Goodreads

Release date: October 1, 2024

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Thomas and Nelson

Synopsis:

Like walking onto the set of your favorite Hallmark Christmas movie, Mistletoe Season invites readers to fall in love alongside three couples, featuring old flames, opposites attract, and even a royal romance.

Say No to Mistletoe by Sheila Roberts

Mistletoe is Hailey Fairchild’s kryptonite. Every time she’s kissed someone under the mistletoe it’s led to love disaster. Not a good thing for a romance writer! When she was a gawky high school girl, her hunky neighbor, Carwyn Davies, star of the basketball team (and her dreams), kissed her under the mistletoe on a dare. But the kiss wasn’t a dream come true. It was a mortifying moment she’s never forgotten, and now she’s about to go home for the holidays, unengaged and . . . determined to say no to mistletoe. Especially if Carwyn is anywhere around.

Return to Mistletoe by Kathleen Fuller

Emmy Banks has always loved Christmas. How could she not when she lives in Mistletoe, Missouri? Kieran O’Neill has spent years abroad, renovating an old Irish castle, but returns to Mistletoe for his mother’s seventieth birthday. He reconnects with Emmy, his sister’s close friend, and spends time with her in her charming antique shop. When the weather turns colder, things start to warm up between Emmy and Kieran. But can Emmy risk her heart when she knows he’ll never stay in Mistletoe and she’ll never leave?

The Mistletoe Prince by Pepper Basham

Prince Arran St. Clare has lost his freedom and fairytale life in exchange for a three-month “punishment” in the small town of Ransom, North Carolina. To prove he is ready for the royal life for which he was born, Arran must engage in the Christmas charity fundraiser, The Mistletoe Wish. But when kindness, authenticity, and hard work prove more appreciated in Appalachia than a royal pedigree, Arran must face the mirror and find out who he is beyond the crown. Add a beautiful and intelligent woman who doesn’t recognize her own worth, some mistletoe, and a little Christmas magic, and it all might be enough to help the rebel-prince understand what truly matters most.

Featuring three separate stories, Mistletoe Season is the perfect escape from a bustling Christmas season. Pull up a cozy blanket, fix yourself a warm drink, and set yourself up by the fire to enjoy three delightful, low-spice romances.

Review:

This was such a cute holiday collection, it’s three novellas from three different authors and I enjoyed all of them. This would be perfect during the busy holiday season and you could jump in and out, maybe read one story even if that’s all you had time for. If you’re in the mood for some festive, hallmark style reads try this collection! 

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Release date: November 13, 2024

Publisher: Bookouture

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

I keep all her secrets. She thinks she can trust me…

Cecilia has it all. The house on the beach. The cute figure. The beautiful baby. But she’s a long way from perfect.

She’s let me into her gorgeous house as her nanny because now she’s on her own, she needs a little help with her baby daughter Peyton. She barely notices me. But I see everything.

While Peyton naps, I rifle through her drawers and discover the dark secrets in her past, the threatening letter from her ex-husband.

It’s a shame that Cecilia doesn’t have my powers of observation. If she took some time, she might just recognise me. I’ve been following her for a while, after all.

If she knew who I was then I don’t think I’d be so invisible. And she wouldn’t be so surprised one morning when little Peyton’s cot is found empty…

A completely gripping and unputdownable read that will have you turning pages deep into the night. Fans of Shari Lapena and Freida McFadden will be hooked by What the Nanny Saw.

Review:

This is such a guilty pleasure series for me, the true definition of popcorn thrillers and it was so much fun to be back in the world the author created again! This series is best read in order, you should at least read the previous book as that’s when we are first introduced to the main character here, Cecelia. Things pick up awhile after the last book ends and Cecelia hires a new nanny, Lizzie to help with her baby daughter. As always this was filled with unlikable characters, (the kind you love to hate) lots of twisty surprises, and juicy secrets and betrayals. It’s over the top and you may need to suspend some disbelief but it was a blast and a perfect way to spend an afternoon. 

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

About the author:

Kaira Rouda is an award–winning, USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author of contemporary fiction that explores what goes on beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives. Her novels of domestic suspense include The Widow, Somebody’s Home, The Next Wife, The Favorite Daughter, Best Day Ever, All the Difference, Beneath the Surface – optioned for a feature film – and Under the Palms. Her next novel, The Second Mrs. Strom, is out in August 2024, and Only the Nanny in November 2024. To date, Kaira’s work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Three of her novels have been named Amazon Editor’s Picks for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. The Next Wife was named a Suspense Magazine’s Best Book of 2021 Award, and a 2022 Silver Falchion for Best Suspense Novel and a 2022 Silver Falchion first runner-up for Best Book of the Year.

