Book Review: The Engagement Ring Killer by Franklin Christopher
The Engagement Ring Killer
Series: The Killer Series #1
Author: Franklin Christopher
Published: February 1, 2026
Kindle: 252 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: February 3-19, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
28 Days. 28 Chapters. 28 Women.
One killer hiding in plain sight.
The night of her engagement party, Mya’s engagement ring finger is severed in a violent incident. She staggers into the street covered in blood and is thrust into the spotlight. But as Valentine’s Day approaches, she’s not the only one, women across the city begin turning up mutilated—and murdered.
As fear spreads and secrets surface, Mya starts questioning every man in her life. One of them could be the Engagement Ring Killer. Things take a turn for the worst when one of the mutilated women turns up dead on Valentine’s Day, Mya realizes she didn’t just lose a finger, she could possibly lose her life.
This year, Valentine’s Day is all month long.
Jessica’s Review:
A couple of things from the book description that actually aren’t:
- The novel seemingly appears to be an ‘advent calendar’ that lasts the whole month of February: 28 chapters in 28 days. But the novel does not take place as one chapter equals one day. Being it wasn’t actually one day per chapter I saw no point in reading it as an ‘advent book’ even though I started it on February 3rd. I also ended the novel on February 19th.
- The book description also gave this reader the impression that we are going to have a death per chapter, which is a death per day. That doesn’t happen, so I was disappointed. In fact, the first death does not happen until several chapters in, so my expectations were not met and the title wasn’t fully accurate for me. Even in the novel the news calls the villain ‘The Engagement Ring Chopper’ as the first victims were maimed, not killed.
There were also grammar errors and possible formatting issues on my kindle. Normally I won’t let this bother me, but the significant number of these issues took away some of my enjoyment of reading the novel. I even debated on DNFing the book. I decided to continue it since it is shorter and I am glad I did as I overall enjoyed it. I wanted to know what was going to ultimately happen.
The chapters were short which made this a quick read. It was fast paced and I was intrigued with the directions the novel went. There was also a character named Franklin and being that is the author’s name I was debating on if the author was including himself in the novel. There were twists throughout the novel that changed directions for me so many times. There was one open door sex scene. I was not expecting that and for me it wasn’t necessary.
Despite the issues mentioned, I would give the author another chance. It just seemed like he was in a hurry to get the book to readers when it could have used some more editing/proofreading/ advanced readers.
The Engagement Ring Killer receives a strong 3 stars from me.
Audiobook Review: The Intruder by Freida McFadden
The Intruder
Author: Freida McFadden
Narrators:
Patricia Santomasso
Tina Wolstencroft
Jo Hempel
Published: October 7, 2025
Audiobook: 8 hours 19 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: October 15-19, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
Who knows what the storm will blow in…
Casey’s cabin in the wilderness is not built for a hurricane. Her roof shakes, the lights flicker, and the tree outside her front door sways ominously in the wind. But she’s a lot more worried about the girl she discovers lurking outside her kitchen window.
She’s young. She’s alone. And she’s covered in blood.
The girl won’t explain where she came from or loosen her grip on the knife in her right hand. And when Casey makes a disturbing discovery in the middle of the night, things take a turn for the worse.
The girl has a dark secret. One she’ll kill to keep. And if Casey gets too close to the truth, she may not live to see the morning.
Jessica’s Review:
Freida, it really is time to take a break! Her last couple of books have just been average for me. I know she has her legion on superfans who finish her books the day it is released and must have her next book now even though the release is still months away. And they have ‘read all her books and don’t know what to do now’.
The Intruder is a darker novel that deals with child abuse and extreme hoarding. It also has an extreme YA feel, but that is because we are dealing with the past childhood of Casey and Ella is a teenager. Yes it will have that YA feel, which McFadden had to have taken from her teenage daughter.
The premise was intriguing for me but the delivery and ‘big twist’ just didn’t work. McFadden’s next book comes out the end of January 2026 and I am just thinking that it won’t be what I want it to be. I will listen to it at some point, but won’t be in a hurry for it.
Again, Freida: Take a much-needed break! Your legion of superfans will still be there, hungry for more.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Review: Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
Lady Macbeth
Author: Ava Reid
Published: August 13, 2024
Hardback: 295 pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
The Lady knows the stories: how her eyes induce madness in men.
The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed.
The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of strategy, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive.
But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armor. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world.
She does not know this yet. But she will.
****Kim is guest reviewing today! She’s still around!!****
Kim’s Review:
Worst. Retelling. EVER.
You’d think by now I’d finally accept the old adage of “don’t judge a book by its cover” and quit buying books because they’re gorgeous. And it’s not like I even like retelling’s at all, especially retelling’s of my favorite stories. Macbeth is my favorite Shakespearean play. I did a monologue from it in one of my college drama classes and first fell in love back in 9th grade. Well, Reid ruined it. Murdered it. Mutilated it. And then didn’t even have the courtesy to go insane because of the guilt. Somehow, she managed to take a strong, independent, clever, ambitious, aspiring queen and turn her into an incompetent, petty victim who somehow fails at being a victim at all! The entire book was filled with feminist virtue signaling and man hating.
Lady Macbeth is only 17, forced into an arranged marriage with a man who is surprisingly gentle and patient with her, and while acting like she’s the smartest person in the room, manages to prove that she is in fact the dumbest person in the room. Then, a romance was added between the good lady and the king’s eldest son, in which she is reduced to a common YA stereotype. She is incapable of seeing the big picture and at her best is reactionary, always one step away from using her wits effectively. The one time she manages success is a simple and petty revenge story that just highlights her immaturity and short sightedness.
Reid managed to add some pretty cool fantasy elements to her story that lead me to wonder why she didn’t just write an original story that was “loosely inspired” by Macbeth and actually give us a good book. Nope. Instead, she reduced the complex and fascinating story of Macbeth to a yawning conflict between the genders with the woman showing herself to be a failure to herself and womankind at every turn. Lady Macbeth was a dynamic villainess whom you hated yet admired and obsessed over. This character was just a teenage eye roll.
Why then the three star review? Well, it kept me engaged and I even wrote a bunch of notes while reading it … so I’ll give it the extra star for at least being emotionally and intellectually stimulated, even it was was criticizing the whole time.
My conclusion is that Reid didn’t understand Macbeth to begin with and then went so far as to completely reduce one of the most famous Shakespearean characters to a weak and pedestrian cliche. And I’m still upset about it.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
