Book Review: Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: April 1, 2025
Length: 325 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.…

Ever since a man was found dead in Vera’s teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly’s girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn’t be ungrateful, even if one is slightly…bored.

Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena’s, Vera finds a treasure trove: Selena’s briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.

Online, Xander had it all: a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can’t seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.

Vera is determined to solve Xander’s murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn’t do for her future daughter-in-law.

If you love to laugh… if you love a main character who sticks her nose where it doesn’t belong… if you love a character who’s a force of nature… then Vera Wong is ready and waiting to entertain you! And, of course, to do quite a bit of snooping… er, investigating.

“The guy literally said that to you?” Aimes says. “Stop digging? And you’re not only continuing to dig, you’re involving us in the digging?”

“Yes,” Vera says. “I thought is very obvious. Why I have to spell it out for you?”

Author Jesse Q. Sutanto introduced Vera Wong in the 2023 novel Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers — a totally delightful romp starring a no-holds-barred busybody whose mission (besides solving murders) is to fix everyone else’s lives… and maybe ensure herself some grandbabies too.

Vera is the 61-year-old owner of a Chinatown tea shop, which had been on its last legs before the whole finding-a-dead-man-in-her-shop-and-solving-his-murder incident. Since then, the tea shop’s business is booming, but Vera herself is a bit bored. Sure, she’s got the circle of young people she’s turned into family (now that she’s cleared them all of the murder she’d originally accused them of), but she misses the excitement of an active investigation… not that she’s ever been hired to investigate anything, and of course, despite all the police warnings (including from her hopefully-someday-future-daughter-in-law) to stay out of police business.

When her beloved son Tilly and his police officer girlfriend Selena move in together, they make a rookie mistake — they ask Vera to feed their cat while they’re away. Well, once she’s in their apartment, how is she supposed to avoid looking inside Selena’s (locked) briefcase and reading the files there? And if it just so happens that the case she sees relates to the missing friend of a young woman she’s just befriended… well, it would be wrong for Vera not to get involved!

Vera is an absolute steamroller, who pushes her way into people’s lives, feeds them (very, very well!), and insists that they now belong to her (and for the younger folks, that they call her Grandma). She’s persistent and manipulative, putting on a show of being elderly when it suits her, but never misses her morning power walks… or the opportunity to boss people around.

“I am helpless old lady, I need to protect myself”

“For the last time, you are not old.”

As the story progresses, Vera digs deeper and deeper into all sorts of shady goings-on, and also gets a crash course on influencer culture and viral videos. I can’t even begin to express how amazingly blunt and funny and awesome Vera is.

“So, you were actually assaulted?” Julia says. “That wasn’t just you embellishing as usual?”

Vera looks sharply at Julia. “Embellish? I don’t even know what that is meaning, so how can I do it if I don’t know what it is?”

Meanwhile, the mystery itself is compelling. Several characters get POV chapters, so that we learn more and more about the mystery while also seeing why so many people feel guilty or worry that they’re implicated in something nefarious. They all have secrets to hide — yet Vera is not a woman you can hide things from for very long. Especially not when she feeds you like that!

I loved this newest outing with Vera Wong. The storytelling flows, the characters are terrific, and the laughs pop up in the most unexpected ways. Plus, the investigation is fun to follow, unveils some more serious and tragic situations, yet never is too much of a downer at any one time.

I enjoyed the author’s Aunties series, but in my opinion, the Vera books are even better. Great plotting, super enjoyable dialogue, and a terrific cast of characters. The Vera Wong books are a treat!

I do recommend starting with the first book before reading the second. Sure, most of the plot would work anyway without the prior book, but you’d be missing out on getting to know Vera and the rest of the characters.

If you’re looking for some light, silly entertainment with a memorable lead character, definitely check out the Vera Wong books. Perfect for a spring or summer getaway, or any day when you just need a good laugh.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

25Oct2023

Book Review: 10 Things That Never Happened (Material World, #1) by Alexis Hall

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: 10 Things That Never Happened
Series: Material World, #2
Author: Alexis Hall
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: October 17, 2023
Length: 432 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Fake amnesia. Real feelings? Real problems.

Sam Becker loves―or, okay, likes―his job. Sure, managing a bed and bath retailer isn’t exactly glamorous, but it’s good work and he gets on well with the band of misfits who keep the store running. He could see himself being content here for the long haul. Too bad, then, that the owner is an infuriating git.

Jonathan Forest should never have hired Sam. It was a sentimental decision, and Jonathan didn’t get where he is by following his heart. Determined to set things right, Jonathan orders Sam down to London for a difficult talk…only for a panicking Sam to trip, bump his head, and maybe accidentally imply he doesn’t remember anything?

