In the interest of full disclosure, I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a very cute, cozy mystery that is exactly what is says on the tin - a temporarily broke hotel heiress tries to solve her grandmother’s murder in order to gain back her trust fund while growing as a person. Props to Bellamy Rose because Pomona Afton could easily have been an annoying, insufferable, poor little rich girl character, but instead she Rose crafted a character that was not only somehow relatable despite her circumstances, but someone you’d actually want to be friends with. The plot was engaging, and while I guessed the murder weapon and its original owner pretty much right away, I only figured out the murderer and motive around the time that Pom did. In my experience, most mysteries are either too clever, making it almost impossible to identify the murderer on your own, or too obvious, making the characters seem stupid and annoying for not figuring it out earlier, but Bellamy Rose did a great job balancing the mystery so it was solvable without giving it away too early.

If I had to nitpick, it might be that the themes of growth, class differences, and income inequality were a little heavy handed and might benefit from a bit more subtlety, but Pom isn’t exactly a subtle character anyway, and for such a short, light novel the heavy-handedness was probably unavoidable. It still gets 5 stars, not because it’s the next great American novel (and let’s be real, those are usually dreary and depressing anyway) but because it is an excellent example of what it is - a cute, cozy mystery, with an engaging plot and sweet romantic side plot. 10/10 would recommend as a beach or vacation read, and I really hope Bellamy Rose keeps the series going.

Things I loved: Gabe, oh Gabe. What a solid, cinnamon roll of a love interest, and a his grounded ness was such a perfect foil for Pom’s everything. I especially liked how we got to skip the whole animosity and “teasing” Pom for having no life skills, because Gabe just doesn’t do that. He supported her from the beginning without giving her grief, which was refreshing to read. I also love Grandma, who was a total bitch but a killer character. And, honestly, Pom. I was prepared to enjoy the book but hate the narrator, and it was refreshing just how likable she was. Also, her disdain for Queens (sorry not sorry).

Things I didn’t: Nah, it all worked for me. The Vienna storyline was again, a little heavy handed and could have used some more development as it didn’t add too much to Pom’s inner growth arc, but again, that’s just a complete nitpick.

Perfect for fans of: Deux Moi (even gets name dropped a couple of times), cozy mysteries, The Simple Life and Cow Belles, family dramas, Starbucks, pastries (I’m craving coffee and brownies right now, at 11pm), and NYC

This was such a lovely mix of genres! I'm a huge fan of Amanda's romances, and this has all the same character development of those books infused with the mystery and humor of ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING!

Hotel heiress Pomona Afton's life is completely turned upside-down when her grandmother is found murdered in her private suite one morning. Her grandmother's death isn't really the heartbreak one would imagine. Pom's never had a great relationship with the woman and she's always been about as cold as they come. But the true heartbreak lies in the legal ramifications of her death. According to a new will, if Pom's grandmother were to die from an "unnatural death," that all Afton assets would be frozen and all members of the Afton family would be escorted from the premises and forced to figure things out on their own. And that is where we find our heroine, stuck working at a coffee shop and living in a cramped apartment with the son of her former nanny. Things are looking rough for our sweet, yet oblivious protagonist when she makes the decision to solve this murder. Partnered with her new roommate Gabe, the duo sift through the messy details of Pom's life and family members to discover who would have wanted this matriarch dead.

For me, this novel was around a 3.75 rating. The first offense for this novel, for me, is that it wasn't compelling. I am a busy working mom, but, if properly hooked in a story, I will make sure I'm getting my reading done. With this book, if I didn't have a boring day at work full of monitoring students taking make-up finals, I'm not sure if I would ever finished it. It was not compelling in the least. Pomona was charming and likable enough for a spoiled hotel heiress, as were the rest of the characters, but there were too many obvious red herrings. In terms of the mystery, I was never really totally mystified. All of the discovered "murderers" I almost immediately wrote off. It was too soon in the novel and just too obvious. And, unfortunately, it didn't take me long to identify who the true killer was.

