Thank you to Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and Elle Cosimano for an advance listening copy of Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun in exchange for an honest review. I have thoroughly enjoyed every book in The Finlay Donovan series thus far and this one stole the show for me! I found myself completely immersed in Finlay and Veros escapades and loved all that each supporting character added to the story as well. Every piece of this puzzle fell perfectly into place and left me NEEDING another book- that ending though! . This one comes out on 1.31.23 and deserves a spot on everyones bookshelf!

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is our third adventure with Finlay by Elle Cosimano.

"finlay owes a favor to the Russian mob boss, Feliks. He wants her to find a contract killer before the police do. But the killer might be an officer.
Luckily, hot cop Nick, has started a citizen's police academy. The pressure from Feliks and Finlay's looming book deadline convince her and Vero to get involved. It's the perfect cover to ferret out an assassin, find some time with Nick and finish her book by deadline."

Finlay reminds me so much of Stephanie Plum. There are lots of insane characters and situations. Finlay is making things up as she goes along. Especially as she finds out even more secrets about Vero. There are plenty of red herrings and some inspiration for her book.
There is a cliffhanger which seems to be the way EC sets up the next book. I'm not really a fan of leaving a storyline hanging, but there it is.

Fans of the first two books will enjoy this one

Finlay and Vero are back in the latest installment of the Finlay Donovan series. I accidentally thought this was the last one for the series but am pleasantly surprised to see it is not! In this one we start right just a bit from where we left off. Finlay and Vero are still knee deep with the Russian mob, Steven is still driving Finlay up a wall, Nick is still around being all smoky hot pining for Finn and they are still trying to figure out how to pay back Vero's loan sharks. In her professional life Finn is being roasted by her agent as her editor isn't pleased with the proposed ending in her latest novel. Due to this and needing to figure out who EasyClean is (and quick) the ladies sign up for a week-long citizen's police academy. They figure it's the perfect way to figure out which cop is dirty, cure her writer's block and see more of Nick ;)

This may be my favorite of the 3 now! The comedy in this one really comes from their time at the police academy. The situations the two got themselves in had me laughing out loud. All the cops and participants (Finn, Vero, Mrs. Haggerty and more), stay on the campus creating really great dynamics. Think summer camp for adults.There's also a hint of a locked room mystery in this one and overall just a lot of fun to read. A few loose ends get tied up in this one as well but based on the last page we aren't done yet! Thank you Minotaur Books, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is out Jan 31st!

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC! In this third outing in the Finlay Donovan series, Finlay goes to a police boot camp to suss out the crooked cop (who shot at Finlay and her ex). She also has to deal with her feelings for Nick and more secrets emerge from Vero's past. It's a fun and fast-paced story, but not quite as memorable as the first two.

Book 3 in this series has Finlay participating in some “hands-on” training at a Citizen’s Police Academy. This was another fantastic story in Finlay’s messed-up world and I loved every minute of it. Vero is the best side-kick character and Finlay is so relatable when it comes to a single mom trying to make ends meet in whatever way possible.

I love this series and with the cliff- hanger ending of this one, I can’t wait for the next.

Elle Cosimano has created such depth and richness in these characters over the last three books that they could literally be written staring at a blank white wall for fifty pages and I would still be intrigued, charmed, and at the edge of my seat.

I laughed, I gasped, I cheered like a crazy person when YOU KNOW WHO and YOU KNOW WHO finally did YOU KNOW WHAT, and ultimately, I loved it like I knew I would.

This hit. Completely.

Finlay and Vero are back for a new adventure in book 3 in the series. Finlay and Vero are fun characters and there are always scenes that make me LOL. This is good, because the plot of this book is the most preposterous of the 3. If you've read the first 2 books in the series, then you know it's all about Fin and Vero getting themselves into dangerous situations and how they get out of them. Now, they are in debt to the mob and they find themselves in deeper danger than ever before. Finlay has been tasked with identifying the assassin Easy Clean by Feliks, the Russian mob boss. Plus, they are doing it all amidst a group of police officers, some of whom may be in with the mob as well. All of this while Finlay is also trying to finish her latest novel. She just can't get the romance between the assassin and the hot cop right in the her novel. Perhaps, after she spends more time with real-life hot cop Nick, Fin will figure it out.

