This is a book for every millennial. Period. This was such a fun read that had me engrossed from the first page. Phoebe is all of us at some point in our lives; obsessed with true crime, not knowing what’s next in our lives, and jumping to the worst conclusions about people. I loved Phoebe from the very start and her quirky personality only got better as the story progresses. I felt for all of her heartache and not wanting to make decisions on the next steps in her life. We can all relate to a little procrastination, can’t we? Sam was such a fun character as well who I always wanted to root for. Overall, loved every second of this book and can’t wait to see what’s next from Alicia.

TW: death of a parent, suicide joke (briefly described), estranged relationship with a parent, mentions of divorce, adoption, body positivity, childhood trauma, grief, and others I may have missed.

This was a mixed bag for me. While I loved the concept and the supporting characters, I couldn’t stand the FMC, Phoebe. I thought she was rude, selfish, and sarcastic in a really inappropriate way. I did relate to her wanting to do things on her own and not wanting to ask for help, you know, strong independent women style, but that was her only redeeming quality until very late into the book.

As much as this book is about serial killers, this really highlighted the voice all women have and how we collectively have our minds trained on how to react around men. The internal struggle of do I have my keys in an armed position, why is he helping me, omg he knows where I live, etc. really highlighted the real fear a lot of us have.

This also took me forever to get through - and maybe this is purely a personal problem - but whenever there was a killer or trial, etc. mentioned that I didn’t recognize, I’d put the book down and end up in an online deep dive completely ignoring the book. I know it wasn’t the intention of the book, but there were so many pop culture references that pulled me out of the story a lot and was hard to stay engaged.

I thought Sam, the love interest, was a super cute khaki wearing nerd, and he did not deserve the anger Phoebe was projecting onto him the majority of the book. Connor, her brother, was the ultimate golden retriever and his girlfriend Shani, Phoebe’s childhood friend Allison, and some of her colleagues were good representation rep.

As always, the animal composition, Lenore the cat, was the true highlight of this book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this ARC, I am voluntarily leaving this review.

THANK YOU SO MUCH BERKLEY PUB!! I always know it's going to be an incredible book if it's a berkley pub romance book. LOVE IN TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS WAS ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS.

What originally drew me to this book was both the title and the ADORABLE cover. Our protagonist Phoebe Walsh is a PhD candidate studying "true crime". So obviously when our love interest (Sam) offers to help her move a desk LATE one night she assumes the worst - he has to be a serial killer. This eventually made for great banter between the two. I mean how would you respond if your head tells you someone is a freaking serial killer yet you start to fall for them 😂? But in many ways that was something I loved about Phobe, getting to see her grow as a person.

I was expected more True Crime elements or a bit of thrill or suspense but this is very much a Rom-Com.

Thank you to Berkley Books and NetGalley for the gifted ARC in return for an honest review!

This was a fantastic book and I really felt connected with the characters, especially Phoebe and her flaws. A lot of her thoughts and feelings resonated with me as I have similar aspects of my personality. The serial killer neighbor plot was resolved fairly early on and didn't really play too much into the overall plot, and there were a few throwaway lines that I didn't care for but otherwise I loved this book. The biggest issue I had was the author's trashing of Bugliosi and Helter Skelter, which is one of my favorite books. I almost knocked off a star for that, but I felt everything else was strong enough to make this a solid five star read and one that should be recommended if you like steamy, contemporary romances. Thank you to Berkley and to NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Phoebe. She was true crime obsessed and cynical. I feel like being immersed in true crime all the time definitely made her seeing everyone as a potential murderer make sense. I also loved Sam and how he was so confident in himself but also willing to learn and give Phoebe the space she needed. I love how their story developed and how they had real, open conversations with each other even if they didn’t always end well. I also loved Conner, definitely the goofy, but caring brother. Overall I enjoyed the book and the way it was written. It is a book made for true crime and romance fans.

