Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

*Spoiler free*

After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately. 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. To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel

I guess you could I mildly like mysteries? I’m one to get in impatient and just want to know what all the answers are. But this one, from an author who rights amazing contemporaries, a character who seemed just like me, and some good old fashioned fluff, I knew I wanted to devour this thing whole. Trigger warning: There is talk about a suicide attempt and it is talked about a good amount.

This book seems like any other contemporary on the shelves, but it is extremely sex positive, has disabled characters, and a real look into mental illness. It was all these things put together that made this book seem so real. It was such a real representation of teenage life and how teenagers feel. At least to me. I loved it so much. Birdie was so awkward and their was weird tension and arguments between her and Daniel. It was wonderful.

Birdie is so different from me, but that is what makes us so similar. One of my favorite parts of this book was her awkwardness. It wasn’t the cutesy, funny stuff that I usually find in books. This was the painful, weird awkwardness that you can’t really laugh at kind of awkwardness. It was real and I loved it. Her thought process and the way she handles things is very different from what goes on in my brain, but it was really easy to see where she was coming from. She tends to avoid things out of fear and wow did I get that.

I was skeptical about the mystery since it seemed… kind of boring. I know it couldn’t be a murder mystery, but it just seemed like it had a good chance of falling flat. BOY DID IT NOT. The freaking twist at the end was so well done. It tied everything together and allowed Birdie’s and Daniel’s character development to really come to fruition. Everything was perfectly laid out and everything was places just so so everything could come together. It’s amazing to look at after the fact.

This book also has its fair share amount of fluff. It touches on real issues and still manages to have all the feel goodness in it. Amazing. It was really nice to see the relationship progress throughout the book. I liked seeing them struggle as they come into themselves and learn more as they grow. It wasn’t a straight line and I appreciated that.

This was the perfect blend of mystery and romance. It covered all it’s bases and did them all well. This was another Jenn Bennett book that hit that completely hit the mark!

Serious Moonlight comes out April 16th, 2019! You can add it on Goodreads and pre-order a copy in the meantime!

Thank you for reading!