I really enjoyed this beach read. The island and its guests were lush and intriguing. Then comes the mystery and I got pretty involved with trying to help our mmc find more answers. This book does a good job with pacing and really draws it's reader in. This book was fun and a bit of an adventure. I'm really glad I was gifted a copy from Netgalley. The review and my opinions are solely mine. Overall a truly good summer read!

4.5 ⭐️ If White Lotus had a book club… it’d be reading this. 🌴📚

This cozy mystery was such a fun time. I loved the setting in the Virgin Islands and the main character being a book lover. The chapter headers with quotes from popular books were such a fun touch!

The romance was great, and the story had a good mix of mystery and drama.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a great summer read with romance and mystery. This strikes me as a great book for bookclub. It’s a must read!

Mia Crawford is ordered to enjoy a tropical vacation for her thirtieth birthday by her bosses and friends. Facing down decisions of committing to her by-the-book life or taking hold of her dreams, Mia jumps into a murder mystery at the St. Claire resort in the Caribbean.

The prologue is great! Suspenseful and draws you in. The first few chapter were a bit slow. Mia's brain is bouncing around so much taking in her surroundings, her books, the mystery of the missing woman, Jason, the hot bartender, it is almost too much. Somehow it all settles down into a good story, especially when Brie the angsty teen joins the story. Mia seems to gain some focus, as does the story. The point is, don't give up on this book, the mystery becomes very interesting.

This was a fun, whodunnit mystery with some romance to boot!

Mia is taking a tropical vacation from her well organized pressured life. She makes some bad choices on the island such as sex and too much drinking. Then she finds a book with notations in it about a murder and becomes involved in a mystery. The mystery was enjoyable as was the setting. The sex is to be skipped over and did not add anything to the book in my opinion. I did enjoy the remainder of the book and the ending.

Thank you for the publisher for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Allison Brennan and and Harlequin publishing for this ARC! ❤️

This was a really fun summer read.. Beachy, a little sexy, a whole lotta Whodunnit. If you are up for a fast paced, true crime summer read, this is it. Lots of fun characters and it will keep you guessing until the end. I absolutely love when a MC is a fellow book lover and this woven through the entire story. Solid 3.5 star read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and alc.

I think this is the best Allison Brennan novel I have read to date. I loved how rather than it be a series, this book focused on just one story. And the cover is dazzling! Furthermore, Vanessa Johansson did a great job with the narration and I was hooked until the very end. I hope Allison Brennan continues to write more fabulous books such as this one! And if you are wanting to read an Allison Brennan novel, but aren't sure where to start, look no further than this book!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and the author for the opportunity to read Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds.

While this one sounded like a perfect summer read, it may very well be for some… unfortunately, it missed the mark for me and wasn’t at all what I was expecting. And maybe that’s on me.

This is definitely a cozy mystery with a touch of romance. In all honesty I didn’t really enjoy either part though. Our FMC is a bit insufferable. I found her constant want to find a single man at the resort to hook up too much and not tasteful. And when that man was found it was like I had whiplash from “he’s so hot” to “he made me orgasm multiple times” to “I’m in love with him…” but she’s been on the island for less than a week?

As for the murder mystery — while in theory I feel it could have been a solid mystery, it didn’t work for me. I found it a bit unbelievable, and at times a little lost with all the characters. The twist at the end between two of the characters could be seen from a mile away too…

Unfortunately, I wish this one worked, but it just wasn’t for me. Thank you again to the publisher and author for the gifted earc!

Mia heads to an all exclusive resort to celebrate her big promotion at work, at the insistence of her boss of course. She settles in at the beach with a book she picked up in the resort and finds herself lost in the annotations the previous reader had made. We follow along as Mia gets in over her head at times trying to solve the mystery of a missing guest, and what the annotations may have meant.

This was such a fun mixture of mystery and romance, and was a brilliant summer read. I loved the character dynamics and the vivid imagery.

Mia Crawford is an introverted bookworm who is literally forced to go on a luxury vacation to the Caribbean island of St. Claire. When she gets back, the always careful, steady Mia will become a partner in the accounting firm she works at and commit to a life of numbers and practicality. But once she arrives at the resort, she suddenly finds herself like a whole new person. She finds out a guest has recently disappeared and ends up in the middle of the investigation. And she discovers that her no-strings-attached vacay hookup, is, well, complicated. Who is this person? And what has she done with shy, bookish Mia?

I loved this cozy, beach read. It had plenty of mystery, suspects, and fun and romance to keep me completely interested in everything going on. The thrills were just enough to make it worthy of the “mystery” section (I mean, you’re reading it for the mystery, but not too much mystery, you know?) and the B-stories with the cast of characters at the resort were top-notch!

The main romance with Jadon, holy cow, that’s all I’ll say. The plot with Brie was so good and gave a bit of mystery as well. And the honeymooners - they were just a hoot! There’s a rather cringy scene in there that had me rolling!

The big reveal at the end was really good. With all the characters, there were plenty of suspects, so I was still guessing when everything was revealed. And it was a good ending. There was one twist, however, that I did guess before the reveal, that was obvious if you’re paying attention. See if you can pick it up.

Overall, this was a great summertime read that is an awesome choice for a little getaway, from no matter where you’re at. Grab it today!

Mia Crawford is a risk-averse bibliophile who gets in over her head when strange notes in a book she finds on vacation draws her into a real-life investigation into a missing woman.

This was a page-turning read, perfect for summer reading. I liked straight as an arrow Mia right away (she’s a book person–always my favorite), and while she described herself as risk-averse, she certainly threw caution to the Caribbean wind when she wouldn’t stop investigating the disappearance of a missing guest. This mystery involves a luxurious private island, luxurious private island, gossip about the secrets of the rich guests and of course, murder. Throw in lots of book references and book love and it makes for a fun summer bookish treat.

