How to Murder a Marriage was so good!! Fair warning, it is a bit spooky… don’t start this book if you are at home alone after dark 🙈 I was reading this some when we were in a cabin in the woods and got a bit more spooked than I like! Love the characters, love the setting, love the cottage, love the lake, love the aunts & family atmosphere, love the mystery!!! Definitely recommend for cozy mystery readers or thriller readers who maybe want something not as twisty as a popcorn psychological thriller. Can’t wait for the next one!

This was a pretty fun all in all but while there was a lot going on, I still found parts of it boring and I struggled to stay focused. The ending seemed to tie things together nicely but still leave space for a sequel.

I’m always excited to read something unique and this one sounded like it would fit the bill for that and I was mostly right…

There was a lot to like in this quirky and original read but there was also something missing for me. Sometimes it felt like I was reading a cozy mystery and then it would switch gears and feel like women’s fiction and then change again with some suspense which just left me feeling off kilter. Almost like it needed to pick a lane I guess? I did really like Gina as a narrator and found her to be wickedly funny and sharp, truly what kept me at all connected to the story. This is the start of a new series and I would probably give the next book a chance, it’s certainly quirky which isn’t a bad thing for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: Gina Malone, a bestselling relationships advice author and expert on exes, meddles in other people's affairs for a living. It makes for enemies. One of them is scaring her to death.

A modern-day Miss Lonelyhearts, Gina's smart, she's sassy, she's got a potty mouth, and she's determined to live life on her own terms. She's also divorced, an empty nester, and turning fifty. In the true spirit of mid-life crises, Gina dyes her hair, pierces her nose, and moves to a tiny tourist town on the Canadian shores of Lake Huron.

Just as she's settling into her new life and deciding whether to fall into bed with her hot contractor, Gina advises a reader to leave her husband, right before the woman goes missing. And Gina's got a stalker. Is it her vengeful ex-husband, the abusive ex of the missing woman, or her new crush's crazy ex? All three would love to get her alone in some dark and deserted place, which isn't tough to do since her new residence is an old family cottage she's renovating on an empty stretch of beach.

Can Gina outsmart her stalker and find the missing woman before the noose around her own neck gets any tighter?

Everything about this book should have been my jam.

A near fifty sassy Italian main character. She's a reader, a writer, and a dog lover. She moves back to her home town to be closer to her boisterous Italian family and further from her ex-husband that just won't leave her alone. Upon arriving back home she meets her new handyman that's going to renovate her cabin but the problem is he has a deranged ex-wife who believes she is a homewrecker. Not only that but the relationship column she writes has gotten her into trouble. When a woman writes her about her controlling husband she advices her to leave him but her husband has become privy to this information and is on a mission to find her to make her pay for his wife walking out on him. Three stalkers? Oh my!

This should be fun!

But, sadly, it really wasn't. Don't get me wrong this isn't terrible by any means but I'd be lying if I didn't say this was boring. All the chapters read the same as the one before it and my interest was quickly depleting to the point that I really didn't care what was happening. Now had the humor been on point then my opinion may have been different but this was not the laugh out loud funny book that I was hoping for. In fact, I don't think I even chuckled once. I realize humor is subjective so others may find this hilarious but it never once tickled my funny bone. As far as the romance goes I wasn't feeling the chemistry and honestly if I had been him I would have bailed on this neurotic mess of a woman and her odd ball family. The highlight of this book for me were the animals - Spook the cat, Phoebe the Giant Schnauzer, and Snowflake the Poodle. Those three and their shenanigans did bring a smile to my face.

This quote earned it another 1/2 star because I found it totally relatable:

"My imagination regularly runs the gamut between serving me brilliantly and sabotaging me brutally."

The ending is a cliffhanger to lure the reader to book #2 in the series but it is safe to say that this is a one and done for me. 2.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Level Best Books for my complimentary copy.

Watching…
Contemporary relationships expert Gina may just have stepped over a mark in this dryly witty, fast moving read. Gina, however, can’t see what’s right in front of her own nose much of the time. She’s feisty and foul mouthed but mostly she’s her own woman. But is there someone watching her? Enjoyable and entertaining and some fun, escapist reading

I loved the premise of this book, the execution not so much.
I loved it whenever anyone asked Gina for advice and the different versions of what she wanted to say and what she actually did.
What I didn't like about this book was that a lot of the twists seemed a little far fetched. Gina's inner monologue also felt a little unnatural, but that might just be a me problem.

How to Make Me Read a Book? Give me a delicious cover like this one!