She lives in Southern California with her family and is working on her next novel. Please sign up for her newsletter to learn about new releases and exclusive content on her website, and follow her on social media.

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Amazon

Goodreads

Release date: November 19, 2024

Publisher: Lake Union

Genre: Suspense

Synopsis:

An Oregon wildfire and the roiling rapids of an untamed river pose unimaginable threats for friends fighting to save those they love in a pulse-pounding novel of suspense by the author of The Wild Between Us.

Every wildfire season cloaks rural Carbon, Oregon, in smoke. This summer, all it takes is one strike of lightning for the best of friends to turn to desperate acts to make it out alive.

When the latest blaze jumps a firebreak, experienced whitewater rafting guide Kristina “True” Truitt has reason to worry. Her best friend, fire battalion chief Melissa Bishop, is on the front lines. But she and Mel have a side gig vying for a dangerous and illegal money drop on the banks of the wild Outlaw River—directly in the path of the fire and right under the noses of the feds. It’s the only option Mel and her estranged husband, Sam, have in order to afford the care their medically vulnerable daughter needs to survive.

As the walls of fire close in, True, Mel, and Sam wrestle with one terrible choice after another. It’s time to decide what risks are worth taking and what they are willing to let burn to ashes.

Review:

This one was tense, set against the backdrop of a raging wildfire a community battles just to stay alive but while that may be the largest obstacle they face it’s not the only one. This is told via the perspectives of Sam, True and Mel who are a close knit unit made up of everyday people who are just trying to do their best. All three were easy to relate to, normal people trying to do right by their family and I was very sympathetic to their issues. Sam and Mel’s youngest daughter has a life threatening heart condition and her story truly scared me as a parent and then add in a fire literally in their backyard and the tension was SO high. If you live in an area where wildfires are an occurrence you know how scary it can be and the author did a great job of capturing that fear and anxiety. If you like character driven suspense with likable characters try this!

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the author for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: November 12, 2024

Publisher: Harper

Genre: Suspense

Synopsis:

A seemingly perfect suburban housewife is being pursued by a private detective . . . and hunted by a murderer in this riveting, much-anticipated posthumous novel from the beloved author of Roses and Dragonfly.

Katherine Walker enjoys an enviable life. Her husband is an accomplished doctor, her children are bright and successful, and she devotes herself to charity work that uplifts her Suburban Colorado community. Settling into a new year, her life couldn’t be better. . .

Until April.

For Katherine, April has always rained trouble—but this time may be even stormier than the fraught past she’s trying to overcome. Already distraught over the child she miscarried in this same cursed month many years ago, the emotionally fragile woman isn’t ready to consider the overwhelming evidence that someone may be trying to take her husband—and her life.

Featuring the complex characters and powerful storytelling that are the beloved hallmarks of Leila Meacham’s novels beginning with her breakout debut Roses, April Storm is a page-turning triumph that caps a remarkable literary career.

Review:

This was one of those effortless type of reads for me, I was truly sucked into the story for the majority and found it to be very engaging. Katherine was a likable character for me and I was desperate to know why someone was following her and what they wanted from her. It lost me as the story progressed because many of the happenings seemed a bit too coincidental and not at all plausible. I wasn’t altogether pleased with the answers either, but I did like most of this. Overall a quick and fast paced domestic suspense I mostly enjoyed.

Overall rating: 3/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Amazon

Release date: November 1, 2024

Publisher: Bookouture

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

Everyone thinks my husband is dead. Just like we planned…

Eleven years ago, my husband disappeared. Eleven long hard years I waited, my heart breaking for our son, who didn’t know his father was coming back.

Today, my hands shake as I try to understand what I’ve just learned: my husband has a new wife. This wasn’t part of our plan.

Eleven years ago, my husband made a terrible mistake. I sacrificed everything to help him fix it. But now he’s put our son and me in danger again.

We had a plan. He broke the rules. But who will pay the price?

A completely gripping and addictive thriller from the number 1 ebook bestselling author K.L. Slater, The Married Man will have you glued to the pages until the very last twist. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Freida McFadden.