If you love In Cold Blood, I'll Be Gone In The Dark, or Only Murders In The Building, you need to read LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS by Alicia Thompson

The MC's journey as she evolves emotionally is extraordinary. As someone who has a hard time asking for help or accepting affection, I can totally relate to Phoebe, and the way she uses real-life serial killers to deal with her own personal boogeymen is *chef's kiss*.

I really wanted to like this one, but the slow burn took way too long to get started and then it just didn’t feel believable or have any spark (although it did have steam). I didn’t feel the connection between the MC & LI. I liked Sam, but was annoyed by Phoebe. She came across as arrogant, like the girl who always thinks she’s the smartest and coolest person in the room. I would have liked to see her show a little more interest in Sam before BAM, here comes the steam. The true crime theme was really different and this book had potential. I liked the brother/sister relationship and the side story with the old friend, but this wasn’t a hit for me.
Thank you to Berkley Romance for the digital ARC and to PRHAudio for the free audiobook.

A unique premise for a romance but it worked.

Phoebe Walsh didn’t have a great relationship with her father so returning to his house after he passed to clean it out wasn’t on the top of her to-do list, but as she was on her summer break and needed somewhere quiet to finish writing her thesis, now was as good a time as any to meet up with her brother, Connor. Connor was raised by her father while Phoebe was raised by her mother and stepfather so there is a distance between the two siblings. Connor wants to get to know Phoebe better but Phoebe has a hard time making connections with people, even with someone who is family.

When Phoebe pulls up to the house, it is the middle of the night and she is frightened when a voice behind her offers to help her carry in her very heavy, antique writing desk. Phoebe is obsessed with serial killer so of course, her brain is screaming “Stranger Danger!” and she shoos him away.

While Phoebe clears out her father’s house, she spends as much time watching the comings and goings of her new neighbor as much as writing her thesis, making notes of his possible serial killer tendencies. Of course her thesis is on the biographies of serial killers. She has read most of the books written on the various killers and she is certain that how we view these killers is influenced by who is writing the biography. But spending a lot of your time focused on serial killers does skew your world view especially about meeting new people.

Phoebe doubts that the good looking neighbor is really a serial killer (probably), but what about his odd comings and goings? What is he doing late at night in his garage? What is that dark substance dripping from his hands? Why does he keep popping up behind her? And is he cute enough for look past all those concerns and try to get to know him better? A summer fling sounds just about right…as long as she doesn’t end up tied up in his basement.

I thought this was a clever use of our growing obsession with serial killers. Really, how many TV specials, podcasts and TikToks feature serial killers? We are obsessed and with the amount of serial killers presumed to be lurking in the U.S. alone, it is not surprising that we are always looking over our shoulders. And for anyone who has watched the coming and goings of their neighbors (No, not me. Never.), it is easy to see how something so innocent as an unpredictable schedule or late-night banging around in the garage could be given a darker significance.

Phoebe’s dark obsession is especially funny when we find out that Sam is a sweet, kind and harmless elementary school music teacher with a large, close family and no desire to keep women tied up in his basement.

On the downside, Phoebe’s inability to connect with people made her a hard character to empathize with. Her brother Connor and his fiancé were so nice and Connor wanted so much to connect with his older sister but it took a long time for Phoebe to realize that she didn’t need to close herself off from everyone. Same goes with Sam as he seems to have an instant connection to Phoebe and wants to jump into a relationship (maybe a little too fast) but Phoebe was so reluctant to call it anything but a summer fling, even after she decided he wasn’t a serial killer.

This was a novel approach to a romance and shows me I don’t know really enough about serial killers. Where are those podcasts?

Phoebe is obsessed with true crime. So much so, she's currently working on her dissertation about society's infatuation with the serial killer culture. After her dad suddenly dies, Phoebe is tasked with cleaning out her dad's house in Florida. Arriving back home, Phoebe is forced to face the people (and the mess) she left behind and while she's sifting through her past, she might just find her version of love along the way.

