While I loved the first book c this one hit a bit different for me. Maybe because I knew that Finlay is up to no good!
And she delivers in spades!
I felt a bit bad for her while trying to co-parenting and juggling her career while other more thrilling things steal her attention fully. And nothing she can dismiss unfortunately.
Same suspenseful moments and interesting characters where Finlay solves everything, with some help of course, and everything is back to normal in the end

I’m looking forward to read more if there will be any in the future because Finlay is addictive and intriguing in more ways than not.


NetGalley arc

I really loved Finlay Donovon Is Killing It, i thought having a sequel was super fun and I did enjoy parts. There were some funny moments. I think I didn't care for the love triangle much and some of the plot seemed to be moving slowly for me. I liked it but didn't love it!

4.5 rounded up. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and the follow up to the hilarious Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. I really liked it. I really enjoy our protagonist Finlay and her sidekick Vero. It’s such a lighthearted bit of escapism and is such good fun to read. Whilst I do think the first book was slightly better, I still had a great time and can’t wait for the next instalment which has been set up nicely.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Finlay Donovan Knocks Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
I give this book 4.5 stars

Meet Finlay Donovan - single mum, floundering crime writer and accidental hit-woman .
With her book deadline looming, and an ex-husband to keep alive, Finlay is quickly coming to the end of her rope. She can only hope there isn't a noose at the end of it. . .

This is book 2 in a series
Welcome to your escape from seriousness/ reality book of the year.
This fast paced fun read has a great combination of mishaps and hijinks,light hearted humour, romance and mystery to investigate .Add the interactions between chaotic lead characters Finlay and Vero who to date are my favourite sparky duo and you’re ready to go..Totally entertaining and highly engaging…….l loved EVERYTHING about this book.
How long do l have to wait for book 3!!!
With thanks to Netgalley,Elle Cosimano and Headline for my chance to read and review this book

Finlay Donovan is back and just when she thought she was out, they pull her back in. Mumsnet just took a very dark turn as an anonymous post is placed in a seemingly innocuous chat that is actually a coded request for a hit - the target, Finlay’s no good ex husband and father of her children Steven. She can’t let this happen. Right? No obviously not. Probably. With her dogged sidekick, Vero and a diaper bag full of wigs, Finlay aims to track down the person who ordered the hit and the hitman who accepted the job. Chaos rains.
Finlay Donovan is a lot of fun, I do however find myself asking why she must take the most complicated route out of things when there is usually a more obvious solution. But it’s so enjoyable I just shake my head and go along for the ride. This book ties in very neatly with the first, bringing back all our favourites although Julian is used sparingly what we get is quality. Nick is also back and Nick’s are always good value especially dolled up in riot gear. We get a little glimpse into Vero’s world and it looks like the third book is gearing up to spill those beans which I am already looking forward to. And I also want to know what wig Finlay will wear next.

Finlay is back still struggling with juggling motherhood, the pressures of writing a new book (helloooo writer’s block!) and on top of that, she’s just found out someone wants to kill her ex husband - and it’s not her!

More mess and chaos… and murder ofc makes for one over the top fun new FINLAY DONOVAN instalment 🙌🏻 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you’re in the need for a light fun read, look no further 👀

💭 What’s some of your favourite over the top books? FINLAY and DIAL A FOR AUNTIES are mine 🤩

Posting on IG tomorrow

It's only January but I predict this one is going to be my Most Disappointing Eagerly Anticipated Sequel of the year. Finlay Donovan was an unexpected joy last January in bleak, lockdown Britain. I haven't had that much fun with crime since the Stephanie Plum books were still in single digits and, you know, GOOD!

This one was neither funny or madcap, and the stakes felt so much lower - bold move to make the action centre around preventing the hit put on a character we'd all love to die from happening, really could have done without it! I appreciate the authors note about how hard it is to write comedy during a pandemic, I'm sure it is. In which case personally I'd have rather waited longer for this book so lightning could have struck again, but YMMV.

4.5 Stars!
Our favourite accidental contract killer that's not much of an actual killer is back, this time someone wants her ex husband out of the picture and the race is on to stop the hit and save the father of her children. All while trying to write her next novel, that once again seems more true crime than fiction.

Elle Cosimano truly is a fantastic writer, not only can she keep you engaged from page 1, but the characters are amazingly well written. It feels less like reading and more as if I'm a bystander watching it all play out. I will never tire of reading about Finlay Donovan. I'm so glad we got a bit more of an insight into Vero and Nick is still around. The characters are what make the book, the plot is, again, unique and interesting and the twists and turns sent me dizzy. And I can't not mention how light hearted and how much humour Elle writes into a book despite all the dead bodies. And as for the ending, well, that certainly was not what I expected but I absolutely adored it.

Fantastic! This series gets better and better with each book.
As this is a sequel, I don't want to give the plot away but this still has the same charm and humour from the first book and what a way to drag out the slow burn romance!
I hope there's more where this came from.

I personally enjoyed the first book a lot more, I thought the book lacked the same lighthearted tone that the first book had and the events were a lot more farfetched, and needed more focus to follow along with. I was never bored with the plot line, however I did struggle to stay engaged with the book, which wasn't an issue for me previously, as I finished the first book within a day.

I liked that the character's from the first book were brought back, but I felt Finlay was more tiresome in this book, and Vero lost the bold and witty personality we had seen in her previously. It was great to see more character development in the side characters like Finlay's sisters and love interests, and am interested to see how that will progress.