Fin and Vero are our heroes in this series, and it's so much fun to ride along with them. How these two never get caught is preposterous, but that's the whole point! I would recommend reading the series from the beginning, or you will miss out on a lot of the references and background material. And this book has an ending that will lead us right into book #4. I can't wait!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the arc of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is what I'm talking about! I couldn't put this down. I was so happy to get back into another Finlay book and visit her world and this installment did not disappoint.
Finlay has a new task that she can't say no to, as a matter of life or death, so she's off with Vero to find out the identity of Easy Clean. In this book, we see a lot more of Nick, which I adore. We see more of his vulnerable side and more of Finlay's as well. We also see that there is more to Vero than we originally thought. We learn that she has some bad people after her too, and what is even happening with her and Javi?
I feel like a lot happened in this book, but also a lot "didn't" happen as most of the relationships and story lines were left open for the next installment. I am really looking forward to what happens next for this team of craziness.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Netgalley and Elle Cosimano for an early audio copy.

🔊Song Pairing: Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift (I mean come on Finlay is 10/10 the problem 90% of the time 😂)

💭What I thought would happen:

I was hesitant but hell I read the first 2 - looooved the first and eye rolled through the second. What in the hell was Finlay going to Fuck up now?!

📖What actually happens:

Finlay and Vero are back for more palm to face shenanigans. They are continuing to perform amateur detective work as to who was attempting to kill Finlay’s ex while simultaneously trying to keep two toddlers alive.

The duo are off to police camp for the public (a great resource and time for the police force…comforting knowing where people’s taxes are going). Finlay believes they will get some answers as to who the hit man is but also Finlay can ogle hunky Nick and receive all kinds of favouritism not granted to everyone.

🗯Thoughts:

🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ I don’t know what is worse, that this series made it to a third or that it left off on a cliffhanger and a 4th is expected. Finlay is a mess…not a hot mess like all men seem to think, just an absolute utter disaster that makes me want to ram my head through a wall.

I’d say the book overall was a 2.5 but the humour in it actually did have me laughing out loud right from the opening scene with a grown man’s pants around his ankles in a major panic ft. Cheerios. I do love Elle’s sense of humour and can’t wait for her to use it for good in a different book.

I could go on but I know there are people who love this series and I’ll never convince anyone otherwise but the people who agree….just know I am here to vent all frustrations.

Also, Vero is a queen forever and always.

This is one of those series where you need to start at the beginning to get the entire backstory. I was a little lost at first trying to remember what happened in the first 2 books, but eventually things came back together for me. You also need to suspend disbelief with this series - the characters do some crazy things that I don't think would happen in the "real" world. However, I love the characters and the craziness; the things they go through are hilarious and the snarky, sarcastic comments are LOL funny. If you enjoyed the first 2 books, you will enjoy this one as well.

Finlay Donovon does it again! I love this series - I think the writing is phenomenal and a quick read overall. However, this is my least favorite in the series, but I don't think it's bad at all. It was just long and a lot of frustration with Finlay not owning up to her feelings. Overall, it was great and I am excited for the next one!

Another GEM of an installment in the Finlay Donovan series! This book is full of the absolutely outrageous antics we've grown to love from the Finlay and Vero duo. The trouble seemingly never ends for these two and this book was packed full of their special brand of chaos.

When I first read book one, I didn't think this had the potential to be a series. The Finlay Donovan books are very unique. It's a specific type of murder-mystery meets comedy meets book about a book meets moderately unbelievable antics with a tad bit of romance sprinkled in. I was really worried after book one that these would either 1) not be able to continue to deliver on all of the aforementioned quirkiness or 2) it would become super repetitive.

I was... SO wrong.

This book was even better than book 2. It had more of everything I wanted after reading the second installment: Vero + Finlay on-page together and Hot Cop! ;) The setting of this book was a really unique way to write it and it allowed the reader to get to know the suspects as Vero and Finlay did. I highlighted my way through this book and got to play detective alongside Vero + Finlay which is EXACTLY what I want in this kind of book.

Elle Cosimano has a really, really special way of making you feel like loose ends are tied up to give you a satisfying ending for each installment while writing the most perfect cliffhanger that has you counting down the days to the next book.

I recommend this ENTIRE series (in order, of course!) to anyone who wants a FUN read!

Another fun adventure with Finlay and Vero. I enjoyed learning more about the citizens police training academy. There are a lot of unbelievable things that happen but I let those slide because the books make me laugh at some of their antics. The characters are fun and the stories keep you guessing the whole time. I can’t wait to see what happens next in Atlantic City.