Love in the Time of Serial Killers is a fun read, perfect for those who enjoy true crime. I loved the pop culture nods and references to cold cases and serial killers. It also cracked me up seeing Phoebe being suspicious of everyone, because she's constantly living in a world of doom and gloom.

Phoebe was an interesting heroine. A tough nut to crack, she sees herself as cold and projects that as she hides behind a prickly front. Due to her childhood trauma, Phoebe revels in intimidation in order to push people away and keep them at arms length. I could see why some readers might find her unlikeable, but I appreciated her character growth throughout the book as she learned how to trust and put down roots.

Sam is adorable and dorky and oh so sweet and I loved him. He's super grounded and looks at relationships through a logical lens. He was the perfect hero to push Phoebe outside of her comfort zone and make her stop with the excuses and try to open up to love. While I wanted a tad more development of their relationship, I really loved how Sam wanted to take care of Phoebe.

Thanks to Berkley for the advanced copy! Love in the Time of Serial Killers publishes August 9.

It’s as if Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson is a romance written just for me!

I read a lot of Thrillers, Suspense, Mystery, and Horror with a palate cleanser of a romance when things get a bit too dark or intense in my reading. The gist of almost all romances is that the two main characters can’t be together for whatever reason that coincides with their greatest fear or something they consider a major fault of theirs.
Sometimes this can get to be a bit much and I find myself skimming to get to the more adult scenes or the feel good ones.

While Love in the Time of Serial Killers does have Phoebe fall into this trap, all the references to serial killers and 90’s pop culture didn’t see me skimming so I could make sure to not miss any of them. And Phoebe’s thought meanderings often seemed to be things that I have thought or could see myself thinking… so yeah, it’s like this was written for me.

The adult scenes were hot, the characters were well developed and Phoebe’s realizations by the end of the book left me with the happy ending that I was looking for. So if you’re looking for a romance that is a bit different than most on the market and enjoy true crime, you shouldn’t hesitate to get yourself a copy.

I loved that this blended my love of true crime and romance. Phoebe and Sam were wonderful, they gave me the forced proximity I love. They were adorable nerds, that were sweet and spicy. I loved this slow-burn and all of the references that had me full of nostalgia. Phoebe's journey to loving herself and accepting love from others was a messy, challenging, and heartbreaking time. But when she got it right and faced her fears it was so worth it!

The beginning gives the vibes of the film "The Burbs" vibes, set with the tone of True Crime, which many folks love.
However, this is a hella mundane story after we step away from that initial 'is there a killer" vibe that all the blurbs mentioned and step into the romance. I didn't particularly appreciate how Phobe acted after the first encounter with the love interest (the first one was fair because women know the dangers). Her paranoia was annoying, making mountains out of molehills. But the love interest was also bland and not fleshed out; I didn't get any vibe from him other than he was a book character. So I, unfortunately, did not enjoy this book.

I appreciate the talk about a parent relationship that was similar to my own and being able to relate to it.

One fact that I think we can all agree on is that there just aren't enough serial killers in romance books. Romances generally follow a standard pattern of events, but I figure a killer on the loose could really shake things up. That's exactly what I hoped for when I picked up Love in the Time of Serial Killers.

I'll warn you right now - if that's the mentality you have going into this book, you're going to be disappointed. No, there were no murder sequences, but instead, PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh returns to her childhood home in Florida to clear things out and work on her dissertation on true crime. She also suspects her quiet neighbor, Sam, may be a serial killer.

The book wasn't the campy story I hoped for, but it was still a cute book that focused on Phoebe's personal growth. I struggled a little bit because I didn't find her to be a particularly likeable character and wondered what on earth her love interest saw in her. Also, even though Phoebe and I are the same age, she sounded very young and a little immature.

Again, I'm being picky. The book is really sweet and a perfect choice if you want something light.