Review:

I’ve never read a book by the author I haven’t enjoyed so I knew I was in for a treat when I started this one. I loved the premise here, it was unique and there were so many questions raised right from the start and I was desperate to hear the answers to them. It starts off on the slower side, the groundwork is being laid for what’s coming up but by about a quarter of the way in things start to get faster and by the end things were even faster and my head was spinning at times. There are several points of view here and I was hooked by each one, many chapters ended on a mini cliffhanger which is a great tactic to keep me furiously turning the pages. Twisty doesn’t even begin to cover the turns this took, and they were smart twists too, definitely not the kind I could predict. Another super solid read from a trusted author, if you like well developed domestic suspense this was really good. 

Overall rating: 4/5

About the Author:

For many years, Kim sent her work out to literary agents but never made it off the slush pile. At the age of 40 she went back to Nottingham Trent University and now has an MA in Creative Writing.

Before graduating, she received five offers of representation from London literary agents which was, as Kim says, ‘a fairytale … at the end of a very long road!’

Kim is a full-time writer and lives in Nottingham with her husband, Mac.

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Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release day: November 1, 2024

Publisher: Thomas and Mercer

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

A great writer knows when to deliver a juicy plot twist. But for one author, the biggest twist of all is her own murder.

With a number of hit titles and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. Fans around the world adore her. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood.

Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on—at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. Turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?

Review:

I’m a longtime fan of the authors books and love her brand of suspense. She always writes books that are clever and well developed and this was no exception. It actually may have been a little too well thought out for me, it was way too long and by the last quarter I was just ready for it to end. There’s a lot going on here and several points of view, I can see why the author crafted things this way but it lost me at points and I found it to be convoluted. I did like how unhinged parts of this was and I enjoyed some of the over the top reveals, so there was plenty for me to like but overall it was doing too much and too much of it felt like a slog for me. 

Overall rating: 3/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: October 8, 2024

Publisher: Zibby Books

Genre: Mystery

Synopsis:

An overwhelmed new mother gets entangled in the unsolved disappearance of a young girl from her Texas hometown—and unearths her own family’s dark secret. What sacrifices will a mother make to protect her own child?

Bee. It’s 2011 and disoriented new mom Bee is living in Portland, Maine when Leo, her childhood crush and twin brother Gus’ best friend, suddenly resurfaces to share news of Gus after years of silence. Bee’s predictable life is upended, pushing her back to Texas to dig into an unsolved disappearance that seems connected to her own family’s fracture. Mary. Twenty years earlier, Mary feels trapped, her only escape the local community theater. Despite her efforts to be a perfect homemaker, Mary’s lost her grip on her teenaged twins, Gus and Bee. Deeply lonely, Mary barely knows her neighbor, Diana—until a tragic discovery forces her to seek Diana’s help. Diana. Across the field, Diana, freshly divorced and facing an uphill battle as a woman in academia, worries constantly about her teenaged son, Leo, especially when a local girl goes missing. Told in multiple perspectives with two different timelines, The Undercurrent is a gripping portrait of female longing, thwarted ambition, and buried secrets.

Review:

This was a slow burn, character driven mystery that had many different layers and themes giving it tons of depth. It’s a quiet style of suspense, there’s not a ton of action but I still found the narrative to be compelling. I loved the themes of motherhood and the exploration of how far one would go to protect their children, this lead to so many secrets and fractures in both families and I was so curious to see how things would play out. You get two timelines, one in 2011 and one in 1987 and I was equally invested in both. The authors writing was strong and engaging and I’m impressed this was a debut, if you enjoy mysteries with some meat and substance with characters that will linger with you try this!

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: October 15, 2024

Publisher: Dial

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Synopsis:

A charming queer holiday romance about three adult siblings, each at a personal and romantic crossroads, who reunite at their larger-than-life mother’s Catskills manor for an unforgettable Christmas, from the author of It Had to Be You.

It’s the most romantic time of the year.

The holidays are fast approaching, and the Belvedere siblings are a mess. Liz, a Hollywood showrunner and responsible eldest, has no idea how to follow up her hit show’s first season, or how to deal with her giant crush on its star, Violet Grace. Birdie turned her chronic middle child syndrome into a career as a stand-up comic, but since she spends more time wooing women than working on new material, she’s facing one-hit wonder status, especially once she gets axed by her manager. And Rafi, sensitive romantic and the baby golden boy, proposes to his coworker girlfriend in front of his entire company, only to be turned down by the woman he thought was the love of his life.