The book closed up on a cliffhanger, and whilst I wasn't that thrilled about the book as a whole, I am still interested in seeing who is orchestrating everything, and hoping that if there is a third book, it is written similarly to the first, with the same tone and attention to character's.

I absolutely loved FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IS and was super excited to read this sequel!

I really enjoyed this book! It was just as good as the first one!

It is so chaotic and witty - a really fun read!

That ending though! I’m really looking forward to the next book!

#2
3.5 rounded down.

Who wants Finlay‘s ex husband Steven dead after she finds a post on a female chat forum? Who is FedUp? Even more to the point who is EasyClean? What can Finlay and Vero do to stop it? Can Finlay deliver on her next book as the deadline looms? Maybe inspiration for the plot lies in this latest mess she finds herself in.

Trouble doesn’t just knock at Finley‘s door, it’s already open wide and lets it self in. She sure gets herself into some ‘situations’ in this latest mad caper. Russian mobs, check, hit women and hits, check, hot detectives, definitely check, hot student lawyers, ditto, corpses, yes, hackers, yep, threats and more than threats, most certainly. It’s a fast paced escapade, absolutely crazy as each time the dynamic duo ‘solve’ something it unleashes something else as they bumble about in the dark. It’s not meant to be taken seriously, it’s overblown and ridiculously convoluted but it’s fun. It’s not laugh out loud funny and didn’t have the fizz of the last one but it’s still worth reading especially for the quirky characters of Finlay and Vero who you can’t help but like. Some scenes are especially colourful and creative and are movie worthy. The ending is really good, parts of it are a surprise and make me smile and yes, it ends on a cliffhanger. If you want a lighter read in the mystery and thriller genre then this series will fit the bill.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Headline for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Elle Cosimano follows Finlay Donovan is Killing It with this sequel with the further crime capers and mayhem of the accidental hit woman and divorced single mother with two young children, Delia and Zach. Once again Fin is suffering from writer's block and struggling to meet her deadlines, although her good for nothing ex-husband, Steven, is no longer engaged to Theresa after dead bodies were discovered on his farm. He is no longer seeking full custody of the children, but he does still want to see them, and this is proving to be a problem for Fin as she has discovered someone wants him dead, and is willing to pay to have him killed by an assassin. Whilst she is not averse to seeing him killed, there is the rather small matter that he is the father of her children, and they love him.

She tries to work out who could possibly want him dead, but that list is rather extensive, as she and her live in nanny and now close friend, Veronica 'Vero' Ruiz, a woman with her own secrets, attempt to follow and keep Steven safe. Understandably, Fin wants to protect the children and is rather reluctant to let him have them as she comes up with excuse after excuse. Her love life is rather fraught, she has been seeing the younger Julian, bartender at The Lush and law student, but he has gone off to Florida with his mates, and Detective Nick Anthony is back in her life, still smitten with her. A whole host of familiar characters return, including, unfortunately, Feliks and the Russian Mafia, Theresa, and her best friend Aimee. Will Fin be able to finish her novel on time and save Steven?

Cosimano keeps the absurdities and comic humour coming in this fun and entertaining addition to the series, although it has to be said that with all the action in the novel that our central protagonist, Fin, has very litte time to spend with her children. I do love her family, particularly Georgia, the cop, who is responsible for Nick turning up in Fin's life again when he comes to Delia's school for a careers talk dressed in his SWAT uniform, which has all the women swooning. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

A month after Finlay Donovan was mistaken for a hit-woman for hire and having to deal with more dead bodies than she would like, she's back to trying to juggle her looming book deadline and taking care of her kids. However, before her life can return to (somewhat) normal, she gets a tip that someone has called a hit on her ex-husband via an anonymous internet forum. Who? Why? Before she knows it, she's tangled up in a web of secrets and having encounters with the Russian mob (again), while simultaneously trying to navigate her feelings towards the almost-lawyer and cop in her life...

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It was my first read of 2022 and I absolutely adored it, so I was stoked to get an ARC of Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead! This book had all the humour and fun of the first one, and I flew through it! I love, love, love Finlay and Vero's relationship and dynamic so much, and I'm really intrigued by Vero's past and what she's hiding... I also enjoyed the progression of the love triangle that was set up in Book 1 (I'm fully Team Nick now! His relationship with Delia is everything), and getting to catch up with all the supporting characters. I can't wait to see how Finlay's story continues in the next book, especially with how this one ended... (Also, RIP Christopher)

(Note: I would definitely recommend reading the first book before starting the second as it introduces you to all the supporting characters and their backstories. You'll probably be a bit overwhelmed otherwise.)

I absolutely loved the first book in This series so had been eagerly awaiting this book.

I enjoyed how quick it was to get into, the pacing and how the storyline the main character was writing make a joke of the book but this one was just too far fetched even for me.

I absolutely loved Finlay Donovan is Killing It so I was thrilled to find out there was a sequel and super excited to be approved to read it in advance of publication day.
The story picks up where the first one finishes so I would definitely recommend reading the books in order. Once again Finlay is faced with an outlandish situation where she thinks someone is trying to kill her ex husband. Chuck into the mix 2 potential boyfriends, 2 kids and a Nanny/best friend that is definitely hiding something from her and you've got a brilliantly gripping and quite hilarious plot on your hands. It is one to take with a pinch of salt, quite unrealistic but enjoyable nonetheless. Just don't take it too seriously! The cliffhanger at the end makes me think there will be a 3rd book in the series so will keep my fingers crossed!

This is a great continuation of the series. If you liked the first book you will like the second.

Considering these books are focused around a crime they are surprisingly light hearted. A good mix of mystery, Romance and starting again in your 30’s.