Murder Your Darlings

 

Murder Your Darlings by Jenna Blum
1/13/26; 368 pages
HarperCollins

Murder Your Darlings by Jenna Blum is a recommended romantic suspense drama, perhaps highly recommended for the right reader. 

Simone “Sam” Vetiver is a writer who just finished a publicity tour for her latest novel and now faces both writer's block and a deadline for her next book. She receives an fan email from successful author William Corwyn and attends one of his publicity events where the two the two meet and go out for dinner. This is the start of a steamy affair. During this time William is being stalked by a woman he calls The Rabbit, who also begins to follow Sam. However, everything isn't as it seems to be.

The plot unfolds through the point-of-view  of Sam, William, and the Rabbit. The glimpse into the publishing world was interesting and when the plot finally becomes interesting toward the end of the novel it did make up somewhat for the bulk of it. Sam is a well developed character, which is part of what made it hard to believe she'd fall for William who is more of a caricature of a type of man. Rabbit is an interesting character who is introduced into the narrative as an antagonist.

For me, the majority of the novel was glacially slow paced. Honestly, I almost gave up on this novel early on and struggled to keep an interest in it until the last quarter, when it does become much, much better. I'm not a fan of romance novels, so all the steamy encounters were just time wasters, especially when it was made clear from the start that William is an arrogant narcissistic player. It was impossible to believe Sam was foolish enough to fall for his drivel. 

Murder Your Darlings would best be appreciated by those who enjoy romance novels. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.