Book Review: "Murder by Design" by Lee Goldberg

I previously worked for an organization that represented product designers and one that represented architecture students. So imagine my surprise when my May selection from Amazon First Reads was about how the design of our world makes it easier for murders to occur! (And the author credited books written by people I’ve known.)

Edison Bixby is an ex-police detective. He’s handsome, fabulously wealthy, and impeccably dressed—and he has no filter, as the result of a traumatic brain injury he sustained on the job. While the TBI causes him to speak his mind, it hasn’t halted his brilliance, and he now works as an insurance investigator.

Bixby is a firm believer that the design of the world around us enables people to kill. But before his next case, Wally Nash, an aspiring actor who truly believes in his craft, gets hired to be his assistant. It’s Wally’s job to apologize for Bixby’s rudeness and smooth things over for him. But Wally sees this as the ultimate acting job, at least until he lands his dream role.

From their very first case working together, Wally is dazzled by Bixby’s brilliance and his doggedness in solving crimes. He finds clues and motives where no one else can, and even the most outlandish-sounding theories come true. They often work at the behest of a police detective with whom Bixby has a “situationship,” although they often find themselves at odds with one another.

Their investigation of the death of a woman who fell down a flight of stairs at a shopping mall seems pretty cut and dried. But what looks like sheer negligence appears to be murder in Bixby’s eyes, and the deeper he digs, the more tangled the web he has stepped in gets.

I thought this was such a great book. Bixby is one of the most unique characters I’ve read about in a long while, and his banter with Wally is top-notch. I really wasn’t sure how everything would tie up, but I really loved this, and I’m so glad a second book is on the horizon.

The book will publish 6/1.

Book Review: "Cursed Boys and Broken Hearts" by Adam Sass

This book was so sweet and emotional. It definitely hit close to home for me and felt like a gigantic hug.

Vero Roseto Garden Inn & Vineyard has been in Grant’s family for decades. He and his siblings spent summers there when they were growing up. When he was 13, Grant made a wish on the family’s famous Wishing Rose, and since then, all of his relationships have fallen apart quickly. Grant believes he’s been cursed by the Wishing Rose.

"But I don't count. I'm a beast, not a bunny. A beast with baggage and a curse on my head where no relationship lasts longer than a month."

Five years later, after what he thought was the perfect relationship imploded, he returns to Vero Roseto, which his aunt and uncle have been struggling to keep afloat. This will be their last summer to try, otherwise they’ll have to sell.

Given the state of disrepair of the inn, Aunt Ro has hired a gardener to help. Much to Grant’s surprise, it’s Ben, his first real love and childhood best friend, whom he hasn’t seen since the curse afflicted him five years ago. There’s still animosity between them, but there’s also a strong connection that hasn’t faded.

Grant vows to stay for the summer to help restore the inn and prepare for the famous Rose Festival. If it succeeds, they may save the inn. But it’ll require Grant and Ben to work together and put the past behind them. Can Grant break the curse and finally find happiness?

This was such a beautiful book. It’s a story of family, friendship, and love, and the many ways queer people—particularly teenagers—can be made to feel small and unworthy of love. It’s a look at how depression can rob you of joy and passion. But it’s also a love story. I really love the way Adam Sass writes.

Book Review: "Love Lettering" by Kate Clayborn

Love Lettering was a slow-burn rom-com that snuck up on me and grabbed my heart!

First of all, I’ve got to say that this book wins for the most unusual professions of its main characters. Meg is a designer who specializes in hand lettering—she does in journals, planners, signs, cards, etc., and has even been called "The Planner of Park Slope"—and Reid is a quant, or quantitative analyst. (He’s a numbers guy in the finance world.)

Meg met Reid about a year ago when she was finishing up all of the printed material for his wedding. Something about that encounter and the dynamic between Reid and his fiancée compelled her to sneak a secret message of warning into their wedding program, amidst the frills, flowers, and fairies. No one will notice, right?

A year later Reid returns, and wants to know how Meg knew that his marriage was doomed to fail. (Of course he found the message. He finds patterns and signs every day.) Of course, Meg is most worried what Reid's discovery—and the possibility of him going public with it—could do to her career.

They couldn’t be more different from one another. But with a major deadline looming and her creativity blocked, Meg tries to enlist Reid into noticing the beauty of letters, fonts, and signs throughout New York City and Brooklyn. As the tension between them thaws, her creativity flows again.

But both are tightly wound, heavily guarded people, unwilling and unable to let the other in. And when a scandal erupts, both must decide whether signs point to a future together or apart.

"The point is...sometimes fighting isn't about leaving, it's about staying. It takes practice to get it right, and it's painful, but if you want to stay with people, you do it."

This book was enjoyable and unique in many ways, even as it followed the traditional rom-com patterns. I loved the juxtaposition between the creative and the analytical, and Meg and Reid's relationship really seemed believable. This one isn’t too steamy (one or two scenes but that’s it) but the whole story, and Kate Clayborn's storytelling, are just so appealing.