The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

I'll admit that the banter between Maggie and Ethan made me chuckle a few times. And the author pulled a clever “gotcha!” at the halfway point, transforming my urge to slap Ethan silly for his general smarminess into a desire to give him a big hug because Reasons. But overall this book reminded me of why I dislike 97% of M/F contemporary rom-coms. Maggie thinks she is worthless, the result of parents who ignored her and then died when she was 18, a cheating sack of shit ex, and a manipulative former BFF. She rarely leaves her apartment or interacts with another human other than her kindly editor/mentor. Yet her self-esteem issues are magically cured in less than a week by Ethan telling her that she is wonderful. Of course I want my MCs to be supportive and caring, but having Ethan erase 30 years of psychological injury with a few heated looks and assorted attagirls makes my feminist blood boil.

It's possible I'm overthinking this harmless piece of fluff.