Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

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Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi  was published on March 11, 2025 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam. It opens with Claire finding out that her fiancé, Noah, isn't working where he said he was and is now ghosting her. Claire must find out why. Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Claire Darling by Callie Kazumi for free in exchange for my honest review. I was absolutely thrilled when my request for a copy was approved because the synopsis was so good. From the beginning, I absolutely loved the main character of Claire and her work friend named Sukhi. Throughout the novel, we learn about Claire's past and how terrible her mother was towards her. I kept hoping that somehow we would learn who Claire's father was and would eventually connect with him. It's really no wonder Claire had no self confidence as an ad...
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Book Review: Wedding Day Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #8) by Leslie Meier

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book review wedding day murder lucy stone 8 leslie meier

Lucy Stone is juggling the needs of four children, her husband, and their dog, as well as her full-time job as a reporter for the local newspaper. She can't handle one more thing this summer, but when friend Sue Finch asks for help planning her daughter's wedding to an internet millionaire, Lucy can't say no. When the fiance is found floating by his yacht, Lucy knows this wasn't accidental. As she investigates the murder, Lucy just might find herself in trouble in Wedding Day Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #8) by Leslie Meier.

This edition of the Lucy Stone Mystery Series wasn't my favorite for various reasons. I knew from the start of the book that the husband to be would end up murdered for some reason. At least, I didn't have a clue as to the motive or who was behind the murder. And, I was completely wrong in my guess of who the murderer was, so that was a plus that I didn't figure it out.

One thing that threw me off was the first chapter in Wedding Day Murder. The storyline jumped from the kids getting out of school for the summer to it being a week or two later. It just didn't flow well, and I reread the first few pages several times and even checked that there were not any missing pages in my copy. There were also a few typos where the wrong names were used towards the end of the book that the editors didn't catch, which threw me as well.

Additionally, I found Lucy's best friend, Sue Finch, to be completely unlikable, and I normally like this particular character. Her actions were very uncharacteristic even with her being unhappy with her daughter Sidra's choice in fiance and not liking the fact that his mother took over the wedding planning. And, Lucy's husband was a jerk yet again and was being completely unreasonable. I'm so glad he had a small part in the book because his attitude really bothered me.

Something else that bothered me was the way Sidra acted. As soon as she found out that her soon to be husband was basically a con artist, Sidra completely stopped acting like a stuck up snob and was the sweet, caring girl that she is supposed to be. Furthermore, the amount of time it took her to get over her fiance's death was extremely unrealistic as well, even with him being a con artist.

Even with all my complaints about Wedding Day Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #8) by Leslie Meier, it was still an entertaining read and held my interest well enough. I gave this book three out of five stars and will continue reading this series.

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