Overall, good characters, but weak story that didn't have me hooked or mystery that didn't have me puzzled.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I really enjoyed the character development and how well the story flowed. I related to a lot of the FMC’s difficulty on getting people to really see her and her true colors.

Truly great book and can’t wait to read more from this author.

What a great story. I love Pomona! What a great character and Gabe was also a great addition to this story. I could not stop reading this story, the character and scene development was great so I felt like I was watching this great movie in my minds eye.

I highly recommend this book.

I want to thank NetGalley and Attia Books for this advanced copy and this is my honest opinion.

First off, thank you so much to NetGalley, Bellamy Rose, and the publishers for an ARC of this debut novel!!

From the first page, I knew I was going to like this book. It drew me right in. It was my first murder/mystery, romantic/comedy. And boy did it deliver! It was fun, fast paced, and more thoughtful than I expected.

I loved Pomona and how she slowly found herself by losing everything. I love how she grew, realized some not nice things about herself and adapted. And changed. And wanted to be better for herself and make a change in other lives as well. Not for anyone’s approval, but her own. I really loved that. She reminded me of all the best parts of Alexis Rose. She is one of my new favorite literary characters.
I also enjoyed Gabe and how they could admit their mistakes to eachother so there was no “miscommunication trope” in this book. I liked how he made her want to stand up for herself and the romance wasn’t the main focus of the story.
The pacing was perfect, the way they moved from suspect to suspect and when the murderer was revealed, it was perfect. I also enjoyed how she mended the broken relationships in her life as she went along and became the best version of herself.
This book was fun read. I can’t wait to see what else Bellamy Rose publishes! I’ll be adding her to my automatic author buys!

I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book!

This book was a very enjoyable read. I read it in a few sittings and was hooked after just a short time reading. The story was well paced and the characters were well developed.

📚 Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder
✍ Bellamy Rose
📖 Cozy Mystery
⭐3/5
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➡ When the matriarch to a hotel empire is found stabbed to death in her hotel, her entire family suddenly finds themselves disinherited from her estate. To win back access to her trust, her granddaughter Pomona takes things into her own hands but she finds that to catch a killer, she may just get a little help along the way.
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🙏 Thank you to Atria Books, NetGalley and the author for an advanced copy of Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder. All opinions are my own.
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🎯 What I loved: Picture Paris Hilton getting accidentally disinherited and having to solve a murder while getting her first actual job and you've got the concept of this book. It's light and perfect for someone who wants a mystery but without any creepies or chills. There are a few LOL moments and some sweet reflections on friendship and family.

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: When a story is centered around a riches-to-rags heroine, I tend to expect a lot of character growth but I didn't see much of that in this book. I'm not sure if it was the way that it was paced or that the 'growth' was essentially the main character being okay with lifting a finger, but I struggled to find Pomona endearing or see her evolution demonstrated throughout this story. There were also a lot of loose ends that were never tied up. For example, we never truly find out why Pomona's grandmother wanted to meet with her so urgently the morning of the murder or what was going on financially with the hotel chain. In such a short book, I would expect the loose ends to get tied up because you don't really have time to forget about them between the beginning and end.
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Read if you love:
* lighthearted mysteries
* riches to rags stories
* family secrets
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See also: The Maid, Someone Else's Shoes, Finlay Donovan is Killing It

Fun modern take on a cozy mystery. More for millennials than boomers, all the fun and none of the recipes

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC!

This combined two of my favorite things- Rom Com and Murder Mysteries. Yes please! This was a quick read that was also a lot of fun.

Pomona Afton's goes from a life of luxury to a life of, well, not having any money after her grandmother is murdered and must move out of the Afton Hotel and start her life over until the killer is caught. As she's navigating this new life, she discovers secrets along the way as she begins her investigation into the murder.

The love interest, Gabe, was just what you want from a book boyfriend- sweet and supportive.

The biggest thing I liked about this book was Pomona's character arc and how she changed throughout the book. Well done!

I'm excited to read more (if there are more!). Pom's got some more cases in her, I know it!

