Episode Two | Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder by Gracie Ruth Mitchell

“At some point, I have to stop killing people. I can’t very well carry on like this. Here I am, backed into a corner yet again, with no conceivable way out—another body to bury, another alibi to invent, and absolutely no relevant knowledge to speak of. What’s the best way to dismember a corpse? Who knows. How long before a body starts to stink? Beats me. So why do I keep doing this to myself? And what does it say about me, anyway, that my main characters keep finding creative ways to die? This work in progress is supposed to be a romance novel.”

This is where today’s review begins.

But first…let me paint a picture for you. It’s the weekend before Thanksgiving. A Christmas ambiance youtube station is quietly playing in the background, and I’m dreaming of all the cozy things I’m excited to do this week. Royal icing cookies, cozy books, working in my 2025 planners, and Friendsgiving, which, I’ll be honest, is one of the highlights of my year.

This weekend is my all-time favorite weekend of the entire year because it ushers in an old, familiar way of living for me. It’s slower, more methodical somehow. It means it’s time to put a bow on all the plans I made this year and begin to dream about next year. That means setting up my new planners, setting new goals, choosing which books I hope to read, resetting my spaces.

And I am so excited that you’ll be here with me this year. Things I Read & Loved is a big goal I had for this year, and I’m so excited to see where the new year takes us.

With that in mind…

Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader. If you’re like me, you might find yourself with some extra time on your hands this week—or maybe, your hands will be buried in biscuit dough stuffing and you’d love a good audiobook— so let me encourage you to grab a physical copy or download Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder by Gracie Ruth Mitchell. Let me just say, I loved this book! I loved the cozy fall cover—it’s seriously an adorable book from cover to cover. You will want this book on your shelf—but the audio version is great too.

Last week we talked about a heavy read, The Hiding Place, a Holocaust memoir, so today we’re going to “try softer,” as author Andi Kolber says. Today’s review will be pure fun—much like our main character Juniper Bean. For reference, I loved this character so much, I named a dog after her. You can see pictures of the real-life Juniper Bean on my instagram, where I document what a horrible dog she is. She’s really the worst, but it’s like the cute, endearing kind of horrible, if you know what I mean.

Ok, so, here’s where we’re headed today:

First, we’ll talk about the characters. They’re awesome, so I can’t wait to share them with you.

Second, we’ll analyze the world Gracie Ruth Mitchell built. If you’re a fan of Stars Hallow from the Gilmore Girls, you’ll love this one.

Third, we’ll talk about how this book made me feel. Remember, I weigh books heavily on this category because a good book should make you feel something and stick with you!

And finally, I’ll give you my overall rating in stars.

Ok, number 1, the characters:

Juniper Bean. I love Juniper’s absolutely quirky personality, no doubt forged by her foster home upbringing. She’s fairly immature and has some odd behaviors like taking food home from restaurants so she won’t be hungry later. These quirks are endearing because you know she didn’t have the most stable childhood, and it makes you root for her success from the very beginning. You just want to see Juniper win!

When we first meet her she’s in a yellow punch buggy that’s completely falling apart. We see a pillow and blanket, a make-shift home, in the backseat… of a VW Beetle. I don’t know why I loved this little detail of the world so much. I think it’s because so many stories begin with the main character having it all together, but Juniper is kind of this adorable little quirky mess and the details will make you laugh and love her at the same time.

Thanks to her emotional scars, she’s uniquely complex. One minute you’ll be chuckling at a silly comment she made, and the next she’ll be sitting by her mom’s grave contemplating something meaningful like this: “I don’t know how it’s possible to miss someone and resent them, to love them and hate them all at the same time. To be glad they’re gone and simultaneously wish they were still here. The human brain is little more than three pounds and can be held in two cupped hands, but the emotions it produces are so big, so nebulous and tangled. And sometimes those tangled emotions feel like thorny brambles that I’ve stumbled and fallen into, scraped knees and scarred palms that constantly remind me of the past. How much of that past do I keep? How much do I let go? And how do I separate the two?”

I can’t explain it, but I loved the complexity we find in Juniper’s character. On the outside, she’s this wild and wacky girl, but deep down, she’s introspective and kind. I loved how it exposed the author’s true talent, to be able to write a character so like LIFE without making her verbose and saccharine. I mean, how many of us use humor as a defense mechanism—or anger? Or isolation? What’s deep within us rarely sees the surface, and only those who really know us can see behind our facade. I’ll keep it vague because I don’t give away spoilers, but it was fun to watch these layers peel away as the story advanced.

