I have yet to read a poorly written book from Jenn Bennett. I was pretty confident going into Serious Moonlight that it would be another hit from one of my favorite authors, and once again, Jenn did not prove me wrong. Serious Moonlight was a sweet, charming and thoughtful story that had me sighing in happiness by the end.

I love how Jenn Bennett writes teenage girls who are messy, flawed, yet so beautiful in their complications. Birdie was one of her more unique heroines. She was a young girl, hurting from the recent loss of one of her guardians, her grandmother, and reeling from her grandfather's diagnosis of narcolepsy. Birdie had grown up without her parents so she led a rather sheltered life, which led to her not always making the best decisions for herself. In Serious Moonlight, with the help with some awesome people, we see her go through somewhat of a journey of emotional growth. Besides doing a fantastic job at capturing the intricacies of a teenage girl, Jenn Bennett also managed to make Birdie a unique personality through her love of all things mysteries. Growing up, I was obsessed with sleuthing stories, so I loved seeing that side of Birdie and I loved the little nods to famous detectives in popular media throughout the book. She was so passionate about it, it was just too adorable! Birdie wasn't the only great character in Serious Moonlight. If you've read anything from Jenn Bennett, then you know she pairs up her characters with some of the swooniest boys ever. Daniel, Birdie's love interest here, was just a sweetheart. He was charming, thoughtful and so kind. I loved how he pushed Birdie outside of her comfort zone without being a creeper in her personal space. Daniel was a gentleman through and through. We find that there's more to him than just the sweet-tongued fellow he came across as. I was very proud of how far he had come from the circumstances in his past.

I also have to hype up Birdie's Aunt Mona, who was a great role model for her, and who was someone who was always there for her. She was such a cool lady! I could read a whole book about her. Birdie and Daniel's romance was the sweetest and definitely the kind that had my shipper heart hollering. I loved all their open conversations and how they cared about each other's comfort levels around each other. As with all of Jenn's books, Serious Moonlight also depicted teenagers having sex in a tactful, positive and honest way - the author portrays the beautiful and the ugly, which I will never not appreciate. The Seattle setting, especially the wacky but charming hotel at which Birdie and Daniel worked at, also brought an extra something special to this book!

Jenn Bennett's books burst with so much life. She's an author that I will never stop reading. If you're a fan of her books, Serious Moonlight will not disappoint. If you have yet to read her books, then I urge you to give them a try. There is something here for just about everyone! I promise. :)

This story follows Birdie who lives on sleepy Bainbridge island outside Seattle. Homeschooled by her grandparents after her mother’s death when she was young, Birdie longs for more than her quiet island life. She takes a job in a downtown Seattle hotel the summer she’s 18, and gets drawn into a mystery by one of her coworkers.

I wanted to read this because after growing up in Washington I can’t resist anything set in the Pacifoc Northwest. Having lived both in a Seattle and Bainbridge Island, I was pleased that this author wrote a pretty good representation. It’s funny how even saying what street a character is on can make or break a book set in a Seattle. I enjoyed the diverse set of characters, and enjoyed the novel, even though the mystery itself wasn’t that interesting. Although it did feel like the sort of mundane real life sort of thing that could happen. Overall I was very pleased with the depiction of Bainbridge and a Seattle, and that’s what was most important to me.

I am a serious Jenn Bennett fan. I totally love contemporary YA, and romance, and Bennett has that in spades. Her newest book, Serious Moonlight, is a winner.

Eighteen year old Birdie has led a sheltered life since losing her mother at ten years old. Her mother's best friend, her Aunt Mona, fills some of the hole, and her overprotective grandparents kept her homeschooled and sheltered from life in their home on Bainbridge Island. After her grandmother passes, Birdie convinces her grandfather that she needs to take responsibility and be a grown-up, so she looks for a job in Seattle. It is at her favorite haunt, the Moonlight Diner, after a promising interview, that Birdie has a one-night fling with a stranger, a stunt that embarrasses her to no end.

When Birdie starts her job on the graveyard shift at a charming Seattle hotel, the Cascadia, she is shocked to discover her one night stand, Daniel Aoki, is also employed there, and did not want to just be a one-night stand.
The story has swoops and turns and mysteries - Birdie loves mysteries, and sleuthing - that reveal both Birdie's and Daniel's secrets to each other. The building of their relationship blossoms over the book, and Bennett brings rich details into the plot to swing the reader along with Birdie. It's a wonderful read and hard to put down. Highly recommend!