Oh man, this book was such a good slow burn! I loved it soooo much! All the little tidbits of true crime also made my crime junkie heart so happy!! The characters were flawed just enough that I cared what happened to them, and I loved the relationships that Phoebe had to explore while back at her Dad’s house. I especially loved her friendship with Alison, and her brother. Such a well rounded story!

I really wanted to love Love in a Time of Serial Killers. The premise! The COVER! A plus size heroine! Unfortunately, this didn’t work for me at all, and I ended up not finishing it, DNFing at 50% (I tried. I really tried.)

I’ve read and loved a lot of books with “unlikeable” characters, but, for me, Phoebe required a level of patience I don’t possess in my personal life. While I imagine that the facade she puts up stems from childhood trauma (avoidant attachment style blah blah blah), I found it impossible to find connect with her, or to understand the chemistry between Phoebe and Sam. I also found with the suspense that Thompson was trying to create regarding Phoebe’s first impressions of Sam, the tension here also fell flat, in turn making Phoebe seem delusional rather than quirky or vigilant.

For a book narrated by a literature phd student, the narrative voice is a bit juvenile, and I’d probably place these characters 5-10 years younger than they are. The dialogue feels clunky, especially between siblings, and there was a lot of exhibition in the storytelling. While I’m interested in true crime, I’m not a superfan, and my interest wasn’t enough to carry me through the narrative here.

I hope that this book finds its audience. I think readers who click with Phoebe as a character or who are drawn in by the side quests (a cat! Helping her brother figure out how to propose!) will enjoy this one more than I did.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for a DRC for review. All opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars!

I love a good true crime. I love romance. Naturally, the title of the book was calling me to read it.

I thought the main characters were cute and the banter kept me engaged, but I honestly got bored. There really wasn’t much of a plot to this book, and it kinda left me skimming to the end because I wasn’t really invested.

Where do I even begin?

I knew I needed to read Alicia Thompson’s LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS just based on title alone. And once I got a peek at the cover and the description, I was absolutely hooked by the premise. It didn’t disappoint — LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS is any true crime and romance fan’s quintessential genre mashup.

After protagonist Phoebe Walsh’s estranged dad suddenly dies, she finds herself moving into his old house so she and her brother can sell it. She absolutely does NOT accept help from strange, shoeless men who offer to assist her moving furniture early in the morning — and then, upon finding out said man is her new next-door neighbor, observes his patterns to assess the likelihood that he is, indeed, a serial killer. Not just a mere fan of true crime, however, Phoebe’s made an entire professional career out of it. As a PhD student working on a dissertation that analyzes true crime in pop culture, In Cold Blood is her holy grail and she knows more about the Sunrise Slayer than how to navigate real-life romance in a world where relationships mean letting people in.

Thus is the premise of LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS. The characters are divinely written and incredibly well-developed. Clever but closed-off Phoebe’s joined by her brother, Conner, who is decidedly wholesome and doing his utmost to make up for lost time with his sister, Shani, Conner’s girlfriend, sweet and open despite Phoebe’s natural inclination to be reserved, Alison, an old friend from childhood who she had a falling out with, and Sam, the next-door neighbor who could very well be a serial killer, but could also hold the keys to her heart.

All in all, LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS is a joyous, hilarious and deeply reflective read. Alicia Thompson has done something truly remarkable here. By blending love and fandom, featuring a character who is easy to identify with, LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS is perfection. It is a tale of self-discovery (and serial killers) that rings impossibly true.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

i loved this one! i definitely thought it was a romcom and it wasn’t but i still thought it wa such a great read. phoebe was such a deep and complex character who i loved watching open up and sam was ummmm perfect? i breezed through this book bc it was just that good!! 4.5 stars!!

I may be four years past my true crime phase but man was Phoebe's running "is this a danger sign for a serial killer" thought process relatable! I thought the suspected killer to neighbors to lovers arc between her and Sam was well done and I liked the time spent on her repairing her relationship with her childhood friend (who may be the most realistic librarian character I've read in a while tbh).