dnf at around the 50% mark. i am so sorry, but this just was not for me <3 but i did like the set up and the cozy feel!

Short take: Sweet, sex-positive, good characters, puppy dog MMC.

An older YA novel about two characters that are around 18-19 years old Birdie and Daniel. After an awkward first encounter, they are forced to work together in a hotel where a mysterious writer comes to visit once in a while. Birdie and Daniel thought it be fun to find out why he came there and who this writer was.

I enjoyed this. The writing was good, but I enjoyed Jenn Bennetts writing in the past. The characters were really cute, the plot kept me interested, the male main character was adorable.

My favorite part was Birdie's aunt, the best character.

I'm a huge Jenn Bennett fan and she did not disappoint! She's definitely an auto-read author for me. She does sweet YA contemporary romance so well. I love Daniel, he was such a cute nerd, and all the diversity in this book. I also loved the Seattle setting. Though this book was great, Starry Eyes still takes the cake for me as favorite Jenn Bennett read.

I have to say Serious Moonlight was my favorite Jen Bennett book. I love Birdie and her love of mysteries. I related to her because as a teen I was a mystery loving introvert. But like Birdie I came into my own working my first job after high school. And her loved her relationship developed with Daniel. It was a sweet teenage romance with a mystery all wrapped up in a coming of age story.

Another book by one of my favorite authors? It's like christmas morning. Daniel quickly became one of my favorite love interests to read about.

I’ve never met a Jenn Bennett book I did t like, and this was no exception! I long anticipated this book, and it didn’t let me down!

Jenn Bennette is the absolute queen of realistic, swoonworthy, sex positive books. This one isn't my favorite (but to be fair, it will take a lot to beat out Alex, Approximately) but it was certainly high on the list. Highly reccomend

DNF
I absolutely adored Jenn Bennett's previous works I read. So I was thrilled when I received an ARC of Serious Moonlight to read and review. But I didn't fall in love with the story like I was hoping I would. The characters didn't draw me in and the plot didn't captivate my attention. I kept sitting the story down and then trying to pick it up and get back into later only to continue to repeat the same cycle. Mostly I was bored and life's too short to read boring books.

Jenn Bennett’s books are the perfect combination of sweet and lovely. I’ve loved every one of them and the balance of serious and swoony. All of them are must reads.

Oh. My. God. This book! Oh what can I say about this book!? The romance is amazing, the characters are so well written, Daniel is so swoon worthy it's not even funny. I laughed, I cried, I melted. I loved all of the characters, I loved the romance. It's just, ugh. I am officially a Jenn Bennett fan and I swear I never wanted this book to end. I'm not a huge romance person, I do like contemporary but not usually straight up romance. But this book seriously owns my heart. It's well written, it's believable with just a bit of fairy tale. And I love her aunt. I love every part of this book.

Jenn Bennett is one of my favorite authors ever, an auto buy author for sure. She never disappoints and she didn’t with this YA romance, which has a narcoleptic mc and a partially dead li who work at the same historical hotel after an awkward one night stand and wind up solving the mystery of a mysterious writer staying at the hotel together. So much fun, so swoony.

I could not figure out how to download this book! I always forget that it is sometimes a challenge to do that with Simon titles. But I love Jenn Bennett's books and I do plan to purchase a title and get to this one - and then I will come back to review it more fully.

Books set in Seattle automatically get moved to my TBR. I loved Daniel being an awkward geek and not some jock. I love his relationship with Birdie who seemed so relatable and down to earth. Their back and forth conversations were the best part.

The plot of this book was great but it didn't make my top ten. Bennett's writing is fun and hits the perfect tone.

This was a really good romance that covered a lot of serious issues and had a good central mystery to solve. Don't want to give any plot details away but you should totally check it out. The mystery quotes were a nice touch, too.

Jenn Bennett has been knocking it out of the park with YA contemporary the last few years. She is now my main go-to when recommending a sweet romance to one our teen readers.
Serious Moonlight was a fun mix between YA romance and mystery that I just adored. The book is set in a bookstore (what a dream!) with the rainy backdrop of Seattle that just adds an extra layer to this story. Very cute - definitely recommend to anyone who loves a good contemporary romance!

3.5 This romcom was a delight to read and I truly enjoyed the mystery flair. The characters were believable and their backstories held angst that made their coming together difficult and tension-filled. It was a bit longer than necessary; wordy and repetitive in some places when I thought the story could move along, but all-in-all this was an enjoyable relationship story with a nod to detective lovers.

Birdie and Daniel meet one late night/early morning at the Moonlight diner in Seattle, where Birdie grew up with her single mom and “aunt” Mona. (But now she lives with her recently widowed grandfather on Bainbridge Island.) They have awkward sex, and Birdie hopes to never see him again. That preference is carelessly dashed when she starts working at a hotel downtown— Daniel also works there. In a bid to spend time with her, Daniel ropes mystery-loving Birdie into helping him solve a mystery. As the two spend more and more time together, their feelings grow and romance (with some of bumps, of course) blossoms.

Birdie and Daniel’s romance models consent, safe sex, and good communication. The mystery (while important to several plot twists) was a distraction from the romance at hand.

Diverse reads: Daniel is half-Japanese and half-Euro-American; Birdie and her grandfather have narcolepsy


***SPOILER***




Mental health: Daniel attempted suicide before the chronological start of the book; he takes medication and sees a therapist

Jenn Bennet’s romances always shine, and this is no exception. Birdie and Daniel are such an adorable pair—and their banter had me laughing right from the get-go. I fell in love with sweet, geekily magical Daniel right along with Birdie, and I really did want to see them together. The mystery aspect of the book is also fun—Birdie is a huge mystery aficionado, so it worked out perfectly that there was a true mystery right under their noses. And while it’s the romance that kept me turning the pages, the way the central mystery ends up playing out is unexpected and interesting! I absolutely LOVE the family dynamics in this story, especially when it comes to Daniel’s family and Birdie’s grandpa. The only character I’m not absolutely head-over-heels for is Birdie’s “Aunt” Mona, who feels a little bit like a too-quirky-cool caricature for me. Plus, I was worried at first at her response to Birdie’s uneasiness over the circumstances of losing her virginity (Mona seems far too cavalier and unhelpful about it—I think her character is supposed to be really sex-positive, but she comes off as a bit too flighty and wacky to take any of her advice very seriously). But, this was redeemed for me in the end because I think the topic of sex was handled well overall. (Everything isn’t perfect and magical between Birdie and Daniel right away! They both acknowledge that the circumstances of their first encounter weren’t ideal and may have even been a mistake. Daniel and Birdie have real conversations about sex!) Oh, and this book does include the stereotype of a homeschooled teen who’s socially awkward and is forced into homeschooling by an overly-strict parental figure (in this case, her Christian grandma)—as you may know, this is a personal pet peeve of mine. But the good far outweighs the bad! And, as usual, Bennet explores themes of mental and physical health with care and without over-dramatizing. That can be a feat in itself. Highly recommend this book!

NARRATION: I listened to the audiobook version of this book from the library, and I thought that Devon Sorvari did a fabulous job with the narration. Her depiction of the banter between Daniel and Birdie was especially fun!

***Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley (but I ended up listening to the audiobook from my local library). No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

Finally got around to finishing this one and it was cute! Definitely not my favorite of Jenn Bennett's books, but the Seattle setting had my heart.

I love Jenn Bennetts books, Alex Approximately will probably forever be my favorite. She is one of my go to authors when I'm in the contemporary romance mood. Which is why I HAD to request this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and blew through it in one sitting, which has been super rare for me lately. So, I highly recommend it!