[To be published March 20th on The Nerd Daily]

Buckle up your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, because Serious Moonlight is here to steal your hearts (and make you want to binge-watch Sherlock all over again).

Serious Moonlight, Jenn Bennett’s latest YA contemporary, follows a young woman about to embark on a mystery with the one person she never thought she’d see again after a very short and awkward encounter months ago. Romance and detective shenanigans ensue and might end in a huge revelation that will cause some serious problems. Are you hooked yet?

Unlike Bennett’s previous works that set up the premise fairly quickly, this plot takes a good while to unfold. The pacing changed dramatically though as the book hit its halfway mark. As Birdie and Daniel go on stakeouts, illegally investigate hotel rooms, and even trail their target all over the illustrious Seattle setting, they fall in love with each other. So, essentially, Serious Moonlight is about two characters solving a mystery about a famous and elusive novelist’s secret comings and goings at a hotel they both work at. But it’s so much more than that.

I’ve said this before in my author spotlight of Jenn Bennett earlier this year but Bennett excels at creating memorable, out-of-the-box characters. Birdie Lindberg was no exception. Birdie, a teen who has lost her mother at a young age and was raised in parts by her grandparents and her late mother’s best friend Mona, is a closeted narcoleptic who is obsessed with detective stories and always on the lookout for a new mystery to solve. Despite Birdie being a unique character, her struggles are very universal – how to navigate your life when grief smothers you, how to be friends and even fall in love with a boy when you’ve never had a relationship before and were somewhat sheltered during your upbringing, never making lasting connections to anyone outside your family.

Admittedly, it took me a while to warm up to Birdie. The novel starts out a bit convoluted; Birdie’s actions don’t entirely line up with how she is portrayed in her stream of thoughts but as the novel progresses, her behaviour makes more sense and you get to know her through her internal struggles. At times, Birdie felt like an onlooker of her life rather than an actual participant and I think that’s what makes her so relatable.

Now, the romance. Birdie and Daniel Aoki meet in a very unconventional way for a young adult novel and without spoiling too much, it definitely causes some miscommunication. Nevertheless, I feel the need to point out one major detail that in part earned this book its stellar rating.

So often in YA, sex is romanticised in a very beautiful, but sometimes harmful manner. Not every first sexual experience is pleasant or has tremendous meaning and it has been a fear of mine that young teens may be led to put even more pressure on themselves in that area after reading about picture-perfect moments in novels. Safe to say, I loved how Bennett approached this societal issue – her voice never rang didactic as she portrayed sex in a very healthy and open way in Serious Moonlight. It’s never shooed under the rug; instead, Birdie talks openly about it not just with Daniel but also with Mona. Being the result of her mother’s accidental pregnancy, Birdie is very aware of safe sex lectures – but this novel also focuses on the emotional implications of an intimate relationship and it was handled so positively. More of that in YA, please.

Of course, the romance itself was amazing as well. Daniel is such a lovable character – he’s half-Japanese, lost his hearing in one ear due to a magic trick gone wrong in his youth, and has his own demons to contend with throughout the novel. But he’s also funny and charming, wooing Birdie with clever references to famous detectives and making her open up about her own insecurities.

Besides the main attraction (the investigation into the reclusive writer’s secret dealings in the hotel Birdie and Daniel work at), the secondary characters fleshed out this story and even offered their own little mysteries one wanted to get to the bottom of. There are clues strewn throughout the narrative and yet I was almost blindsided by some of the revealed secrets that left me rolling my eyes at how I hadn’t picked up on the very obvious clues before. This will have Nancy Drew lovers in a frenzy when they pick up the novel, I can already tell.

All in all, the mystery plotline develops slowly but packs a punch as it unfolds and some hidden truths from the characters are revealed that derail not only their investigation but also their romantic entanglement. I don’t know what it is about YA moving in on the mystery genre lately, but I am so here for it. If you’re a fan of good old-fashioned detective stories, watched Veronica Mars religiously or read every Agatha Christie novel, you’ll be delighted to read Serious Moonlight. There are so many references to famous detectives and stories and it made me smile when I picked up on them. Bennett’s writing is superb as always; her descriptions of Seattle made the setting of the story feel so real and authentic. This novel, in its entirety, really had me feel like I was watching an old-timey detective movie and it contributed a lot to make this such an enjoyable read.

