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.” - taken from Goodreads.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about Birdie, who is a mystery enthusiast. She gets a job at a local hotel on the graveyard shift but is shocked to find that the cute boy she ran out on after an embarrassing first encounter is a coworker. Unable to stay away from one another, the two bond over the curious comings and goings of a reclusive mystery author who frequents the hotel. As the two grow closer, they learn that each is hiding secrets that need to be discovered.

Visit Jenn Bennett’s website.

Slide by Jill Hathaway

“Sometimes you can’t look away.”
Sylvia “Vee” Bell has struggled the last five years since her mother’s death from cancer. She sports pink hair so that she doesn’t look so much like her mother in the mirror. Her highly successful surgeon father is absent a lot and Vee and her younger sister Mattie are frequently left alone. Vee, a former cheerleader, now sits on the sidelines watching Mattie go down her former path. But Vee is hiding a secret. Since her mother’s death, everyone thinks she is suffering from narcolepsy. What really happens to Vee is that she “slides” or slips into someone else’s body and experiences the world through their eyes. Having touched something that has a strong emotional connection to a person determines whose mind Vee is forced to inhabit. And her refusal to tell anyone, especially her best friend Rollins, leaves her alone for fear of being rejected and labeled as crazy.

Vee and her former friend/co-cheerleader Samantha both liked the same guy their sophomore year, Scott Becker. Samantha turned downright nasty when Scott asked Vee to the homecoming dance. Samantha spreads lies and untrue rumors about Vee so she strikes back by getting a fabulous dress to wear. Unfortunately while slow dancing with Scott, Vee realizes she is about to slide and asks him to help her sit down. She passes out before she gets off the dance floor and slides into Samantha. Through Samantha’s eyes, she watches Scott drag her body into the locker room. She comes to finding the new boy in school, Archie Rollins, punching Scott and getting her out. On Monday at school, the rumors run rampant and Samantha begins dating Scott. At lunch, Vee is sitting alone until Rollins joins her and their friendship begins.


When Mattie rejects her best friend Sophie for Amber, a fellow cheerleader, Sophie is hurt. Since Sophie has been dating Scott Becker, Amber decides to spread a naked photograph she has of Sophie on her phone around school. Mattie doesn’t stop her. Later, Vee inadvertently slides into Sophie crying on her bed being comforted by her mother. After a fight on Friday night with Rollins, Vee is left home alone when Mattie and Amber leave to go to a party. Overcome by exhaustion, Vee begins to slide once again after her hand brushes against the calendar page she found taped to the front door. She finds herself back in Sophie’s bedroom but quickly realizes that something is wrong. Vee isn’t in Sophie’s body but rather looking down at Sophie’s dead body. She has slid into the body of her killer and Vee doesn’t know who it is.


The police believe that Sophie’s death was a suicide but Vee knows differently. Unable to tell anyone the truth without divulging her secret and looking crazy, Vee struggles with knowing the truth while her sister suffers thinking she helped drive Sophie to suicide. When Amber turns up dead from an apparent suicide, Vee realizes that maybe her ability could finally be put to good use.


Can Vee figure out who the killer is before she or Mattie becomes the next victim? I really wasn’t expecting the ending of this book. Shocked and saddened but loving the story none the less. I cannot wait to see where Vee’s story goes with book two, Imposter.

Visit Jill Hathaway's website.