Next up, Aiden, the male main character. Gosh, what an absolutely accurate human. As a quirky person, I can absolutely attest to 99% of his behavior towards because sometimes I feel like I make people this uncomfortable too. Poor Aiden, honestly. I’ll let you read it for yourself, but I’ll set the stage for you: Aiden was Juniper's English tutor when she was 17. He was 23, and she was completely “in love with him” ” (air quotes because, come on, she was 17) . After an awkward but hilarious encounter, they parted ways and never saw each other again…. Until they just so happened to end up as roommates. By the way, this book is clean—no funny business going on here—and the roommate bit is just a small part of the comedy that sets the stage for the murder mystery they’ll solve together. It is not a Christian book, in case you were wondering. But it is considered “clean” on the rating scale. Fun fact, the author is a Christian and I love how she writes fun stories without being christiany—anyone can enjoy them and know what a sweet life of joy and fun and integrity looks like.

We get to know Aiden well because this book is told from dual points of view. Juniper tells her side of the story, and Aiden tells his. This adds dimension and intrigue as you can see inside their minds while the story unfolds, and it’s really cool. Let me just say, on the outside, Aiden is stoic and reserved, but underneath? Juniper’s cuteness slowly chips away at his resolve.

Of course, there are some other supporting characters you’ll love, but in the interest of time, I’ll skip them for now.

Now, let’s talk about the world:

Earlier I said if you like Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls, you’ll love Autumn Grove, Idaho. Honestly, any book that describes vibrant fall colors, the crisp air and the crunch of leaves beneath your feet…while the characters sip coffee and eat scones is going to get high praise in my book. Juniper is a writer, so there’s no shortage of coffee shops and libraries and it’s just a delightful little town…until Juniper trips over a real-life dead body and everything changes.

I will say, in terms of world building, we’re not talking about Lord of the Rings style where you have to keep up with tons of new names, places, etc. But, I kind of like that. This book is realistic fiction, so it's REAL(ish). To me, that makes it enjoyable because you can just enjoy the story and you don’t have to think very hard to get it.

So, how did it make me feel?

I told you earlier that Juniper discovers a dead body—a murder!—so most of the book is her quest to solve it, with Aiden by her side.

Full transparency, I don’t like whodunits. I don’t like dark, depraved stories, so I never read true crime or psychological thrillers. But this book was FUN. The murder mystery sets the perfect stage for Juniper to grow up, it helps develop the relationship between her and Aiden, and it gives the plot some speed that I don’t normally see in romcoms. And overall, those things kept me interested and I loved it.

This book was 2nd on my list for podcast episodes because it stuck with me! I loved the adorable banter, the sweet love story, the mystery solving, and honestly the cover! It’s such a pretty cover! One of my favorites on my shelf.

My overall rating is 4.5 stars. I rarely give 5 stars, remember! 4.5 for a romcom is high praise. Even Amazon agrees, where Juniper gets a whopping 4.5 stars from the book connessoures on Amazon.

The bottom line is: You will adore this story! You’ll laugh. You’ll cheer. You’ll feel GOOD after you read it. And, you can fly through it this week. Easy peasy.

I know it will help you feel extra festive as your family prepares for Thanksgiving, begins to decorate for Christmas, and enjoys the colder weather.

Friends, I hope you enjoyed this lighter, happier episode this week. Next week, we’re going to dive into a different form of beautiful words: I’m sharing one of my mother’s recipes and I can’t wait to tell you all about this filling, healthy(ish), and heartwarming meal we loved in our family when I was growing up.

This week, I’ve been thinking about all of my friendships—the ones I’ve had for years and years, the ones I’ve met as an adult, the ones I’ve made through art classes and the planner community and my wellness groups. The ones that were forged through fire, and, gosh, I’m just so grateful to have you in my life.

Aren’t we all so lucky to live such beautiful lives? Faults and all, every breath is precious.

Thanks for being here today. Happy Thanksgiving.

I’d love to hear how you’re enjoying the podcast. If you’d like, leave me a review! Tell me what you like and what you hope to see more of. I want to hear it all.

See you next week, dear friend.