Book Review: "Forget Me Not" by Stacy Willingham

Loss has a way of permeating our lives, no matter how long ago it occurred. For Claire, it’s been 22 years since her older sister Natalie disappeared shortly after her 18th birthday. The police found traces of Natalie’s blood in a man’s car shortly thereafter, and an arrest was made.

But despite the speedy resolution of her sister’s case, Claire has never gotten over losing her sister. Once Claire was old enough, she left her small South Carolina hometown and moved to New York City. She became an investigative journalist, helping others get clarity in their grief and loss.

Despite a successful career, Claire is passed over for a promotion and quits her job. With no real opportunities on the horizon, she’s starting to worry about money and her future when her father calls. He asks her to come home to South Carolina to care for her mother, who was injured in an accident. Claire is at a bit of a crossroads, so she decides to go home despite her estrangement from her mother.

It’s not long before Claire remembers why she left home, and she’s affected by the memories of Natalie that are stirred up. On a whim to get away, she takes a summer job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine grape vineyard on an isolated island not far from where she grew up. Natalie had worked there shortly before her disappearance.

At first, the peace of the farm and the physical labor is therapeutic. But when Claire finds an old diary hidden in the farm’s guesthouse where she’s staying, she begins to suspect that all isn’t idyllic at Galloway Farm. She worries that the owner, Mitchell, may be dangerous—and somehow, he may hold the key to what happened to Natalie all those years before.

The story shifts between the present and the past (in the form of diary entries). For some reason the diary was written in the third person, which was a little weird, but it definitely kept me hooked. I had some idea how the story would be resolved but there were some surprises, too. I did think the pacing was slow for a while until it picked up steam.

Book Review: "People Watching" by Hannah Bonam-Young

Prudence used to dream of leaving her small Canadian hometown to see the world. But when her mother is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, Prue shelves her dreams in order to help her father. Regardless of what her father thinks, she’s perfectly content to care for her mother, work in her family’s gas station, and write poetry.

Milo comes to town in his ancient van. He and his younger sister have been asked to come help Nik, their older brother, get his brewery ready to open. Milo is a handsome adventurer who tends to go from place to place, leaving relationships as soon as his partners begin catching feelings. He hasn’t seen his siblings in a while, because memories of their traumatic childhood still haunt him.

As her mother’s condition worsens, Prue’s father wants her to consider leaving town and pursuing her future. When she meets Milo, his confidence and swagger, coupled with his sensitivity, disarms her. The chemistry between the two of them is intense, and while they develop a warm friendship, they also spend late nights with Milo tutoring Prue in casual sex lessons.

Milo’s relationship with his siblings and their shared trauma is really compelling, and Prue’s care for her mother and her father’s love is as well. But when the focus moves off of those storylines, the book loses its spark. And there are even storylines that get mentioned and never get brought up again.

This book is one of the spiciest I’ve read in a long while, and there’s also some poignant emotion. But I felt like the book didn’t know what it wanted to be—the sex storyline didn’t really mesh with everything else. I wanted to love this but it just didn’t work for me.

Book Review: "All the Water in the World" by Eiren Caffall

I’m really late to the party in reading and reviewing this, but I’m so grateful to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance copy I received. Amazingly, this is the second piece of climate fiction I’ve read in the last few months, and it really made me think.

It’s a time after the glaciers have melted and the world is lashed by severe weather conditions, including floods. In what was once New York City, Nonie, her older sister Bix, and their father live in an encampment of sorts atop the American Museum of Natural History. The girls have been taught to hunt and grow their food in Central Park.

Their other responsibility is to try and save the museum’s collections so that work in human history and science are not lost. But Nonie has a heightened sense of when precipitation is incoming, and when a massive storm breaches the city’s flood walls, her family and their researcher friend must flee. They grab what they can from the museum, including a birchbark canoe, and travel north along the Hudson River.

The journey is a harrowing one, fraught with danger and potential disaster. Along the way they not only have to brave the elements, but they also have to face the fears and uncertainties of the people they encounter, survivors who have formed small communities. They don’t have any sense of whom to trust and whom to fear, which proves harrowing.

The characters are really beautifully drawn, particularly Nonie. She, like so many who must brave catastrophe, is wise beyond her years, but she is also tremendously kind and empathetic.

While this moved a bit slower than I was expecting, I found this to be a powerful, emotional, and eye-opening book. In addition to its depiction of a world ravaged by climate change, this is a book about grief, love, and survival. It’s also a powerful tribute to the value of museums and what they help us learn and remember, important messages given the dangers museums face in the U.S.

Book Review: "Stubborn Puckboy" by Eden Finley and Saxon James

Nothing makes me happier than a new book in the Puckboys series. This was Book 9, and it’s as steamy, romantic, sweet, and fun, as the early books were. This is definitely the series that keeps on giving!

Seventeen years ago, Colby and Novi were both drafted by the NHL team in Anaheim. Even though Colby was excited to be drafted, Novi was the type of athlete that you know will be a star. (And he knew it, too.) The two became close friends, although Colby definitely wanted something more, but didn’t think Novi would be interested. One night, after drinking, they came very close to crossing the line—and then Novi pulled away from him completely.