So, whether you’re new to Bennett’s stories or a long-time fan, I encourage you to pick up Serious Moonlight if you’re a lover of mysteries, swoon-worthy romances and quirky characters that you can relate to on a spiritual level!

I always love the sex positivity Jenn Bennett writes into her books, and Serious Moonlight was no exception. It follows mystery aficionado Birdie Lindberg, who meets gifted magician and fan of misdirection Daniel Aoki at a diner before spending a whirlwind evening together. Although the day ends with Birdie running away from him, they soon meet again at Birdie's new job. The book was hard to fall into at first, but the more I read, the less I could resist turning another page. Would absolutely reread and recommend!

I was provided with an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.

A really great book, which is no surprise from author Jenn Bennett. Birdie and Daniel were such an intriguing pair and the story was full of quirky, fun, and sometimes heartache-filled moments. As someone who’s husband proposed via magic trick (boy loves his upclose magic!) Daniel’s love of “misdirection” was awesome! I also loved the punny pie names at the diner, and the cast of secondary characters to spice things up. All in all, a great read that will go firmly onto my reread shelf.

This book was received as an ARC from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing-Simon Pulse in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a story that you can't help but to fall in love with. I love the fact that the main heroine is named Birdie and that she is a mystery writer fan. She has the perfect job in the hotel where she sees so many people so many in fact that one day she spots a famous author having a pretty mysterious second life that she did not see coming. She engulfs all of this casework with a guy that she can't seem to figure out herself in one mystery with another. So engaging and heartwarming that you will not want to stop reading.

We will definitely consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Bennett pulls out another heartwarming teen tale following the life of amateur sleuth and possible narcoleptic Birdie Lindberg. Birdie meets Daniel, a magician gifted in the subtleties of a classic misdirect, at her favorite cafe, the Moonlight Diner. After a whirlwind evening where the two parted on a rather awkward note Birdie feels confident that she will not see Daniel again... until she starts her new job at a fancy hotel. Daniel and Birdie embark upon a wild mystery ride with plenty of twists and turns. I can honestly say that I did not expect the ending. Bennett kept me entertained and guessing where this mystery would end next!

Serious Moonlight is an adorable novel set during the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel, the Cascadia. Birdie is shocked to discover the guy she had a one night stand with, Daniel, also works the graveyard shift at the Cascadia, and he and Birdie get closer to one another as they team up to investigate a bestselling mystery author, never before seen in public, who is having mysterious meetings at the Cascadia every week. Serious Moonlight has a lot of diversity and representation, and although it is a slow burn of a novel, you will find yourself feeling warm and fuzzy when you read the last page.

I think Jenn Bennett writes the perfect book boyfriends.  I loved Alex, Approximately and I loved this one, too.



Birdie is kind of an awkward girl who is always afraid of embarrassing herself.  Her mom died when she was younger and she grew up with her grandparents.  Her grandma was very strict and home schooled her.  After she died, Birdie was able to convince her grandpa, with the help of Aunt Mona, that eighteen year old Birdie was ready to get a job in Seattle.  Birdie is also obsessed with mysteries.  She actually makes detective profiles of the people she meets.  Birdie has sleep issues and might have narcolepsy, but hasn't been diagnosed yet.



Daniel is nineteen and very outgoing.  He's always smiling and everyone knows him.  He does have a secret that he's been keeping.  Daniel lives with his mom, but never knew his dad or who he was.  His mom just said he was white, had money, and had to marry someone white, which she was not.  Daniel loves magic and lost his hearing in one ear.



Birdie and Daniel meet one day at The Moonlight Diner.  They have this instant connection and decide to go on a date.  They never got further than the car.  Birdie and Daniel were having sex, but she freaked out and ran away.  She figured she would never see him again, but she thought about him and what happened often.  She always looked for him when she went to The Moonlight Diner.  She lived about the diner when she was growing up and it felt like home there.



Birdie gets a job at a hotel on the night shift.  She is shocked on her first night when she sees that Daniel works there.  Birdie is freaked out, but they eventually start talking a bit.  He knows she likes mysteries, so he tells her about this guy that shows up every Tuesday for an hour.  He believes it's a popular mystery writer that keeps himself hidden.   While working to solve this mystery, Birdie starts to have feelings for Daniel which scares her.  Half the people she's loved have died.  



I loved Birdie and Daniel.  They both had insecurities and the relationship never felt forced.  It showed the awkwardness and not just the good stuff.  I also loved Aunt Mona.  She was so funny and made the story even better.



