Review: If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle

Genre 📚: Adult Contemporary Fantasy, Crime-thriller-comedy, Romance
Tropes 💁‍♀️: Books about books, Accidental wish, Murder mystery, Opposites attract
CW ⚠️: Attempted murder, actual murder, violence
Rating ⭐️: 5/5

Straight-up, this is the weirdest fucking romcom I’ve read in a while, and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. If Books Could Kill is like Ashley Poston’s A Novel Love Story, but for true crime fans. And yes, I am exactly that demographic. 

The MC Roxie? She is 100% NOT a crime fan. She’s more into the comfort and predictability of romance novels. While talking to her best friend, she jokes that she wishes she could be the protagonist in her favorite author’s next story — not realizing a mysterious wish granter is listening. Next thing she knows, she’s plopped into her favorite author’s current project and is living what seems to be the perfect meet-cute. The guy flirts, takes her out, kisses her…

…Then he tries to kill her. Whoops. Turns out, Roxie’s favorite author is mixing things up and writing a crime thriller. And now Roxie has to figure out how to survive until The End, with the help of an anxious English professor and a happy-go-lucky private eye duo. It is every bit as chaotic as it sounds, and it never lets up on the humor. It truly felt like being on a rollercoaster, the kind that has you scream-laughing all the way through. An absolute banger of a debut.

**Much thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. If Books Could Kill will be released on July 21, 2026.