A wry sense of humour and a lamentable tendency to keep people at a distance are two of the unnamed main character, whom I'll just call Nameless, as she's a successful ghostwriter, and now also a successful mystery writer, after the transformed her experience in book one into a novel.

This time, Nameless is on board a ship for a week as a writing instructor for the wealthy customers. A college friend named Payton Garrett, whom Nameless has been jealous of and fascinated by for years, has organized the cruise, and invited her and other writers to teach the customers.

Payton is enormously successful, and was the head of the small group of her, Nameless, and Flora while in college. Flora and Payton have been at loggerheads for years, while Nameless has watched Payton's success from afar, and been amazed and envious.

The cruise guests are less interested in writing than drinking, and Nameless thinks her attempts at teaching will be useless. Then, someone dies, and Nameless is soon poking her nose into the guests' lives, along with the ship's doctor, who has decided to investigate.

Nameless also begins an affair with Payton's ex, who is also on board to report on the cruise events.

Then someone else is killed, and Nameless begins looking much more closely at those around her.

This was an entertaining second instalment in this ghostwriter mystery series. There was so much jealousy, betrayal, backstabbing, and just general nastiness between various characters, making it easy to see why someone is angry enough to kill people on board.

There is also humour, pathos, and some necessary humble pie eating, as well as maturing, by Nameless. I liked how Nameless decides to stop running away from every connection, and despite being wrong about who the killer is, till she finally figures things out, to her dismay, she gains the beginning of true friendship by the end. A welcome development, and a nice wrap up to this compelling story, which I listened to. I loved Eva Kaminsky's voicing of Nameless; she brings just the right tone to Nameless' dissecting of everyone and everything around her, as well as that sense of humour that she uses as a barrier between her and the rest of the world.

Thank you to Netgalley and to RBMedia for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Here is a fun and entertaining mystery that is just perfect for a winter night's read. The ghostwriter narrator of the first book in the series is back. This time she is going on a cruise (despite not really liking the sea) for a group of would be writers. This is a clue to the double entendre of the Get Lit moniker that is the name of the event.

The cruise is organized by a writer, phenomenon and self-promoter known to our ghostwriter from their MFA days. On this mostly all women cruise, Payton has brought along her wife but also her ex husband and her male assistant. The staffers on the cruise, the guests and the writers are all brought to fun (and somewhat snarky) life.

Not so many of the attendees have signed up for our ghostwriter's mystery writing class. But no matter, there will be plenty of real life mystery and murder on board.

Come along for a fun trip and feel like an insider in this quite entertaining read

A NOTE ON THE AUDIO: This narrator was spot on. She engaged me every time that I listened to the book.and I always enjoyed spending time with her. The reader brought the book to life with good pacing and tone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for this book and to RB Media for the audio book.. Many thanks to All opinions are my own.

I couldn't get into this book for some reason. I can't put my finger on why, but it just didn't hook me like I expected it to from the synopsis. I imagine others will enjoy though!

Omg, Loose Lips was SO FUN! I'm not typically a big cozy mystery person, so I was hesitant to request this, but I am so glad I gave it a shot! It's a super entertaining blend of high seas intrigue and sharp wit that puts a modern twist on the classic murder mystery. The audiobook performance was great, really bringing the quirky characters to life.

The plot revolves around Belle, a ghostwriter reluctantly joining a literary cruise hosted by her old frenemy, bestselling author Payton Garrett. What begins as a seemingly harmless event spirals into chaos when a murder occurs, and the passengers find themselves trapped at sea with the killer. Belle and her new bestie, the ship's doctor, have to figure out who the murderer is before the ship makes it back to port. The story unfolds like an updated Agatha Christie-style locked-room mystery. I loved the cruise ship setting, but it was the eccentric cast of characters that really made this book stand out. Each is so unique and fun, and Donovan does an amazing job of giving them their own unique voice with a minimal amount of time. He's got talent, that's for sure. And the humor! It's not overt or over-the-top, but his particular brand of sardonic wit is my favorite. I laughed out loud several times while I was listening.

This isn't just a typical whodunit; Donovan gives us a bright, well-crafted, entertaining mystery with clever misdirections, unexpected twists, and just enough absurdity to keep it interesting. I guess you could call the resolution implausible, but honestly, I'm kind of a hater in general and I loved it. I had no idea where the story was going at any given moment and that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the ride in the slightest. I never wanted it to end! And I guess it kinda doesn't have to, because I've still got the first book in the series to devour. So I'm off to go listen to that.

Great contemporary cozy. This locked-on-a-cruise ship mystery was highly entertaining and very Agatha-ish. These amateur sleuths follow their hunches, interview suspects, and discover clues bit by bit to draw in the reader to this fun frolicking tale. Have fun!

