Serious Moonlight Paperback – 5 Jan. 2021

This was my 3rd Jenn Bennett novel and this did not disappoint in the slightest. As with all her the authors book this was sweet and adorable romance. Jenn’s writing is beautiful and always writes compelling characters. Birdie is great main character I loved reading her journey though love and life.

I really enjoyed this book. Great situations, great characters. Believable feelings. I would 100% recommend this book and the author.

I love Jenn Bennett's writing, and adored her other books. This was no different! I highly recommend if you're looking for a mystery-romance book!

Eighteen-year-old Birdie has spent most of her teen years alone. Home-schooled by her grandmother, she doesn’t have any close friends and she’s certainly never had a proper relationship. It’s, therefore, not surprising that she bolts after an unexpected one-night stand with a charismatic stranger. It’s even more unexpected when that stranger turns out to be one of her colleagues at her first ever job. Birdie is the new night auditor at the Cascadia Hotel and Daniel works almost the same shifts as the hotel van driver. Birdie longs to escape but she can’t run away this time. She needs to prove to herself and her grandfather than she can survive the world of work. But how will she survive being around Daniel, especially when he uses all his considerable charm to persuade her to help him investigate a mystery?This is being pitched as a riveting mystery in which our two main characters try to uncover both the identity of the mysterious individual who checks into the Cascadia Hotel once a week and the reason why that individual only uses the room for such a short period of time. Personally, I found the mystery little more than a plot device that creates an interesting context to explore this unusual teen love story. For me, this story is about Birdie: it’s about her learning to accept herself and learning to cope with, and respond appropriately to, her attraction and blossoming relationship with Daniel.Fortunately, my lack of interest in the central mystery really didn’t matter. I simply didn’t need it. Birdie’s first-person voice and her fear of walking into “the Most Awkward Moment in Modern History” (and then, of course, ending up a little later in the exact situation she feared) gripped me from chapter one. The voice also easily carried me through the full 425 pages at record speed.Birdie is one of the most unique characters I’ve read in this genre. While in many respects a typical 18-year-old, in others she’s incredibly distinct. This might be because of her family background, or because she was home-schooled, or maybe because of her sleep problems. I particularly loved the way she shapes everything into a mystery investigation and the way her voice is periodically interrupted by the inclusion of quirky case profiles of all the key characters.All the other characters are equally well developed and fully believable. Daniel is a wonderful, if flawed, romantic hero and I especially loved the scenes when Birdie goes to visit him unannounced and we’re introduced to his family, including their oversized cat Blueberry. However, without doubt my favourite character is Birdie’s eccentric Aunt Mona. I very much looked forward to every appearance she makes in the book – if only to discover what outlandish outfit she would be wearing!

Brigid Kemmerer is a goddess who writes some of the best YA and I know this and still sometimes put off reading her releases.This one was a little darker than some YA I’ve read of late. Rob is struggling with his fall from popularity due to the revelation his dad had been stealing from people and had blown the money folks had given him to invest. Rob used to be that popular, priviledged guy in high school that you hated but people seemed to flock to just to be in his orbit. He’s struggling with that change and the isolation of losing his friends is tough on him. It’s made even worse that people seem to hate him and believe he was stealing right along with his dad. When the book starts he spends more time reading than anything else and it inadvertently ld to him getting excellent grades.And Meaghan? Everyone knows her as the girl who tried to cheat on the SATs and made everyone fail their test and have to retake it. She’s struggling with her own issues and she’s certainly had a few snide comments made in her direction. When she’s paired with Rob on a class project it’s hard to say who is less excited to be working with the other.I have to say, I wasn’t sure how Rob and Maegan were going to work together, I mean they didn’t seem like they should fir but somehow they really did. It was lovely to see Rob’s polite good side come out, especially when so many people expected the worse from him from no other reason than who his dad was. Meagan saw the best side of Rob and I think he needed someone to see him that way. Especially as Rob has to face his father every day and struggle with the man he once viewed him as and then the reality facing him. He and his mom were primary carers for his dad and that was tough to read. It’s something no kid should have to deal with and it was a tough blow for Rob as he felt a lot of hatred for his dad but also loved who he once thought he was. It was a lot for him to reconcile and having Meagan there really helped him, I think, because she felt the pain Rob did and helped him realise it was ok to be hurt by his dad and still love him.This book was just brilliant and I strongly recommend you read if you haven’t already. it looks at ethics, friendship and what being an outsider is really like. It was just so good.