The Last Few Reads of 2023!

And suddenly, 2023 is over in a blink! Here are my final titles to round out the year… the 2023 reading summary is on the way!

–Marissa

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins was a solid suspense novel, told from three points of view: the (now deceased) Ruby through letters left to her heir, Cam (who has had nothing to do with the family for a decade) and Cam’s wife Jules. This combines family secrets, several suspiciously dead husbands, an inheritance, and a massive estate in North Carolina, and how everyone is going to deal with all of that blended together. This was fast and easy and satisfying.

Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews was my only “Christmas” book this year, but was cute and scratched the itch. If you love Christmas novellas, Andrews is already well on your radar!

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley was my final audiobook listen for the year, and was cute. Tanner is a college dropout, Louise is an 83-year-old who needs more help than she wants to admit. Stir and combine with a roadtrip, a possible crime, a gun, and several mysteries from the past and you have this novel. Sweet without being saccharine, the interplay between the two characters was charming.

End Credits by Patty Lin is her memoir about working as a TV writer from Letterman to Friends to Freaks and Geeks. I was super excited to read an “inside scoop” of the entertainment industry, but this one left me cold. If you want to read a memoir set in Hollywood about how much someone hates their job and everyone they ever met and every negative thing ever, then this is for you. And, as an aside, for someone who is a writer, this was near painful to read, and took me absolutely ages. Give this a miss.

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston was a friend rec (Hi, Eric!), and was a great novel to end my 2023 reading year on! We have ghosts, crushes, going home again to mourn your father, a funeral home, an unexpected sidekick turned possible love interest, and a southern small town setting. This was funny, emotional, warm and touching, charming and quirky. A good recommendation!🙂