Two Bloggers One Book - A Cozy Fail?

So last month was kind of a fail for Stormi and myself so this month, we thought "Let's read a cozy!"  We both enjoy them so much and to be honest, they are usually such quick reads...key word here...USUALLY.  So read on to see how this month's pick REALLY turned out.  Then hop over to Stormi's @   Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! for her thoughts as well!

TITLE: Fiction Can Be Murder (Mystery Writer's Mystery #1)
AUTHOR: Becky Clark

PUBLISHER: Midnight Ink

PUBLISHING DATE: April 8, 2018

FROM GOODREADS:  LIFE BECOMES STRANGER THAN FICTION WHEN CHARLEE'S LATEST NOVEL INSPIRES A REAL MURDER 

Mystery author Charlemagne "Charlee" Russo thinks the twisty plots and peculiar murders in her books are only the product of her imagination--until her agent is found dead exactly as described in Charlee's new, unpublished manuscript. Suspicion now swirls around her and her critique group, making her confidence drop as severely and unexpectedly as her royalty payments.

The police care more about Charlee's feeble alibi and financial problems than they do her panicky claims of innocence. To clear her name and revive her career, she must figure out which of her friends is a murderer. Easier said than done, even for an author who's skilled at creating tidy endings for her mysteries. And as her sleuthing grows dangerous, Charlee's imagination starts working overtime. Is she being targeted, too?

MY THOUGHTS:  Cute cover right?  Makes you want to just curl up in this chair and read the day away right?  Well, my suggestion, pick another book to do so.  "Fiction Can Be Murder" has the honor of having one of the most annoying characters I have met in a long time.  Charlee Russo is a mystery writer, although how I have NO idea because she's pretty darn clueless.  One morning, her agent ends up dead and is killed in the exact same manner as written in Charlee's upcoming, unpublished novel.  This puts Charlee, as well as her mystery writer's club, as targets for the police investigation and in order to save herself, and those she cares about, Charlee starts looking into the death herself.  

This book kind of flowed oddly for me.  I'm not even sure why but the title itself doesn't even work in my brain.  I was able to keep reading because in the end, I really did want to know who killed the bitchy agent.  Which I might add no one really seemed to care that she was dead - not even her husband.  As I mentioned, Charlee is annoying.  In fact, during most of the chats with Stormi, we ended up calling her "paranoid girl."  This girl could find reasons why a blade of grass was out to get her.  This book also lacked what I love about mose cozies.  There's no quaint small town setting and no extremely likable characters (although I did like the elderly upstairs neighbors and the two guys who owned the local book store).  I will say there were a couple of cute dogs in the mix.  One Charlee rescues from a local alley and one is owned by the elderly couple I mentioned - Peter O'Drool (so the author does get points for the adorable Pug name). 

I really can't recommend this book to cozy lovers.  It was a pretty annoying read.  And spoiler alert, Stormi didn't think much of it either.  We joked that Charlee probably killed her agent herself and forgot about it because not only is she "paranoid girl" she's "scattered girl."  I'm sure plenty of people have enjoyed this book, it just wasn't what I was looking for. Oh well, better luck next time.  And I mean  it!  Stormi and I better have better luck with May's read!!!!

I received this book from Netgalley and the published in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 2 PAWS