Now, Novi is a true star, nearing the end of an illustrious career. Colby never quite made it as a player, but started coaching, and after great success at the college level, he’s finally landed his first NHL coaching gig. He’ll be an assistant video coach in Los Angeles—for Novi’s team.

Both men are in turmoil from Colby’s arrival. Colby, who is now openly gay, wants to clear the air with Novi so it doesn’t affect his coaching job. Novi is closeted and deathly afraid that Colby might somehow figure that out. Novi wants to come out, but his sister and her family still live in Russia, and he’s afraid that his doing so might affect their lives.

After trying to avoid Colby completely fails, it’s not long before Novi admits the truth—he’s been in love with Colby for 17 years. At first, they try not to give into their pent-up desires and chance Novi’s secret gets discovered, but their willpower doesn’t last long. Can they find a way to be together without affecting either of their careers or Novi’s family?

Y’all know I love my hockey romances, but I just loved this second-chance love story. I always enjoy the supporting characters in this series. And the best part? The series will continue!!

Book Review: "She Didn't See It Coming" by Shari Lapena

It seems like a typical Tuesday. Bryden is getting her 3-year-old daughter Clara ready for daycare while her husband Sam heads to work. She’s looking forward to working from home after drop-off.

At the end of the day, Sam is surprised to get a call from Clara’s daycare. Bryden didn’t pick Clara up and isn’t responding to calls or texts. When he gets home, he finds Bryden’s phone, keys, and purse are all there, and her car is in their building’s underground parking garage.

Did she just walk away from her life? No one believes that is possible. And by all accounts, Bryden and Sam were a great couple.

But as the police investigate, they discover that the picture-perfect couple might not be quite that perfect. Suspicions begin to fly, secrets are revealed, and suddenly identifying a suspect and a motive becomes much more difficult.

There are lots of twists and turns in this story, and I really wasn’t sure how Shari Lapena would resolve everything. I definitely found some of the characters really fascinating (and I can’t help but wonder if this was the set-up for a new series, which I would absolutely love).

It’s crazy that this is only my second Lapena book, but remember, I’ve really just been getting back into thrillers. I’ll definitely be diving into her backlist—any recommendations?

Book Review: "Dating After the End of the World" by Jeneva Rose

This book was a wild ride! Enemies to lovers plus flesh-hungry zombies…the perfect romance!

Growing up in Wisconsin, Casey’s dad was a doomsday prepper. Every spare moment, Casey had to help her dad building fences, digging pits, creating hiding places. She hated it, because all she wanted was to be a typical teenager, but her peers ridiculed her because of her dad. And she couldn’t even understand why he thought the world was going to end anyway.

“I know you’re supposed to believe your parents, trust what they’re saying, and I have. I’ve believed every word my dad has uttered since I learned what words meant, but now I’m not so sure anymore. I stopped believing in Santa when I was nine years old, and I feel like I’m gonna stop believing in my dad one day too. Maybe I already have.”

The minute Casey turned 18, she fled, desperately wanting a normal life. And 16 years later, she’s living in Chicago, working as a medical resident and engaged to a handsome doctor. One night, a viral outbreak overwhelms the hospital where Casey works. People suffering from some sort of flu suddenly turn into hungry zombies. No one is safe.

As the situation in Chicago grows more dire, Casey realizes the only place she might survive is back in Wisconsin with her dad. He’s created a compound of sorts, housing family, neighbors, even some strangers. Casey is shocked to find that her dad has befriended Blake, the one classmate who made her life a living hell and broke her heart. Now he’s sexy, a former Navy SEAL, and he’s going to keep Casey safe—if she doesn’t kill him first.

I’ve been a fan of Jeneva Rose’s thrillers, but this book proves she can do absolutely anything. This is a little gory, a little steamy, a little emotional, and a whole lot of fun. Glad this was an Amazon First Reads book this month!

It will publish 10/1.

Book Review: "The Academy" by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

I didn’t go to boarding school and I didn’t want to, but I cannot get enough of boarding/prep school fiction. And while dark academia can be fun, nothing beats good old-fashioned drama.

Tiffin Academy has always been in the middle of the pack where boarding schools are concerned. Yet on the first day of a new school year, a huge surprise occurs: Tiffin has risen to #2 on the annual America Today rankings. That’s a 17-point jump, and it’s even a shock to Audre, the head of school.

The board president has invested a great deal of money in improvements—including a gourmet chef. But still, no one really understands how the school climbed so high in one year, especially given the fact that a popular student committed suicide the previous year.

Like many boarding schools, academics at Tiffin take a backseat to parties and gossip. The majority of the students are children of extremely wealthy parents and are used to getting their way. Yet into the mix comes Charley, a new student from Maryland—very rarely are new students admitted as juniors. But Charley is extremely smart and she’s utterly disinterested in the social games of her peers, which of course only intrigues her classmates more.

Over the course of one year at Tiffin, there’s lots of drama to be had. The new, beautiful Canadian history teacher has secrets to hide and finds herself infatuated with an older student. The TikTok influencer is struggling with her own issues while keeping up appearances. And then a controversial app seems to know what everyone is hiding and what everyone’s missteps are.

There are a lot of characters in this book; some you root for and some you dislike. Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter have created a juicy little world and I was there for every last backstabbing minute. There were a few threads that were brought up and never resolved, so is a sequel on the horizon?

The book publishes 9/16.