I gave this book 4  1/2 stars rounded up to 5.  Thank you to the publisher for reaching out and sending me a copy through Edelweiss.



Warnings for depression, talk of suicide, and abandonment from a parent.

Okay, so I don't even really know where to begin, this book is FANTASTIC. I love all of Jenn Bennett's books but this one is probably my favorite. It's like she wrote this one just for me. Serious Moonlight might be the PERFECT contemporary book, in my opinion. Daniel and Birdie are amazing character, they are unique and charming. Their conversations with each other were so witty, fun and heartfelt. I was in love with them from their first conversation. The writing in this story is just wonderful. It's full of old mystery references, books and movies alike. Not to mention the wonderful music mentioned in this book. Oh, and they go to couples CLUE...like the worlds most perfect date. I could go on forever but I won't, just READ and love this book!!!

I have some serious love (and some criticisms) for this book.

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett follows Birdie, an eighteen-year-old girl with narcolepsy and love for mysteries after she takes a night shift job at a hotel. On the job, Birdie runs into Daniel Aoki, a brief fling who she works with to solve the mystery of a reclusive writer who visits the hotel. 

I have read one other book by Jenn Bennett, Alex, Approximately, which was an average read for me. I read Alex, Approximately as an ARC. While I enjoyed it, I was surprised to see so much hype surrounding the book upon its release. I wanted to try another book by this author to see if it lived up to the hype since I am a huge fan of contemporary books. While Serious Moonlight started off much stronger for me that Alex, Approximately, it ended up falling into several of the pitfalls that I did not enjoy in the first book that I read by this author. 

Let's start with the characters. Jenn Bennett does an amazing job of inclusivity with her characters. She includes characters from different races and cultures. Her characters struggle with mental illness or disability. But Jenn Bennet does not just include diversity in her books, but she fully fleshes out every character so they come across as people and not a checklist. The main character, Birdie is a shy and sweet main character that I think many readers will enjoy. Daniel, Birdie's love interest, is also multi-faceted and interested. While I was initially put off by the "he's perfect, but WAIT there's a MASSIVE secret," I think the author really steered clear of the typical formula that trope follows. 

That being said, there were a few issues that I had with characterization in her book. My largest issue was with Birdie's Aunt Mona and her former flame, Leon Snodgrass (yes, you read that correctly). Aunt Mona has a large personality and outfits to match. So much that you may roll your eyes at her outfit descriptions because they are so ridiculous. While Aunt Mona has many moments that let readers see how amazing she is, I could do without the countless descriptions of her outfits that attempt to make her look quirky. The same goes for her love interest Leon Snodgrass, presented as what a frat boy becomes when he leaves college and barely anything else. I had this same problem in Alex, Approximately because I felt like I was being hit over the head with the character's unique vintage style over and over again.

As for the pacing, the beginning of Serious Moonlight grabbed me a lot more than Alex, Approximately. For the first 200 pages, I found myself moving through the story quickly. While the mystery aspect could come across cheesy, I actually found it somewhat endearing since it helped Birdie come out of her shell. Then, the book took a major shift. There was a large chunk of the middle solely devoted to the relationship and devoid of any progression of the mystery plot, which confused me. This part of the book really slowed down for me and I found myself pushing through for more of the plot to develop. While I assumed I knew how the mystery ended (and I was correct), this derailment wasn't my favorite aspect of the book.

Another aspect that I move back and forth on is the relationship in this book. For the majority of the book, I absolutely loved Birdie and Daniel. Both Birdie and Daniel grow as people throughout this book and learn to open up to each other throughout their relationship. I was actually really excited during the first 90% of this book because it generally steered away from the soap-opera style drama that I wasn't a fan of in Alex, Approximately. Then, the big moment of the mystery came and some of my love left quickly. While I understand how Daniel reacted to this moment, it seemed fairly out of character for him, especially how he treated Birdie after it happened. I also was not satisfied with how quickly the characters moved past this moment either. 

Overall, Serious Moonlight is a solid young adult novel. I can see why so many people consider Jenn Bennett an auto-buy contemporary author because she creates loveable and multi-dimensional characters in her books. However, there were still several aspects of this book that reminded me of reasons that Alex, Approximately was only a three star read for me. That being said, I am still interested in checking out Starry Eyes, another book by this author currently out on the market. I give Serious Moonlight three out of five stars.