Gina Malone is a bestselling author, known for giving expert relationship advice. In addition to her books, she also has an advice column on the side.

The book starts with her about to take a European vacation to visit her children. Right before takeoff, she posts a reply on her advice column, advising a woman to leave her controlling husband and to seek help. Unfortunately, her husband sees the post and doesn’t take too kindly to it.

Back to her new home somewhere in Canada (I already forget where), she not only has to deal with a nosy family and a nosy town, but she also feels an attraction towards the carpenter who’s fixing up her beach cottage.

If that’s not enough, her ex-husband, a dick named Dick, is stalking her. And now, she seems to have a SECOND stalker, the husband of the wife who asked for Gina’s advice. The wife is now missing…

This is an amusing and decent debut to a new series (it looks like there will be at least two more books in The Ex-Whisperer Files). The strongest thing it has going for it is the characters. Gina is awesome! I loved everything about her, and she came off as real. Her cousin, Florrie, and the carpenter, Hugh, were great as well.

However, I didn’t quite love this like I’d hoped. It’s very dialogue-heavy, which isn’t always an issue, but there’s a lot of time spent repeating speculations and suspicions. Some of the situations that occur are both eye-rolling and not very compelling. Luckily, there’s some charm (and dogs) in the mix. I was also expecting to laugh, but this only elicited a few smiles from me.

Oddly enough, I can see this working really well on TV...and the author is also a screenwriter…

I think I’ve come to hope that all of these books with fun covers in the comedic mystery genre will be like the Finlay Donovan series, but they are not. I liked this one enough, and I may read the next one, but the only series I’m definitely sticking with is Ms. Finlay’s.

Thank you to Level Best Books and NetGalley UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 11/9/21.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

I was so impressed with this one. I love that this is the first in a series because I. NEED. MORE. And it was so funny? Like really funny. Gabrielle St. George was making me chuckle so much during the book, and I love her for it.

The entire book, you’re trying to piece things together to find out who is stalking Gina while trying to find out what happened to a guest who connected with Gina on her advice column. And it’s THRILLING! The ending was such a good little twist.

This was a fun and interesting story. It's a mystery with some suspense, but it also has lots of funny moments and a hint if romance. The characters were quirky and likable. This would definitely be a fun movie. Overall a fast, easy read!

"Maybe you can never go home again because everything in life is always changing, and maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe being home is about being at peace with whatever life throws at you, from wherever you are."

Thank you MBC Books, Netgalley and Level Best Books for this ARC! This book is due for publication on November 9th.

How to Murder a Marriage is a cozy mystery that asks a *very* important question: how many stalkers is too many?

Our heroine Gina Malone has decided that three stalkers is two more than she's willing to handle. Her first - the sociopathic, obsessed ex-husband that refuses to fade into the background - has become a standard fixture in her life. He's a con-man who swindled her out of her money and home, but gave her the four children she loves more than anything, so she's made her peace with his low-key stalking and threats. Gina's a bestselling relationship author and advice columnist, so she's well-equipped to deal with her ex's emotional warfare, and also how she picks up her second stalker. She begins receiving threats from one of her reader's husbands upon finding out his wife left him per Gina's advice. He wants to find his missing wife and bring her home, and decides that Gina's the best way to do it, so begins sending her threatening messages until she gives up the location of his wife. After being forced to sell her dream home now that her children have all fled the coop, she returns to her hometown to be surrounded by her family and renovate her cabin on the shores of Lake Huron, and not a moment too soon considering she's got two annoying men on her tail. Unfortunately, it is also how she gains one final stalker - the hot new contractor she's hired to renovate her cabin has his own crazy ex. When all her crazy baggage comes together in what she thought was her safe harbor and the threats begin to escalate, will Gina be able to outsmart all of them before she becomes carnage?

This book has so much going for it - an easy reading style with good pacing, wit and sarcasm galore, and an absolute take-no-shit heroine with her crazy Italian-Irish girl-boss posse. How hilarious are her tarot card reading meddling Southern Italian (very important distinction) Zia Angela and Zia Rosa, and cousin Florrie!?!? Also, points to any author who can convey a location so well that it becomes another entry on my travel wish list! Many thanks to Gabrielle St. George, Level Best Books, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review - very much looking forward to reading the next few books in the series!