Born to three different fathers, the three adult children share one mother: famed actress and singer Babs Belvedere. Seeking direction and holiday cheer, all three siblings head up to their mother’s house in the Catskills, determined to swear off love and focus on themselves and their work. But the spirit of the season seems to have different plans for them, and their best intentions are quickly derailed in the most delightful and festive of ways.

Emotional, smart, and sexy, this queer holiday romcom celebrates love, family, and the wild creative life, and is perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Casey McQuiston.

Review:

It’s no secret I love and adore holiday romances and most of the time the ones I read tend to be light and fluffy with not much depth. That’s not a dig, it’s part of what I enjoy about them but this one was a nice change because while yes, it has light and fluffy moments it also deals with many serious issues and has a complexity that was a pleasant surprise for me. 

This follows three siblings and their mother in the weeks leading up to the holiday and then shortly after so you get all the cheerful vibes and wintertime charm. Each sibling has a romantic subplot and I so enjoyed all of their stories. I’ve seen some complaints that there was too much going on and it was hard to keep track of but I didn’t have any issues. The secondary characters were just as wonderful as the main ones and I was charmed by how quirky and likable they all were. If you like family dramas set around the holidays this was so much fun! 

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: October 29, 2024

Publisher: Poisoned Pen

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

Meet Cordelia Black. Cordelia loves exactly three things: her chosen family composed of her best friend Diane and her goddaughter; her hairdresser (worth every penny plus tip); and killing bad men.

By day she’s a successful pharmaceutical rep with a pristine reputation and a designer wardrobe. By night she’s culling South Louisiana of unscrupulous men—monsters who always seem to evade justice, until they meet her. It’s a complicated yet fulfilling life that requires complete and total control at all times. But when the evening news starts throwing around the words “serial killer,” pressure heightens for her in the South, and it’s only exacerbated when Diane starts dating a man Cordelia isn’t sure is a good person—someone who might unravel everything Cordelia has worked for. Soon Cordelia’s world spirals, and she loses her grip on those tightly held threads that keep her safe.

Review:

I loved the sound of this, a vigilante serial killer with plenty of female rage sounded too good to pass up for me. Cordelia was a fascinating character, sometimes you can understand why she is the way that she is and others you’re like ok this bitch is just unhinged but I thought that was fun. This is darkly comedic, Cordelia is acerbic and sharp but when she’s around her best friend Diane and Diane’s daughter there is a softer side to her. While I felt this was a little long and rambling at times the suspense was solid and the tension kept amping up as the book went along. The ending was a bit anticlimactic and there were some loose ends but overall I had fun with this one and think it will be popular once it’s released.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: September 24, 2024

Publisher: Macmillan

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:

A feel-good novel as delightful and comforting as a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night, The Christmas Inn is bestselling author Pamela Kelley’s most heartwarming and magical book yet.Riley Sanders didn’t plan on losing her job as a content marketing manager right before Christmas. When she calls her sister Amy to vent, she learns that their mother has broken her leg and could really use some help at the inn. Riley decides to head home to the inn, nestled along the shores of Cape Cod, in time for the Christmas rush. She is happy to help and needs something to distract her as mistletoe is hung and snowflakes begin to fall.When she gets there, she not only finds delicious cookies and a crackling fire to lift her spirits, but also the sense of family she’s been missing all along. There’s Franny, a woman who has just lost her sister and has four unopened letters from her that she plans to use to open her up to new experiences on the Cape. And there’s Aidan, her high school sweetheart, now a widower, who is staying at the inn with his nine year-old son, Luke. What begins as a quick stay over the holidays to help her mom turns into something that means much more—a second chance at romance, a deeper sense of found family, and all the joy and wonder that comes with Christmastime on Cape Cod.

Review:

Give me all the holiday romance, yes even in September, I’m always a sucker for a Hallmark style read and this one delivered exactly that vibe. I loved the Cape Cod setting which was primarily at an inn and I really enjoyed the cast of characters. Riley and her mom interact with a sweet group of characters who are staying at the inn and I liked them all but Franny the most, she was such a sweet woman. There were lots of food descriptions, I feel like people either love or hate that and I enjoy it so heads up there but overall this was a delightful little holiday romance that was fantastic on audio and provided me with such a sweet escape. The narrator is a longtime favorite for me and she was so engaging and entertaining.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.