Author: Gracie Ruth Mitchell
Series: Happily Ever Homicide Series book #2
Category: Romantic Suspense
Rating: ⭐
Spice: 🌶️
What should have been a slam dunk, cozy romantical suspense book was nothing more than an Encyclopedia Brown mystery whose main characters thought more about kissing each other and holding hands than solving a murder.
Soren fell hard for Heidi, possibly the very moment many years ago when she crashed into his bathroom chasing after a poodle and saw him taking a bubble bath. He is a frequent patron of Heide's bookshop, using a favored chair for hours on end in hopes of writing another best-selling book that just doesn't seem to want to come to fruition. Mellow with a lack of confidence, Soren is devoted but completely boring. While I don't require my men to ride horseback shirtless while brandishing a crossbow, I need a little more oomph in my male leads than an anxiety-prone bookworm who claims he doesn't know how to use a pocket knife.
"Do you think every man is terrified of the woman he loves? No? Just me, then?" - Soren
Heidi declares Soren her favorite author even though he's only published two books. It felt forced and out of left field for her to fangirl him. She is very naive and has little emotional intelligence or experience with dating despite the fact that she is in her thirties. While she seems to be able to run her own bookstore just fine, everything else in her life overwhelms her, and she doesn't seem very capable.
Heide and Soren's relationship is cringeworthy if we can call it a relationship at all. One-third of the book is them poking fun of each other, another third Heidi freaking out that someone might like her and how to behave and the last them fantasizing about kissing each other but barely accomplishing the task.
"Contact. She initiated contact. Our arms are touching. It's happening." - Soren
I've read wonderful clean romances, however, this story couldn't keep its characters from acting like they were twelve. Two murders and a host of sketchy suspects can't lift this book to anything other than a middle school YA read.
The writing style was great, but the storyline and characters behind it were not. Unfortunately, I got to the point about halfway in where I started skimming most of the chapters, only interested in finding out who was the murderer. Even then, the reveal was anti-climatic and practically fade to black.
There are other cozy mystery books out there, this one didn't hit the mark. With so many great books out there, I only finished this one so I could write the book review.
Tropes and Themes: Cozy Mystery, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Small Town, Bookstore Owner.
Blurb
Heidi Lucy has a secret—a big one. A scary, dangerous, ugly one.
There’s just one problem: thanks to a mysterious head wound, she can’t seem to remember what that secret is.
In order to regain her lost memories, Heidi sets out to retrace her steps—followed grudgingly by Soren, a faithful patron of her little bookshop and the less-than-thrilled recipient of the cryptic voicemail she can’t remember leaving. But her journey gets derailed when one of Heidi’s customers drops dead in the middle of her shop, and it isn’t long before both Heidi and Soren come under suspicion. Something fishy is going on in Sunshine Springs, and if they want to find the truth, they’re going to have to hunt for it themselves.
Who killed the woman in Heidi’s bookshop? What secret has Heidi forgotten? And, maybe the most crucial question of all: Who gave Soren permission to look so good in a man bun?
Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind is the second in a series of interconnected standalones involving swoony romance, wacky comedy, and dead bodies turning up in the most unlikely of places.
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