Overall Grade: A
Tropes: murder mystery; romantic suspense; forced proximity
Kristen Ashley’s To Good To Be True is the book form of her Kindle Vella story from earlier in the year. And, as it won’t come as a shock, it was everything you’d expect from Kristen Ashley. While she calls it her “murder mystery,” the vibe of this book is decidedly Ghosts & Reincarnation Series-esque.
It’s situated in an old English country home/mansion.
There are “ghost” vibes.
The FMC has dreams that make it seem she’s been reincarnated.
KA has filled it with spookish vibes.
I couldn’t put it down because it read like the books of that popular series. It is also filled with all of our favorite Kristen Ashley elements: an FMC such as a Daphne who feels like she could be a bestie; she knows herself, she loves herself, and she doesn’t suffer fools; an MMC in Ian who is all playboyish, but only has eyes for his heroine; he falls deeply in love with her before he even knows it’s happening; ancillary characters who act as wizened guides, but also others who add the drama to the story (I mean, her main characters need foils, right?); and a twisty, turney story that keeps you glued to the pages. Oh, and don’t forget, there is a four-star heat level between her main characters. Kristen Ashley’s romance characteristics are threaded through the pages of To Good To Be True, and she doesn’t have an obvious suspect in her story. If you think hard enough, you can figure it out, but it isn’t obvious, so she keeps you engaged. This is all that is wonderful with this book, but that isn’t all of it. The true gems of any KA romance/murder mystery/whatnot lie in its depths.
To Good To Be True, like many of her recent stories, highlights important societal ails. In this book, she allows Ian, a 1%er to make better choices with his family’s estate so they can be better civic leaders. She focuses on the archaic notions of the genteel, showcasing their modern-day futility. But what I loved the most, what I found the most compelling about this story, is the truth about the past. That our past has been spoken/written through the patriarchy. Yet, women have their stories too, and they are as important, if not more important at times. She highlights/underscores/double-underlines this truth in such a beautiful maternal way. This is where Kristen Ashley is her most genius: when she shows you who she really is as a human being among other human beings.
I don’t know how she does it, honestly. How she consistently grabs my attention and holds me in the thrall of her pages, but she does it over and over again. While she has granted the label of “murder mystery” to To Good To Be True, it’s definitely much more than that, and you won’t want to put it down.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 