I really loved the first book in this series and to be honest I was a little let down by this follow up. This is no means saying it’s a bad book, it’s just missing that spark that the first book had. The mystery elements are well thought out and it has a very interesting ending/twist. The humour and foreshadowing was all very well done, I think maybe I just preferred some of the side characters from book one. This is a really fun cruise ship mystery, I loved the locked room aspects and the development of the relationships with some unexpected characters. I also particularly enjoyed the nod to a certain bodyguard from book one. This one could almost be a standalone because it doesn’t actually give away the details from the first book, but I would still recommend reading in order.

Thanks to Netgalley and RB Media for this ALC that I chose to listen to and review.

Thank you NetGalley! I read this book as an audio book. I loved the premise and certain parts but could not finish. It did not keep my interest unfortunately

So a male author is trying to pull off a first person narrative as a female. And apparently Kemper Donovan's used social media as a field of research to learn how women speak and what drives them.

Prepare yourselves because the result are characters that speaks in hashtags and pop media headlines. The main character is pretentious, shallow, extremely bitter and self important. She is apparently a "best selling author" who is notoriously jealous of her more successful colleague. Her lack of self-awareness and overall fakeness make it extremely difficult to get through the book. I also struggled to find a story underneath this disingenuous façade.

In short, the entire thing is quite insufferable.

3.4 rounded down for this whodunnit at sea. The “Get Lit” literary cruise is sailing along nicely until a former college friend shows up with accusations that the famous organizer of the cruise stole her book idea. Their third friend from college days is our narrator, a published author of one book and ghostwriter for many, on the cruise as faculty. The problem is she tries too hard. To be likable, to be the peacemaker between her former friends, to solve the murder(s). And she doesn’t truly succeed in any of those roles. The audiobook narration is good. Sadly the writing lacks the snark and attitude of Ernest Cunningham (the writer character in Benjamin Stevenson’s “Everyone on This Train is a Suspect”) and I can’t help but feeling it would have been a more enjoyable outing in Mr. Stevenson’s hands.
My thanks to the author, publisher, producer, and #NetGalley for access to the audiobook of #LooseLips for review purposes.

I enjoyed this author's previous book featuring this book's main character (a ghostwriter turned mystery writer), The Busy Body, so I was looking forward to reading this latest adventure. Although the main character still remains somewhat of a mystery herself, I appreciate that we do at least have a name to call her by, even if it is her pen name, Belle Currer. The reader also gets more of her back story, including relationships with friends and family, so that is much appreciated. The story and murders take place on a cruise ship that is sailing with 300 passengers who are onboard to learn all things literary--The Get Lit Cruise, and Belle teaches the mystery class. I thoroughly enjoyed the wit, humor and banter amongst the characters, enhanced by the vivid descriptions that place the reader on the cruise and bring the colorful cast of characters to life. I also appreciate that this book details the looks, mannerisms and quirks of the women (and the handful of men) onboard, without vilifying or demeaning body-types or body parts, which the author made noticeable use of, to describe characters in the first book. The mystery portion of the story kept me guessing as to suspects, but the method was for me rather easily predictable (as I read many mysteries), so I wish it had been a bit more unconventional. I enjoyed the bits of slightly spicy romance, getting to know the women who were taking Belle's class (wish there had been a bit more interaction with them within the story, as well as more about the books some of the characters were writing) and the hints that maybe the hot body guard from the previous book might make an appearance in the next installment. I look forward to reading the next book!
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was excellent at giving each character a distinct voice, bringing life to the narration.

Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio version of this title in exchange for my review.

I did not like this book. When I requested it, I didn't realize that I had read and very much disliked the previous book, and if I had remembered I would have skipped this one. I really, really wish publishers would STOP SAYING BOOKS AND AUTHORS ARE LIKE AGATHA CHRISTIE!!!

This is NOT LIKE AGATHA CHRISTIE!! Do not insult Christie!!

Annoying MC ghost writer on a cruise. This MC is SOOO-OOO "wonderful' and "smart' and above everyone else, looking down, the criticisms never stop, so the reader cannot make a decision on their own of the character.

I'm sorry, but I really can't find anything positive to say about this book, series, or author. I didn't' even like the narration. I did finish it, because I had agreed to finish the book and write this review, and I tried to find something positive to say, but I just can't.

1 star = I hated it.

Engaging and entertaining. A wink to Agatha Christie's style. The narration is easy to follow. The main character is a ghostwriter who wrote a book based on the events of the first book in this series, where she was involved in a real-life murder. Now, she is on a cruise for women who are paying big money to take courses on writing. And bodies start piling up.

As always, Donovan fills his book with fun dialogue, clues, and a lot of fun. It's a very enjoyable series.

In this second book of the series, the ghostwriter goes on a literary cruise that has 300 women attending. What looks to be a fun time soon turns deadly as a body is found. There are many characters and many suspects and the bodies start piling up as the ghostwriter tries to assist in solving the murders. Highly entertaining and loved the narrator.