Once again Elle Cosimano has created a super funny and thrilling story about the antics of Finlay and Vero. The situations that they get themselves into remain ridiculous, it’s so much fun watching them try to solve different mysteries, evade the bad guys, and still take care of Finlay’s kids and get her manuscripts in on time. There’s additional tension this time around as a large portion of the book takes place at a mock police academy where Finlay and Vero are trying to covertly investigate different cops. In previous books I was a bit more critical of the romance subplot, but in this installment I felt like it worked much better. Also, with the way this book leaves off I can’t wait to read what happens next.

I love this series so much. Even though parts of this book felt slightly like filler to keep the story going, we get enough plot progression by the end of the book to even it all out. The hijinks are completely over the top (as usual) but if you’ve made it this far in the series you know what you’re getting into. Vero continues to be the standout character for me and I’m excited that it seems like we’ll be getting deeper into her story with book 4. Also thrilled to be making some progress in Finlay’s love life… for now. Give me one million books in this series!

Oh Finlay...it truly seems like your problems will never end, and as long as you continue to run into one problem after another, it seems as though there will be more and more books. This is not necessarily a good thing.
I absolutely adored the first book. The second book just didn't hold the same spark and fell very flat for me.
This book feels like it was trying to recapture what the first book had. The plot was interesting, watching Finlay and Vero go to a police academy camp to track down Easyclean. While the synopsis said it would confront Vero's past, the story really didn't. This is book 3 and all we have gotten are just small bits and pieces of Vero's past. She' is a main character, there should be more given by now!
Some good points:
I was thankful to see that the love square is over. While Julian made a small appearance, I was thankful that he wasn't around for long. Stephen still lives in a delusional world that him and Finlay will just go to counseling and all their problems will be solved. I was happy to also see he had minimal appearances in this book.
Thank you for giving us more Nick! It's about time. Finlay deserves some happiness and I am so glad that she might finally open herself up to being with Nick.

Overall, this was a improvement over book 2, but I am feeling like these storylines are getting a bit outrageous and over done.
3 stars rounded up to 3.5.

This was another great installment in this series. I love Finlay and all the trouble she finds herself in.

I was a HUGE Finlay Donovan fan when the first book came out, and I'm so sorry but books 2 and 3 have just felt like a cash grab. Book 1 was SO fast paced and had me on the edge of my seat and dying of laughter. I kept thinking "OMG that's exactly what I would do if I found a dead body!!!" It felt relatable in entirely un-relatable situations. This book was a continuation of lose ends left in book 2 but it literally felt like nothing happened...? It almost felt like filler in preparation of what's to come in book 4 but it just didn't hold my attention at all.

I love Finlay and Vero, but sadly my train stops here with them. Unless I hear otherwise, I don't think I'll be picking up any more books in this series. It just feels so overdone and this point and it's tarnishing my favorite characters. Overall, unless you are hugely obsessed with this series, I think you can skip this one entirely.

Thanks to Netgalley for my arc. OUT January 31, 2023

📖 Finlay, Finally!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚128/100
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano
Format: 📱 @netgalley

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the chance to read this ARC! Finlay’s series is one I auto-recommend to so many, and I’m so glad I got the chance to read and review this

Finlay hits just the right chords when you need a “palette cleanser”. I’d say this one packs even more of the punch of the first book than “Knocks ‘Em Dead”, although the setting of the “citizen police academy” was a little too convenient. A lot of plot from the second book was resolved, we got to revisit some characters and plot lines we loved from before, and there was still plenty of room for new story to develop. It was fun, fast, and the ending has me ready for #4!
—————————————————————————————

Spoiler free summary:

After the events of the first two books, Finlay and Vero are ready for a return to somewhat-normal. As her publisher asks her to rethink her next book’s plot, Finlay finds herself owing a favor to a mob boss. She has been tasked with both a rewrite of her book, AND with identifying said mob boss’ attempted killer. What better place to research the book and find the suspect than a citizen’s police academy? Especially when they consider that an officer is the most likely person for the job.

#bookstagram #bookreview #romcombooks #readersofinstagram #booksta #noshelfcontrol #bookish #bookishlove #bookstagrammer #bookworm

Elle Cosimano does it again with Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun! In this most recent installment dynamic duo Finlay and Vero are set to spend a week at police camp for civilians. They are on the lookout for a contract killer, and their number one suspect is a cop. I love that Janet Evanovich gives one of the promo blurbs because this series reminds me of early Stephanie Plum in the best way possible.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.