I honestly liked this novel, the mystery that surrounds Gina is well constructed, the author being a scriptwriter of mystery knows very well how to put together a good atmosphere. The protagonist herself, I also liked it, I despaired sometimes, the secondary characters in this story do not have as much weight in the plot but they are fun, especially Gina's cousin and the aunts 💕 The love interest does not develop that much nor is it the main thing in the story but it has a lot of fabric to cut from, Gina and Hugh, they have a lot in common (you both have crazy ex-spouses) and even though the chemistry is not sparkling, I liked them. Especially since Hugh is described as a copy of Jeffrey Dean Morgan…so me? delighted. Anyway, it was a good debut, if you like women's fiction and mystery, you could write down this little book on your tbr. It's a light read and be nimble. Meanwhile I will keep waiting for the second book

This story leaves a question: how can she outsmart her stalkers?

TW: domestic abuse, suicide & murder

This book is unbelievable! The moment I started chapter 1 of the book, it has kept me turning the pages for 2 consecutive nights. It’s a fun mystery crime book that I really sink my teeth into. The writing style of @gabrielle.st.george is well-balanced and effortless. There’s a fair share of wittiness and sarcasm, romance, suspense and mystery. It isn’t really stressful to read at all. The reading process I have experienced is captivating since I get to formulate theories. But, then I will be surprised from the unexpected twists. It has kept me guessing and seeking answers to my questions until the last page of the book. For example, is having 2 stalkers is possible in real life? Howcome CCTV’s aren’t installed in the establishments like restaurants and bakery to make the investigation process quicker???

All in all, this book is recommendable for readers who are gripping for light crime fiction novel. I’m glad to read the first book in the series. I can’t wait to read the upcoming 2 book series of The Ex-Whisperer.

Special thanks to @netgalley and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for this opportunity to enjoy an eARC in exchange of honest feedback.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It's a fun light-hearted mystery with an element of romance. I enjoyed that the main character was an older mother instead of a 20-something like these types of stories tend to be. The twists and turns were unexpected for the most part but still made sense with the plotline. Would recommend it for a fun mystery read.

Thank you, NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was dark and chilling which I love in books but yet there was undertones of hope infused within the pages. It was well written and i loved the way the characters played out on the pages.

A copy of this book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I would like to like this book, it started out slow and did not get to keep the hype up. I really wanted to like it but it turn out not my cup of tea as of now. However, in different circustances I think I'd like to try and read it again.

This book was fantastic! I absolutely loved the writing style of this author.

Immediately from the beginning, it has me hooked! I don’t know what it is but I really like the stalker aspect of this book. From the beginning, you think, “oh OK, Gina’s husband is going to be a problem,” with his psycho self. But then you read about Lillian and you start to think, damn now we have another problem on our hands. It just was a twist of it all! I really loved that through the whole book you’re kind of wondering: is it Lillian’s husband, is a Gina’s ex-husband, DICKIRIS lol,
Things I really liked; I really liked the different twist, really liked Hugh (The reference to Denny from Grey’s Anatomy was perfect. That’s literally how I imagined him).

Things that I thought were OK; I did feel like there was a lot of descriptions that kind of just were a little much. I enjoyed being able to imagine all of it but sometimes I just felt like 3-4 lines of descriptions weren’t really necessary. But I enjoyed it, none the less.

I definitely recommend this book: a four out of five. I wish there was more of a romance aspect of it but honestly I feel like with all the plot twist and the suspense, that the book held on its own by itself.

#NetGalley #HowToMurderaMarriage
The first book in a new series. It is a fast read, full of adventure. I think many will enjoy.

I enjoyed this book it was easy to read and kept me gripped.
I like the authors writing style, I enjoyed reading the blog posts which were included. The MC Gina was witty and likeable.
Gina is an online relationship advisor and runs a blog. She advises one of her readers to leave her husband, she ends up going missing and Gina ends up with a scary stalker. Who is the stalker and what lengths will they go to, to get what they want?
I wasn’t sure which way the story was going to go, it kept me guessing until the end.
I would definitely read another book by this author.

Thank you to Level Best Books and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was hooked instantly! How to Murder a Marriage was a fun mystery novel mixed with a hint of romance that I found hard to put down. I found the MC really likeable, Gina Malone was a great combination of sweet and sassy which provided good humour, especially with her and Zia. The story itself and writing style flowed excellently which made it all the more enjoyable to read. I can’t wait to read the next in the series!

A HUGE thank you to Level Best Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book to read and review!

The writing style is super smart and witty, which I absolutely loved. The narrator is sarcastic, a smidge bitter, and oh so real about how she really feels. I did have to suspend belief here and there because honestly, even considering the main character’s profession, how does one attract so many stalkers? Is it really that common?!

Otherwise, it was a light, fun mystery that kept me hooked through to the end. I would absolutely pick up another title from this author. Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this ARC!