Faking amnesia seemed like a good idea when Sam was afraid he was getting sacked, but now he has to deal with the reality of Jonathan’s guilt―as well as the unsettling fact that his surly boss might have a softer side to him. There’s an unexpected freedom in getting a second shot at a first impression…but as Sam and Jonathan grow closer, can Sam really bring himself to tell the truth, or will their future be built entirely on one impulsive lie?

Alexis Hall excels at FUNNY, and 10 Things proves it! I really enjoyed Boyfriend Material and Husband Material, and at the top of the reasons why is the quirky, hilarious voice the author gives the POV characters. 10 Things is not a direct sequel, but it inhabits an adjacent world (the Jonathan character here appears briefly as a wedding guest in one of the other books). No prior familiarity is needed — 10 Things is a quick, light read that’s very easy to get into.

Sam manages a branch of Splashes & Snuggles (and is the first to tell you what a horrible name that is) — a successful big-box retailer of bathroom and bedroom furnishings and supplies. One running gag is that Sam never fails to mention the full name of any product he refers to — a blanket is never just a blanket, but a Brentfords Super Ultra Soft Flannel Fleece. It’s kind of annoying and also totally hilarious when repeated enough times.

Sam’s management style leaves something to be desired, frankly. He’s exceptionally nice, which means he lets his employees take lots of time off, keeps on staff a walking disaster who regularly spills coffee on the most expensive display items, and (horrors!) routinely fails to upsell protection plans. When boss Jonathan (nicknamed by the staff His Royal Dickishness) summons him to the head office to discuss sales numbers and receive a sales coaching session, it’s a sign of impending doom.

After some awkward and unpleasant interactions, Jonathan fires Sam and makes it clear he intends to fire all of Sam’s team as well… but Sam, feeling intimidated, backs into a Nexa by MERLYN 8mm Sliding Door Enclosure (i.e., a shower) and ends up with a concussion. The concussion is accompanied by some initial confusion, so when Jonathan assumes it’s amnesia, Sam (making a really bad choice) decides to go along with it.

Granted, Sam has good intentions. By faking amnesia, he can pretend that he doesn’t remember being fired, and what kind of person would fire someone who just sustained a head injury in his own store? Sam has no one to take care of him, so naturally, Jonathan takes him back to his own home — a huge but sterile place — to give Sam time to recover. And as you’d expect, Sam gets to work on slowly but surely breaking through Jonathan’s icy demeanor.

To be clear, 10 Things is the grumpiest/sunshine-iest of grumpy/sunshine romances. Jonathan is presented as cold, mean, and uncaring (he didn’t get that nickname for no reason), and Sam really is a ball of sunshine. Sam is warm, funny, guided much more by kindness than by sense, and sets out to improve the lives of everyone around him, including (somewhat accidentally) inserting himself into Jonathan’s strained family relationships and forcing some Christmas cheer into Jonathan’s world.

The writing is super fun, including just wonderfully odd phrasing that made me laugh every time.

“Actually” — Anjad could hear a factual inaccuracy at eight hundred paces in a high wind — “that’s a misconception.”

“Is not.” Tiff is still pretty young, and she still goes to the is not/is too school of debate.

“Now how’d things go with Forest?”

“Badly.”

“Thanks. Very clarificationy.”

And if I was less pissed off at him than I am then I’d spend more time than I do reflecting on how much it must have sucked for him to live like that for, well, pretty much his whole life as far as I can tell. But I’m not less pissed off than I am, I’m exactly as pissed off as I am, so I mostly just feel sorry for myself.

“Besides, did you really think I go to sleep in a suit, so my pillows know who’s in charge?”

Right now, Bruno Mars is singing about how I’m amazing just the way I am, which is very sweet of him.

The plot itself is a little lightweight. I’m not sure I really understood the Sam/Jonathan relationship at its core — we’re shown how the two connect and how Sam gets past Jonathan’s iron exterior, but I’m not convinced that I believe it. It’s still very entertaining, but I never quite felt like I was reading about anything remotely real.

There’s backstory to both of their lives and current situations, and while we learn more about Jonathan’s upbringing early on, the reasons for Sam’s work and living arrangements aren’t explained until the very end of the book (95% according to my Kindle). That felt frustrating — it would have been helpful to understand Sam’s life from the start, rather than only knowing him through his actions as the story unfolds.

Still, despite the plot straining at times to make the case for why this couple should get together, it’s still a cute and very fun read. Did I buy Sam and Jonathan as a romantic pairing? Not really… but the overall story is so silly and the push/pull between the characters so entertaining that I had a really good time just going with the flow.

