Thanks to Ruby Books, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and have received no compensation for it.

I don't think I have read anything quite like this book before. The novel starts inside another novel and then builds out into the author's world from there. It's a promising start to a great story.

Evie is a successful crime writer whose characters occasionally show up in her house and interact with her independently, which isn't a big deal as only she can see them. When these characters, including some of the unsavoury ones, start to inhabit the real world and mess with her actual life, Evie must face up to reality ... whatever that is! Has she been living a half-life where her characters seem more real to her than her actual relationships? Why is her fiance acting so suspiciously?

Evie's character is interesting - her combination of intelligence but lack of self-awareness can be frustrating to read, but when she begins to take charge of her story she becomes more appealing. The other characters like Carolyn and Mrs Andrews are fabulous.

I wouldn't call this a romance, though there are romantic elements. It's more of a mystery/thriller and a lot of fun to read, especially towards the end.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Ruby Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


A fantastic novel full of suspense and thrills.

Overall I loved it. Sometimes too many layers can be distracting in a novel but this was just the right amount of complicated to work. The story lines come together perfectly and the characters are all SO lovable. Side characters in the story within the story and the side characters in the real life side of things make this one a real winner in my book. I loved them all…which is apparently dangerous business ;)

I am not usually a crime novel reader. Cop shows/books/storylines don't usually do it for me but I loved the way this one was done. Definitely made it a great read for me even though normally I wouldn't resonate with the overall arc of "figure out who did it" etc. I was skeptical at first, I didn't know how she would be able to wrangle the story lines together without constantly working between the "book" and the book! I really enjoyed the outcome and the characters were wonderful, again, they made this a huge win for me as I think they all added so much to the story, even the seemingly background characters had a lot of soul

So appealing for many reasons but mainly because it is funny, clever and quite unique! You need to pay attention so you can keep track of what is real and what is fiction as characters confront their creator and hilarity ensues.

I don't know what to call this trope(?), the one where the main character is a writer and the characters in their books come to life in their heads? Where MC can see them and have full conversations with them and then they take control of MC. But it's not for me, I tried branching out from my typical NA contemporary romances with this but i didn't enjoy it.

I will recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this sort of tropes and genres though as the book itself is not bad! It's just not something I personally enjoyed.

Evie Howland has problems.

Guns. Bombs. Murderers.

And that's just on the page...

In real life she's meant to be planning a wedding to adorable billionaire Daniel Bradley, but Evie is seriously snarled in the sixteenth book of her successful crime series. In fact, her protagonists are becoming almost impossible to wrangle: NYPD detective Carolyn Harding is volatile after a messy divorce, and Detective Jay Ryan has that heated look in his blue eyes again. They're both sick of being written. And frankly they're getting a little...physical. Evie is beginning to wonder if she's ever going to finish Book Sixteen and get them back into fiction where they belong.

But when a disturbingly familiar homicide surfaces in the city papers, it seems as if other, darker characters might have crossed the fiction-frontier too. In which case, Evie is in a lot of real-life trouble.

If she's going to survive it, Evie must face her own worst fears, and learn that real love can be the best way of writing her own story.

But can she change the ending?

This was a great suspense novel, I loved it! It took me a couple chapters to understand what was happening in the real world and what was on the page of Evie’s next book, but the suspense gets real really fast and I was sucked into the story. Personally, I wouldn’t call it a romance novel, it is more of a great suspense with a small romantic subplot, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining. A great fast paced novel to read during your vacation!

Have you heard of “The Fourth Wall,” an imaginary barrier separating the audience from the fictional characters? In Crime Story, the characters don’t break the 4th wall. They walk through the front door. Of the author’s house.

Crime Story was a fun and UNIQUE read! Think Ten Thousand Doors of January meets Castle. (We’re talking crime fiction combined with hilarious banter and a heaping helping of surrealism. Or is it Magical Realism?)

I tabbed so many great lines. Dime Shepherd is funny IRL, and let me tell you, that comes through loud and clear in her writing.

Meet Evie, best-selling author of 15 crime novels, who is seriously STUCK trying to write the 16th:

“I”m afraid of going to Australia too, with its plethora of bitey, toxic wildlife.”

“HIs apartment…is the kind of stately jewel that makes ordinary people like me self-consciously brush lint from their clothing as they enter.”

I loved Evie. I identified with her fear of change and risk. I admired how she pushed herself out of her boundaries. I loved how mind-bendingly creative the book’s concept was.

Write faster, Dime! I need to spend more time with these witty and engaging characters!