greatest plot predictor, but I knew exactly how the book was going to wrap up about ⅔ of the way through; I continued to read and finished out of obligation.
Again, not the world’s best book. There are just better characters out there, and I believe we deserve to read about them.
3. Margot’s Got Money Troubles
Author: Rufi Thorpe
Length: 320 pages
Published: June 2025
Genre: fiction
Audience: adult (sex and drugs)
SUMMARY
As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet’s always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.
Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?
MY REVIEW
Folks, I do not know who or where this book was recommended to me. But it came on hold at the library and I was excited to follow up after a blasé read with The Wedding People. A solid recommendation on the cover from Kevin Wilson, an author I have enjoyed on multiple occasions, gave me high hopes for this “wildly funny” if “ unpredictable” read.
I have hit an all-time low.
I’m not sure at what point I should have given up. When single-mother Margot decides to go into the porn business, I could have set the book aside at that point, but somehow I decided people should not be judged by their professions and continued on. I believed wholeheartedly there would be something belovedly redeemable about Margot and her single-mom life.
After reading the last word and closing the book cover for the final time, here is my literary analysis of Margot’s Got Money Troubles: it was just weird.
Fans of Theo of Golden, this book is NOT for you.
I’m not sure who it is for, although there are readers who have even greater tolerance for the peculiar, the off-color.
This one is a hard pass on any form of recommendation. And after two disappointments, I am desperately hoping my next book is a gold-star winner.