Reviewed by Kristin
Erika Turnbull had many ghosts in her past and she thinks she
has finally moved beyond them. She is still living in her small Vermont
hometown but now has a glimmer of hope that her job might launch her career
into something huge. Real estate investor Robert Barron (aka the Robber Baron)
has hired Erika to be his assistant. His project, alongside his fiancée Holly
Simmons, is to renovate their home on an eighty-acre parcel of land, all under
the watchful eyes of television viewers on a fixer-upper reality show.
Along with more mundane tasks, Erika takes care of every
little personal detail for Robert, even receiving his shipment of illegal Cuban
cigars for his bachelor party. She is also Holly’s right-hand-woman whether
help is needed for hair and make-up or for a new high-end kitchen appliance.
Holly even asked Erika to be her only bridal attendant. And oh yes, they are
moving up the wedding and livestreaming it to gain more social media followers.
Every vote will count in the To the Manor
Build competition.
But, gasp, once the
wedding is over, the bride and groom suddenly run off for an impromptu
honeymoon, much to the consternation of the producers of To the Manor Build. They have plans to film more of the project
this week, but the stars have suddenly gone missing. Not in a romantic “they
only have eyes for each” other sort of missing. It is more of a “blood spatter
left behind and Erika is afraid to tell anyone in case this causes them to lose
the contest” sort of way. No one can reach them, the producers are getting
cranky, and Erika is getting scared.
The chapters alternate points of view from Erika, to Kim
(Erika’s mom, also the town clerk who is asked to officiate the wedding), to
Holly’s super perky blog posts, to the people commenting on the Reddit threads
regarding the reality show. The format really keeps things moving along as the
reader learns various bits and pieces from the various narrators.
Since I just recently reviewed Patricia Wants to Cuddle
by Samantha Allen and that
book was also based on a reality show, I couldn’t help but make comparisons.
The authors seem very dissimilar but their threads of humor definitely shine.
Sarah Strohmeyer’s signature humor is on full display here, although definitely
toned down from her laugh-out-loud funny Bubbles
Yablonsky series that I read years ago. One back-cover reviewer called this
new novel “Diabolical and deliciously twisty…” I find that to be a great
description. It was suspenseful and fun, making me look around every corner for
the villain.
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