Imagine you’re on a small cruise ship, filled with authors, as well as…wanna be authors.
Imagine your friend/frenemy Payton, the bigwig with the big purse strings is behind the huge gathering, as well as the ship, the phenomenal food, the open bars, etc…. She’s a huge author with lots of true followers! Her wife, AND her ex-husband are both on board…

And, in order to get on board, you had to pay BIG BUCKS for a ticket! AND, be on the very exclusive (small list of people), who got the gold ticket…(invite)

Now imagine that there’s another old friend on board too. One that wasn’t invited. One that no-one wants there… because she claims Payton stole her work as her own….

So now you’re out there, in the middle of nowhere…
And people are dropping like flies. Dead. And…being murdered!!
And there’s absolutely no-one there to help…

🛑🛑 That’s it! Stopping there! 🛑🛑
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, keep your eyes 👀 opened for it! It IS ON SHELVES NOW!

#LooseLips by #KemperDonovan and narrated nicely by #EvaKaminsky!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #RecordedBooksMedia (#RBMedia) for an ARC of the audiobook. It was released 1.21.25!

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This is number two in a series. I started reading it without knowing that. There is nothing to require you to have read the first one that this story is relying on heavily for you to follow this story. The author does a good enough job of introducing the characters and touching on background lightly that you don't feel like you've missed anything if you were to just grab this to read. There is a couple of side characters that are very vulgar in their language. There's a pretty heavy feminist vibe to this book. I don't know if that's standard with this author because this is the first one I have read. This is an all female cast In this book save a couple make characters. Our protagonist is actually a fun character who's fairly introverted. She is a recently famous mystery writer previously a ghostwriter. What I found fascinating with this book is with many mysteries when you read them because we love to do the whodunit throughout. But the author has created a boat full of unlikely murderer characters. And then our mystery writer tries to place each of them into a situation in her mind where they could have committed the murders. So it was actually quite interesting. It takes place on a Cruise ship where the guests have paid exorbitant amounts to be on this writing Cruise with famous authors from a few of of the main book genres.

I was given this book to review on NetGalley. All opinions are my own

Alright, mystery lovers, Loose Lips is back with another round of literary mayhem! This is the second installment in the Ghostwriter Mystery Series, and let me tell you, it does not disappoint. Our favorite ghostwriter-turned-sleuth, Belle Currer, finds herself on a bougie writer’s cruise where the drama is high, the egos are massive, and—surprise, surprise—people start dropping dead.

Belle’s sharp wit and even sharper instincts make her the perfect reluctant detective as she navigates a sea of suspects (some of whom clearly take murder more seriously than writing deadlines). Kemper Donovan delivers all the things we love—twists, snark, and a murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the very last page. If you loved the first book, this one is a no-brainer. And if you haven’t read the first one yet, what are you waiting for? Go catch up!

The Get Lit Cruise is taking off! Cute and funny murder mystery - I agree with the connections to Agatha Christie style.

Payton has invited writers from multiple genres to come together and teach them more about the writing process - on a cruise... What they don't expect is to be solving a murder after someone is found dead on the ship.

The isolation leaves a lack of police - which adds the humor in to a bunch of women trying to figure out what has happened before more bodies turn up. I had a great time with this one!

I enjoyed this a lot, and it is a good, solid thing to almost everyone's liking. It doesn't get you overemotional or overwhelmed. The plot is well-structured, and it is easy to keep up and even solve the mystery if enough efforts are involved.

A cruise trip with the meaning of studying literature and writing gone horribly wrong. However, I can't say the very same about the main character: she got on the ship to teach writing mystery, and I'm happy to spoil the plot a little and tell you that she accomplished it with flying success (which was a delight after all that happened).

The only thing however that kept me from enjoying that novel fully was a big chunk of references that for me as a non-American didn't always make sense.

I listened to the audiobook of this novel.

Whilst this is the genre of books I read, I have found this hard to finish!
I listened to the audiobook and found the narration rather irritating. Sometimes it was as if the sentence was a rhyme and this just made if difficult to get into the story overall.

I think the story was aimed at maybe a younger audience, the humour the sarcasm from the main character just fell short for me.
Overall the story was just so far fetched but I stayed with it and actually thought the twists were good and well planned.

Murder and mayhem on the high seas on a women’s writing retreat on the high seas. I did not realize this was the second in the series so I think I lost some insight into our protagonist.

I was initially surprised to find out Kemper Donovan was a man. I found Belle an interesting and relatable character. She’s closed off from trauma but still a bit of a people pleaser. She’s smart but still makes stupid mistakes. She was well developed.

It gives me mixed feelings about some of the observations about male entitlement and attitudes. Yes, Donovan is queer and has daughters but it’s still different from experiencing it first hand. His insights felt accurate but how much is him guessing versus seeing it? Despite my weirdness on this, I thought he did a good job.

I did not see that ending coming. I think the breadcrumbs are there so the twist works. It’s unsettling and unexpected.

Since my copy was an audiobook, I think the narrator did a great job. I’d give the audio experience a 4.5 and the book overall a 4/5