Better than expected. A fun mystery and I liked Pom more than I thought I would. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Give me a murder mystery with a love story any day! I enjoyed being on this journey with Pomona as she navigates life and trying to solve her grandmother’s murder. Then add in Gabe and I was hooked!

This book was so fun! I didn't think I would like Pomona at the start of the book, but she quickly turned herself around. I'm not sure how realistic Pom's mind shift was, since it was like she experienced something one time and changed her attitude immediately. This definitely helped with the pacing of the book, though and kept it interesting.

The touch of romance was perfect in this book. Their banter was great and I loved the scenes where they were on bluetooth with each other so they could really get to know and understand each other.

When I started the book, it seemed like a lot of things pointed toward one person being the murderer but I was definitely incorrect. I don't read a lot of murder mysteries, so I was not expecting that person to be the killer.

Overall a great read that I would recommend!

Legally Blonde meets Only Murders in the Building and it's delightful. This is a story that doesn't take itself too seriously yet keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for more clues. I adored the entertaining ensemble of characters, the hilarious dialogue, and even the lessons that our heiress heroine learns in the midst of solving the case. And the romance plot was icing on the cake. 4/5⭐

Pomona Afton, a hotel heiress, has lived a life of luxury for her entire life. Therefore, when her grandma, head of Afton hotels, winds up murdered, Pomona suddenly finds herself on the street with no job, no place to live, and no money due to a clause in her late grandma’s will. In order to get her life back, Pomona must take matters into her own hands and solve the murder.

Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder was a cute and lighthearted book that reminded me a little bit of the Finlay Donovan series. This mystery didn’t take itself too seriously and was filled with lovable and quirky characters. The mystery itself was not very hard to guess, but the best part of the book for me was Pomona's character growth as she had to make ends meet in the real world. Overall, I enjoyed this novel and would recommend to anyone who likes cozy mysteries with a touch of romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

The writing was fairly good, but I couldn’t get very invested in the characters or the story. Pomona seemed to be a conglomeration of various trust fund babies on social media…a world I’ve never been interested in. Her character did have some growth throughout the story however, which was fun to watch.

If you loved Knives Out, you should definitely give this book a read. It had all of the twists, murder investigations, and snobby rich people you could ever want, and had a side of a very cute romance. This book is about a woman who learns how to live in the world after she’s forced out of her apartment, locked out of her bank accounts, and forced to live with a very cute guy and an even cuter cat. Plus, they solve a murder together! (I don’t know how much the cat helps but I digress.)

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pomona Afton isn’t your typical spoiled, partying heiress. No. She’s a spoiled, partying heiress that is determined to solve her grandmother’s murder. Not just because all of her assets have been frozen and she was kicked out of her family’s hotel and lost everything she’s ever had…. But that definitely has something to do with the reason why.

After losing everything when her grandmother was brutally murdered, Pom teams up with Gabe who teaches her things about the real world while also helping her find her grandmother’s killer. Throughout the journey Pomona learns about herself and the people around her in ways she’s never thought of before.

I thought this was a cute and funny book! It was a fun take on a murder mystery romance and it kept me engaged the whole way through. There are definite twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster, NetGalley, and Bellamy Rose for the eARC!

I was OBSESSED with how cute this is! It reminded me of a hallmark mystery movie. Very cozy but also has you looking on your toes! Loved this!! Fantastic work, definitely recommend.

I ate this book up! This book is filled with humor like Schitt’s Creek and Only Murders in the Building and it was so fun. I was so invested in this mystery that I couldn’t go to bed until I figured out who done it.

Pomona, a Paris Hilton-esque hotel heiress, finds herself trying to solve her grandmother’s murder as her grandmothers’s will states that all accounts are frozen until the culprit is found. Pomona is thrust into the real world with no place to live, no job, and no skills - moving in with her nanny’s son is her only option. These two become novice detectives unearthing family secrets to solve the crime and unfreeze their expected inheritances.

Pomona learns the importance of surrounding yourself with people who love you fully, that money doesn’t buy happiness, and that she can prove herself even when others underestimate her.