4Dec2022

Book Review: Husband Material (London Calling, #2) by Alexis Hall

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Husband Material
Series: London Calling, #2
Author: Alexis Hall
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: August 2, 2022
Length: 432 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Purchased
Rating:

In BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, Luc and Oliver met, pretended to fall in love, fell in love for real, dealt with heartbreak and disappointment and family and friends…and somehow figured out a way to make it work. Now it seems like everyone around them is getting married, and Luc’s feeling the social pressure to propose. But it’ll take more than four weddings, a funeral, and a bowl full of special curry to get these two from I don’t know what I’m doing to I do.

Good thing Oliver is such perfect HUSBAND MATERIAL.

This Summer 2022, you’re invited to the event(s) of the season.

After giggling my way through Boyfriend Material earlier this year, I just knew I needed the sequel in my life. And for the most part, Husband Material does not disappoint… except for the ending. But more on that later.

Blatantly modeled on Four Weddings and A Funeral**, the plot of Husband Material follows Luc and Oliver, the extreme-opposites-extremely-attract couple from the first book as they navigate being in a healthy long-term relationship (a first for both of them) while seeing all of their friends embracing wedding planning and baby making.

Two years into their relationship, Luc and Oliver still have separate flats but are together constantly. They’ve each made progress with their own personal hang-ups and issues, love each other very much, and are still funny as hell. As they attend wedding after wedding, some of their differences seem more concerning — especially when it comes to gay identity vs mainstream norms, and whether finally being able to officially and legally go the traditional marriage route means that they should.

And that’s not even addressing the rainbow elephant in the room — Luc embraces the glitter and rainbows of his ideal of gay community, but Oliver finds it all too commercialized and judgmental. If he doesn’t want a rainbow balloon arch at his wedding, does that make him a bad gay? But if he denies Luc the balloon arch, is he forcing Luc to give up part of his own identity? (Seriously, they spend A LOT of time on the balloon arch debate…)

After an unplanned panic-driven proposal (from Luc, of course), the couple decide to get married, but their cute differences as a couple seem to morph into fundamental problems as they try to navigate actually planning a wedding.

I love Luc and Oliver as characters and was very happy to reconnect with them and see how their lives have progressed since the first book. Husband Material, as a second book, assumes that we know these people, so there’s less time spent on character development and much more on plot shenanigans, which is fine, but creates a shallower reading experience. We still get a taste for the two as individuals, but their escapades (and the ridiculous goings-on surrounding the various weddings) take center stage for perhaps too much of the book — so when we do get deeper character moments, the tonal shift can be a bit jarring..

As in Boyfriend Material, the writing is heavy on word-play and humor, and most of the time, that’s truly a reading treat — don’t we all need more silly and clever and laugh-out-loud funny moments in our serious lives?

A few little samples:

“As your token gay friend, it is my duty to say that you are a fierce, sickening, incredible woman and that when you find a man who deserves you, he’ll make you feel like a princess every day of your life in a way that somehow manages to avoid reinforcing problematic gender stereotypes.”

… I couldn’t tell if we’d had a fight of not, and if we had, whose fault it had been. I mean, I had kind of dropped him on extra-special date night. Like a dick. Except I’d only done that because I needed to take care of my friend. Like definitely not a dick. Fuck. I was in a grey dick area.

I was increasingly convinced that weddings were just an elaborate cycle of vengeance that had got really out of hand. Some pair of selfish bastards had forced their friends to come to a tedious party two thousand years ago and their selfish bastard friends had decided to pay them back by forcing them to come to a tedious party, and then some wholly independent group of selfish bastards had built an industry around it and here we were. An eye for an eye leaves the world overpaying for table settings.

I made the air-quotiest air quotes that ever air-quoted.

All fun aside for a moment, I will say that I did not care for the ending, not even a little bit. And without getting into spoiler territory, I suppose it was meant to show that Luc and Oliver works best when they forge their own path and do what’s really right for the two of them — but all I could think was that they could have avoided all the angst and mess if they’d only had a real conversation months earlier. So while I think the author meant for the ending to come across as nonconventially romantic, I was just unsatisfied and a little saddened by it all.

I had thought this was the final book of a two-book story, but it looks like more is on the way. According to Goodreads, there are two more related books yet to come, although I believe the focus will shift away from Luc and Oliver to others in their friend circle.

Despite my feelings about the ending of Husband Material, I enjoyed the writing and characters enough to want more, so I’m sure I’ll check out whatever comes next.

Spoiler ahead — look away now if you don’t want to know!

