Finlay Donovan is Killing It is the buzzy book from Elle Cosimano.
“Finlay is a stressed out single Mom and struggling novelist. Her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her and this morning she sent her daughter to school with hair duct-taped to her head. A woman hears Finlay talking about her new book and thinks Finlay is a contract killer. Now Finlay finds herself tangled in a murder investigation with the contracts piling up.”
Aren’t you glad when a book lives up to the buzz? Some great characters here from Cosimano. Although I would like to know what’s a wig scarf? The ex is a jerk and nobody will like him. He deserves what he gets. I enjoyed the new partnership between Finlay and Vero. Vero seems to be the go-to for unmarked bill accounting. As things continued to pile up and unravel l kept pulling for Finlay just hoping she could get ahead. Fast-paced read and great story from Cosimano. Already looking forward to the follow-up book. This would be a great beach read 🌴

This was my first Finlay Donovan book and I enjoyed it! I am looking forward to the rest of the series

Fantastic first book in the Finlay Donovan series. Finlay becomes an accidental hire for murder all because of an conversation with her publicist at a Panera in Northern Virginia. The book had me hooked from the beginning and loved reading about Finlay's shenanigans while trying to balance motherhood and being a writer.

This is such a fun and unique spin on murder mystery! Super fast paced and enjoyable to read. Highly recommend if you need something different from the usual!

Thank you so much for this copy in exchange for my honest review!

A fun, comedic mystery! I enjoyed that it was more light-hearted than other mysteries, but still entertaining. A little far-fetched at times, but the writing was easy to read. I’m excited for the sequel and the natural transition at the the end!

Review live on Goodreads now

This is an entertaining and fun read! I love Finlay and she is most definitely killing it! She is working hard to balance a new "career" and raise her kids.

Finlay Donovan is a chaotic mess and I loved every second of it! The first book in the series introduces some wonderfully complex characters that will have you both cheering for them and yelling at them to make better choices.

Absolutely loved this book! Loved Finlay & Vero. Can’t wait for another by this author. Ending was a definite WOW!
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC!

Synopsis: 'Finlay Donovan is killing it . . . except, she’s really not. She’s a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors.

When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer, and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet . . . Soon, Finlay discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.'

Rating: 5/5 stars

Review: Picking up this book awoke a whole new reader inside of me. I found so much joy and laughter in Finlay and Vero. This is definitely a series I would recommend to any and everyone!

I nearly DNFed this in the first 50 pages because Finlay’s interactions with her ex-husband were just so pathetic I couldn’t handle it. Fortunately she finds her footing (kind of?) and became less grating, though parts of the story still kind of felt like watching a slow moving car accident as you watch her make terrible decision after terrible decision.

I really liked Julian the bartender and Vero the nanny, although I am kind of questioning their life choices too. As a whole, I found this to be a quick, fun (after those first 50 or so pages) read. It was fast-paced and had quite a few twists and reveals, and after that cliff hanger I am actually really intrigued to see what happens in the sequel.

4.5 ⭐️

This book was such a breath of fresh air and the perfect start to one of my favorite series ever. The plot was hilarious, Finlay and Vero are the dream team, and I even enjoyed the love triangle situation.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for making this whole series available to read! I can’t wait to pick up the new one

4.5 ⭐️

This book was such a breath of fresh air and the perfect start to one of my favorite series ever. The plot was hilarious, Finlay and Vero are the dream team, and I even enjoyed the love triangle situation.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for making this whole series available to read! I can’t wait to pick up the new one

Quirky silly, great characters. I love the adventure! Unrealistic at times, but so good. Thank you NetGalley!

I absolutely adored this book. As a recently single mom myself when I first picked this up, Finlay was immediately relatable. Her story is fun and amusing and makes me thankful that I've never been accidently confused for a contract killer! This has become one of my favorite series!

Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
Rating (5/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
binge worthy read!

I devoured it in less than 2 days! I even went ahead and bought the entire series because I want to keep reading them.

The premise - a struggling author whose life is falling apart finds herself accidentally hired for murder…

This was a page-turner from start to finish! Loved everything about this book. My new favorite series! The ending had a nice twist, and I cannot wait to see how it all plays out in book two, “Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead.”

I absolutely adored this book. The humor was enough to make me want to continue with this series and I can’t wait to dive back in.

" I liked your odds. If I had to pick a partner to stake my future earnings on...and maybe my freedom, I figured it was a safe bet to put my money on you!" - - Vero, The Nanny

Honestly, I'd feel pretty safe with Finlay or Vero by my side. Seriously, you can't get more trustworthy or determined than either of these ladies. I love where the story went to bring them together as allies. I definitely didn't think it would play out the way it did with those 2.

The story is about a newly single mom of 2 kids, just barely getting by...still financially dependent upon her ex-husband (ugh, hate that, right?!?!) and feeling like a failure at work...until she gets a stern talking to by her agent at a Panera Bread and a lady nearby mistakes her for an assassin.

All of the characters were likable, even the idiot of an ex-husband and the other unsavory characters.

It's a fun book and so is the rest of the series.

This was a wild ride. There were a few times I considered DNFing the book because of how frustrated I was by the sloppy actions of the main character, but I just had to know what happened. Plus, the sloppiness is part of her charm. In the end, I enjoyed it quite a lot, and I’ll come back for the next in the series. Who couldn’t be charmed by a character this messy and well-intentioned?

4 stars

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was entertaining and lighthearted, which was surprising given the setup for the plot. I wish I had felt a little more emotionally connected to Finlay, but the stakes felt very real and I definitely sympathized with her situation.

Overdue bills? A sleazy ex? Russian mafia? An accidental hitman? A sensible minivan? FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT by Elle Cosimano has it all.

With hijinks and hilarity, this funny romp is a cross between Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Lisa Lutz's Izzy Spellman, Finlay Donovan is a riot. After being mistaken for a hitman, Finlay, a single mother-of-two struggling to pay her bills, gets swept into a world of blackmail, murder, and the Russian mafia. Her ex-husband and his new fiancée are determined to ruin her and take her kids away, her nanny is either going to save the day or steal all of her cookware, and her last source of income-an unwritten romance novel-is overdue.

As the bodies pile up, the police are hot on her tail. Can Finlay untangle the mess and get out of trouble, all from the front seat of her minivan?