I recently learned the term cozy mysteries and I think it might be my new favourite genre for the next little bit. Beach Reads and Deadly Deads certainly fits into that cozy mystery. I'm not sure the true definition but for me it means murder and mystery without the blood and guts and maybe a love story on the side.

Beach Deads and Deadly Deads follows the story of Mia. She's just arrived on the island of St Clair for a much needed vacation - mandated by her boss. Just shy of her 30th birthday and she doesn't remember the last time she took time off. She's also about to commit to becoming an owner of the accounting firm she works for and once she does that there will be no vacations ever. So with a promise to relax and enjoy she steps on to the island of St Clair with the news a previous resort guest has gone missing.

Mia has read enough mystery novels that she figures herself part sleuth. Also, it's hard to relax until she knows what happened to the woman who went missing - maybe she was murdered. Intent to solve the mystery and also have a one night stand, Mia engages in conversation with everyone she crosses and there sure are a lot of mysterious people staying at the resort.

I really enjoyed this novel. My first read by Allison Brennan even though she already has many titles. I gave it 4 stars but I think I could move that to 4.5 if Goodreads would only allow half stars. I would recommend this to anyone who thinks they only like romance novels and are ready for a change. I will also note that I saw someone's comment on Goodreads that they didn't finish the book because of profanity and I would say that I barely noticed any profanity.

3.5 stars

Straight-laced Mia is ordered to enjoy a tropical vacation for her thirtieth birthday by her bosses and friends. Facing down decisions of committing to her by-the-book life or taking hold of her dreams, Mia jumps into a murder mystery at the gorgeous resort. Who killed a former guest, and who is the hunky bartender?

Allison Brennan writes a fun and engaging cozy mystery full of twists and delightful characters. It is impossible not to root for Mia to find her dreams and a HEA!

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan is an excellent mystery.

I loved the story, and the characters.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Harlequin MIRA for providing a DRC of this title for review.

Fun and suspenseful with a dash of romance-- a great poolside read!

This book was a great way to start off the summer! Mystery, intrigue, hot bartenders, and books! Mia is not looking forward to her forced vacation but boy does it turn her world upside down. The book gave me White Lotus vibes with a little bit of the evil sea queen Ursula trying to steal Eric in The Little Mermaid. A very fun read with just enough mystery and puzzles to not feel like a fluffy beach read. The author did a great job of building a beautiful island resort with their rich descriptions and details.

I am a firm believer that there is an audience for every book. Unfortunately, this book was a DNF for me. I read about 15% and really wanted to love it - the concept sounded so fun, but I personally couldn't connect to it. The main character almost felt like a YA FMC even though she definitely wasn't. I couldn't get behind the fact that this very successful, career driven woman was only interested in finding the hottest single men at this resort. Although I understood the set-up, it was taking too long to get to the mystery part and I just wasn't drawn in. This book was just not for me, but I hope it will find it's right audience and be very successful!

3.5

"Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds" is a lighthearted mystery full of suspense, romance, and drama. The story started off a bit slow, but then it picked up the pace, and I enjoyed trying to solve the murder mystery. I usually like the genre combo of cozy mystery and rom-com, but this book was a little too spicy for my taste. It just didn't feel like it fit in with the rest of the story, and I ended up just skipping those parts. I wish the story focused more on the underlying mystery. Overall, a fun summer escape that is perfect for the beach or pool.

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a deviation from Allisons usual Quinn & Costa FBI Agent stories, but was a good cozy mystery with a touch of romance and self discovery! I was a big FAN! Thank you to Allison, Netgalley and Allisons team at MIRA!

What to Expect
⭐ Amateur Sleuth
⭐ Vacation Romance
⭐ Book Loving Main Character
⭐ Fish out of water
⭐ Clues found in a book
⭐ Missing people & Murders at a vacation resort

My Thoughts:
I loved this book so much! Mia felt so real—like the kind of person I’d be friends with. I totally related to her wanting to just read on the beach, and then suddenly she’s in the middle of this wild mystery? It was such a fun escape.

Mia becomes a bit of an amateur sleuth ALL due to her love of books! Finding notes left by a previous owner makes her curious and she puts some pieces together THOUGH it takes the whole story to find out what happened and who was actually involved. If you're a fan of a good mystery this is a 10/10. In a parallel story line the main character is also on a self discovery journey. On the verge of making big life career choices, she is using the much needed vacation to discover whats really next. She is taking the time to figure out who she is. Is she happy with the career path she is on? Because of this she takes risks, chances she didn't expect to take, finds herself along the way and even falls in love unexpectedly.

Its a full journey for the main character you won't be disappointed to follow along!

Synopsis:
Mia Crawford is responsible to a fault. She has to be. Between her high-demand job and taking care of her grandmother and her cats, she has little time for anything else. What time she does have, she pours into reading. Mysteries, romances, thrillers…books filled with women who are far more impulsive than she would ever dream of being. Now, forced into taking a long-overdue vacation, she finds herself on a luxurious private island where she just might have a chance to reinvent herself—for a little while, anyway. She can explore the island. Flirt shamelessly with a cute bartender. Have a vacation fling. Live like a heroine in one of her favorite novels.

Or she can curl up with a good book on the beach. Turns out reinventing yourself is easier planned than done. But when gossipy notes written in the margins of an old book turn out to be clues to the disappearance of another guest, Mia finds herself diving headfirst into a dangerous adventure. With everyone at the resort hiding secrets of their own, she’ll have to solve this real-life mystery before she becomes the next target.

Two of my favorite genres are thriller and romance. This was an amazing combination of the two that kept me glued to the pages. The pacing was perfect. This is the perfect beach read!