ARC provided from the publisher( Simon and Schuster UK Children's ) via Netgalley+ in exchange for an honest review (Thank you, Publisher!!)
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.
I Just had to say that I absolutely loved Alex Approximately and I had so many high hopes from this one. Andddd YASS!!! I just loved the book, it was a awesome combination of Light Romance and Detective Skills.

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I’m obsessed with Jenn Bennett’s books. Imagine my surprise when I was offered an ARC of one of her books by the publisher! Thank you so much to Lauren at Simon & Schuster for getting this ARC to me!

There are two things found in every Jenn Bennett book that I really love: sex positivity and witty dialogue. Both of these are present and accounted for in Serious Moonlight, and, honestly, I couldn’t have been happier about it. I think it’s so important for teens to read about a safe, healthy relationship that just happens to include sex. I also love that Jenn Bennett’s witty dialogue never comes across as pretentious or forced.

If I’m honest, this is a slightly lower five than Starry Eyes or Alex, Approximately. The reason for that is partially me (I just kept getting distracted while reading) and partially the book (the mystery aspect didn’t pull me in as much as I’d expected and I guessed the ending pretty early on). But even with those small complaints, I still loved this book.

Jenn Bennett is one of my favorite authors and I don’t think she’s capable of writing anything less than an amazing book.

Serious Moonlight is the first book by Jenn Bennett that I have read, but it definitely won't be the last. I was blown away by how good the story was. I loved the characters - especially Birdie, Daniel, and Mona: they were sweet, fun, messy, and evolving. Birdie and Daniel's relationship felt really authentic - I like that they were confused and had to learn how to communicate with each other. I loved that their communication included shame-free talks about sex. Birdie and Mona's relationship was amazing - a perfect balance of quasi-parental and closest friend. Birdie and Mona personified the theme that you don't have to be related to be family.
The story itself revolves around mystery loving Birdie as she comes of age in the wake of her mother's death (ten years ago) and the recent death of her grandmother. Due to complicated family dynamics, it is only as an 18-year old that she is experiencing any kind of freedom. This newfound freedom leads her to her first job and Daniel.
Daniel entices Birdie to solve a mystery about the identity of a famous author, but the mystery is the least important part of the story.
Serious Moonlight is a lovely, character-driven story that I didn't want to end. I could keep reading about Birdie and Daniel and Mona for many more books.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for this eARC.

If you've enjoyed any of Jenn Bennet's books, you should read this one! Birdie and Daniel, our protagonists, have kind of a Meredith and McDreamy (from Grey's Anatomy) meet cute before ending up working together on the graveyard shift at a Seattle hotel. They get to know each other while investigating the identity of a mysterious author who is a sometimes guest at their hotel.

All of Jenn Bennet's best book ingredients are here: A full, interesting setting (I love Seattle and want to go back), quirky, lovable characters, and a solid romance, plus an added mystery. Daniel may be my favorite of Bennet's heroes - he is deeply sweet, but has definitely been through it, and we get to love his family and giant cat blueberry too. I also love that Birdie and Daniel are 18 and 19, prime college stress age, but that they are both on slightly different paths. There is a little future anxiety here, but it wasn't the focus of the book, and I loved that Bennet could let her characters travel a different path.

I just love this author and this book. If you like contemporary YA, Jenn Bennet is one of the best!

Another great read from Jenn Bennett. Birdie and Daniel will give you the swoons while dealing with their individual baggage and solving the mystery of the mysterious author. I loved both characters, including their flaws, and enjoyed the story.

This was the most darling book!! Filled with everything you might need in a YA Contemporary:

•Teen Detectives
•Sweet Grandfather
•Amazing Aunt/parent figure
•Teen Detectives
•ALL THE PIE
•The sweetest love story
•Seattle—amazing city and backdrop

I highly recommend this story! Jenn Bennet is an auto-buy for me and I can’t wait to see this book on my shelves next to her other amazing stories.

Jenn Bennett is quickly becoming my favorite author. She killed it again with this amazing book! The characters and situations are realistic and her writing draws you in. I love how sex positive she is and how invested in the characters she makes the reader.

I love this author. As with her other books, her characters are realistic and likeable. The romantic relationships are always on point and lots of cute movements - not to spoil anything but Daniel’s first date idea is adorable. This was a bit slower paced for me compared to her other books, but still a solid YA Contemporary Romance and one fans of the genre should take the time to read.