Book Review - Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

I was walking through Target one day and I ambled into the book section just to see if anything would catch my eye. My eyes were immediately drawn to this book. The cover art is so unique and the whole cover is just beautiful. The comic book cartoon art style is just such an interesting choice, but it works. It reminds me of Lyla Sage's books, Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled. I would love to see more contemporary romance books with the comic book cartoon style covers.

Anyway, Phoebe Walsh is a PhD candidate who's totally obsessed with true crime. Her dissertation is even based around the genre of true crime, and it's due at the end of the summer. After her father dies, Phoebe spends the summer in Florida with her brother, cleaning out her childhood home and working through some complicated feelings about her childhood. This doesn't make finishing her dissertation easier. And to make matters worse, her new neighbor, Sam, might be a serial killer because he does some suspicious things. Is Sam really that suspicious, or will he be able to convince Phoebe that he's just a normal guy?

Here's the thing. The premise of the book sounds perfect. A true crime lover lives next door to a handsome but suspicious stranger. But this isn't exactly what happens. Sam was not really all that suspicious at all, and Phoebe just becomes obsessed with thinking he's a serial killer with literally no evidence whatsoever. That aside, I think the relationship between Sam and Phoebe was cute and didn't feel fake. I really liked how they complemented each other. I thought the best relationship in this book, however, was between Phoebe and her brother Connor. They had a more strained relationship at the beginning of the book, but they came together like true family by the end. 

Overall, a sweet read, I was just expecting something different.