Jersey Girl Book Reviews

Monday, March 30, 2026

Book Spotlight: How To Write A Love Story by Catherine Walsh

How To Write A Love Story by Catherine Walsh

Publisher: Dutton - Penguin Random House

Publication Date: March 10, 2026

Format: Hardcover - 336 pages

Paperback - 352 pages

Audiobook - 9 Hours 9 Minutes

Kindle - 342 pages / 3.9 MB

Nook - 352 pages / 2 MB

ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1420535259

ISBN (Paperback): 979-8217043781

ASIN (Audiobook): B0FG3GVNF7

ASIN (Kindle): B0FDPW2BVN

BNID (Nook): 979-8217043798

Genre: Romance / Romantic Comedy

Buy The Book:

Amazon - Hardcover

Amazon - Paperback

Amazon - Audiobook

Amazon - Kindle

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

Book Description:

One writer, one editor, one hot summer... A romance for the books?

Ciara Sheridan's father has left her with three things: a sprawling and distinctly ramshackle estate on the Irish coast, the outline for the finale to his bestselling epic fantasy series that he wanted her to finish - and writer's block.

Enter Sam Avery: Frank-Sheridan-fanboy and hotshot editor, sent from the New York publishing house direct to her doorstep - against Ciara's wishes and red pen at the ready.

With the deadline looming, Ciara and Sam have just a few weeks to stop bickering, write this novel and secure Frank's legacy.

But as the summer heats up, so too does the tension between them. Will their own love story be the plot twist neither of them see coming?

Book Lovers meets Leap Year in this dual-POV, forced-proximity, bookish romantic comedy with a VERY HOT twist - the brand-new book from bestselling Kindle chart sensation and Irish author, Catherine Walsh.

About The Author

Catherine Walsh is the bestselling author of romantic comedies, including Holiday Romance and Snowed In. A Kindle Unlimited sensation, her books have been translated into over 20 languages. She lives in Ireland, where she writes full-time. Her latest book is How To Write A Love Story that was published on March 10, 2026.

Author Website

Amazon Author Page

BookBub

Bluesky

Goodreads

Instagram

Substack

Monday Musings: 3/30/2026

Welcome to Monday Musings!

Monday Musings is the day for sharing interesting postings, articles, my thoughts, and everything book related. Come along for the journey and share your comments!

DO NOT DISTURB!

My pet peeve is being disturbed while I am reading ... grrr 😡 Why do people assume us booklovers aren't doing anything when we obviously have an open book in our hands? 😠

Let me repeat the above .... DO NOT DISTURB WHILE READING!!!! 📖🤣

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino (Book Review)

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

Publisher: Celadon Books

Publication Date: November 25, 2025

Format: Hardcover - 288 pages

Paperback - 288 pages

Audiobook - 8 Hours 38 Minutes

Kindle - 275 pages / 3.9 MB

Nook - 288 pages / 3 MB

ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1250400543

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1250400567

ASIN (Audiobook): B0F55BWVY7

ASIN (Kindle): B0F4SLKT6D

BNID (Nook): 978-1250400550

Genre: Thriller

Buy The Book:

Amazon - Hardcover

Amazon - Paperback

Amazon - Audiobook

Amazon - Kindle

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

Disclaimer: I purchased a hardcover edition of the book from my monthly Book Of The Month (BOTM) subscription. This book review is from my personal honest opinion.

Book Description:

An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly humorous debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success—and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?

Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian — and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track — Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it’s publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand).

A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners’ lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged—but just when she thinks she’s won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there’s no boundary she won’t cross to seize the dream life she’s been chasing. The most unsettling part? You’ll root for her, even as you gasp in disbelief.

Dark, biting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Best Offer Wins is a propulsive debut and a razor-sharp exploration of class, ambition, and the modern housing crisis.

My Book Review:

In her debut novel, Best Offer Wins, author Marisa Kashino weaves a riveting thriller that easily draws the reader into a dark storyline that follows a woman's determination to buy her perfect house at all costs.

Margo Miyake and husband Ian Tanner have been living in a cramped apartment for the past eighteen months. After being outbid eleven times in a very competitive housing market in the Washington DC suburb of Bethesda, MD, there hasn't been any new listings that spark her interest until her real estate agent calls with a tip that a house will be listed at the end of the month. Margo is determined to make an offer to the sellers with the hope that they will accept the offer before it is publicly listed. What ensues is a woman that is so determined to buy her perfect dream house, that she becomes obsessed and on edge, desperate enough to go to any lengths and make unhinged tactics to ensure that her best offer wins!

Best Offer Wins is a complex and multi-layered tale told in the first-person narrative by Margo Miyake. Margo takes the reader along for the ride as her obsession to purchase her perfect dream house is so extreme that it will leave the reader shocked by the unhinged tactics that she applies to make sure that their best offer will be the winning bid. As Margo's story unfolds, there is a dark intensity with riveting twists and turns that kept me engaged, even though I was not a fan of Margo and kept thinking to myself that this is one batshit crazy lady!

The author does a phenomenal job in her debut novel of delving into Margo and Ian's lives, interweaving her troubled past with the secrets in their marriage, and her dark and desperate mantra: no house, no baby, no life, that kept me turning the pages until the shocking last sentence of the story.

Best Offer Wins is one heck of an adrenaline rush of a thriller; it just doesn't get any better than that!

Rating: 4 Stars

About The Author

Marisa Kashino was a journalist for seventeen years, most recently at The Washington Post. She spent the bulk of her career at Washingtonian

magazine, writing long-form features and overseeing the real estate and home design coverage. She grew up near Seattle, graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in journalism and political science. She lives in the DC area with her husband, two dogs, and two cats. Best Offer Wins is her first novel.

Sunday Funday: 3/29/2026

Welcome to Sunday Funday!

Every Sunday is a fun day to read and relax. I will be sharing the book that I am currently reading. So, join in on the Sunday Funday and post a comment about the book that you are currently reading!