**Spoilery bit: I’d completely forgotten that the main couple in Four Weddings and a Funeral decide to have a life together without getting married at the end. I guess if I’d remembered that, then I wouldn’t have been so surprised / let down by the ending of Husband Material!

4Jun2022

Book Review: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Boyfriend Material
Author: Alexis Hall
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: July 7, 2020
Length: 427 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

Wanted:
One (fake) boyfriend
Practically perfect in every way
Luc O’Donnell is tangentially–and reluctantly–famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he’s never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad’s making a comeback, Luc’s back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything.
To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship…and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He’s a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and he’s never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately apart from being gay, single, and really, really in need of a date for a big event, Luc and Oliver have nothing in common. So they strike a deal to be publicity-friendly (fake) boyfriends until the dust has settled. Then they can go their separate ways and pretend it never happened.
But the thing about fake-dating is that it can feel a lot like real-dating. And that’s when you get used to someone. Start falling for them. Don’t ever want to let them go.

Sometimes, mood is everything. Several months ago, I borrowed the audiobook of Boyfriend Material from the library, and couldn’t get past the first chapter. Too self-absorbed, too focused on partying, too desperate to be adorable… or so I thought.

Here I am, months later, to tell you that I was wrong, wrong, WRONG about Boyfriend Material. My friends, this book is a delight!

On a whim, I borrowed the e-book from the library, incredibly in need of a light, engaging story — and that’s exactly what I found here, plus heart-warming squishy love and oodles of giggles.

Our main character is Luc, the son of a famous rockstar who walked out of his life as a child. After a terrible betrayal by an ex-boyfriend years earlier, Luc lives fast and free, and has developed a tabloid relationship of being yet another spoiled, misbehaving brat of a has-been celebrity. When Luc’s latest exposure in the tabloids (honestly, he just tripped! he only looks like he was passed out in a gutter!) threatens his job in fundraising, he knows some serious reputation repair is needed.

Enter Oliver, an uptight lawyer whom Luc once propositioned years earlier (unsuccessfully). Through a mutual friend, Luc and Oliver are reintroduced and agree to the ultimate romantic trope, the fake-dating scheme. Oliver is posh and presentable, someone who will give off “good gay” vibes for the donors Luc needs to charm, and Luc will make a fine companion for Oliver at an obligation-and-guilt-filled upcoming family event.

He gave me the type of look you give someone when you’re mentally shifting them from the box that says “attractive” to the box that says “weird.”

Initially like water and oil, Luc and Oliver eventually find that they complement each other in all the best ways. Trust, friendship, support, and (obviously) feelings soon follow. Their fake relationship turns into something real, but they’ll need to each get out of their own heads and put their unproductive inner dialogues aside if they’re going to make it work.

Oh, my, is this fun! First of all, while Luc is definitely a fiction type — the messy, unreliable, flighty guy with a heart of gold, who just needs someone he can count on — he’s also a total sweetheart, and outright hilarious. He’s silly and snarky, and I love him to pieces. Oliver is a little harder to love, since he comes across as stiff and serious, but hey, despite being a total neat-freak, he makes a mean French toast and is sweet and protective when it counts.

The plot zips along and hits the major plot points you’d expect, but the journey is just so adorably entertaining that I loved every minute.

The writing is consistently funny, and managed to catch me by surprise with its silliness and cleverness the whole way through. A few choice bits:

Peeping through my eyelashes like a small child braving an episode of Doctor Who from behind the sofa cushions, I checked my notifications.

We went on a couple of dates and I thought it was going really well, so I introduced him to Bridget, and she fucking stole him from me. Well, she didn’t steal him. He just liked her more. And I don’t resent it at all. I mean, I do. But I don’t. Except when I do.

“I’m sure we can negotiate matters as they arise. And you’re still welcome to stay. If you’d like. If you have no other engagements.”
Engagements? Oh, Oliver. “There was this tea dance I was meant to go to in 1953, but I can probably skip it.”

“You”—I gave a thwarted sigh—“are a terrible fake boyfriend.”
“I’m building fake anticipation.”
“You’d better be fake worth it.”

I stood at the sink and did that thing people do in movies where they brace themselves on the counter and stare meaningfully at their reflection. Turns out, it didn’t help. It was just a dick, looking at a dick, asking why he was always such a dick.

… Really, what do you have to lose?”
“Pride? Dignity? Self-respect?”
“Luc, you and I both know you have none of those things.”

You get the picture. Boyfriend Material is a book you’ll want to hug. There are emotional moments and people confronting past hurts and obstacles, but overall, it’s sweet and upbeat and just cute and romantic as hell.

A follow-up book comes out this August, and I absolutely cannot wait!