Review: Something About September by Julia McKay

 

Something About September by Julia McKay

Publication Date: August 18th 2026 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Pages: 320

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Something About September was a sweet second-chance romance packed with cozy fall vibes: a pumpkin contest, hay maze adventures, sweater weather, hot apple cider, and plenty of small-town charm!

 

After her grandmother’s death, Rebecca returns to Bramley Hollow with thirty days to fix up the diner she inherited. Unfortunately, the only available contractor is Cort Adams, her high school crush, whom she’s been avoiding after an embarrassing encounter.

 

Beyond the romance, I appreciated Rebecca’s journey through grief, doubts about her career, and figuring out what she wants next. I also loved the support she received from her bestie Sabrina and Sabrina’s family.

 

Rebecca and Cort’s romance was full of palpable longing. A little more honesty and fewer assumptions would’ve helped, but the angst still remained pretty low. I really enjoyed their journey to a sweet, satisfying HEA!

4 Stars

Book Description: 

Cozy up with your pumpkin spiced latte and a slice of apple pie, because it's time to fall in love in Bramley Hollow...

A fall-inspired second-chance romance about a woman who returns home after inheriting her grandmother’s diner, only to discover the contractor she must hire was her high school crush.

Sweater weather is better together.

Rebecca Macintosh has always felt that there’s just something about September—nostalgia, crisp mornings, and possibility. But not this year. Rebecca has thirty days to return home to fix up her late grandmother’s diner or face the consequences. And the only contractor in town? Cort Adams. The man who rejected her one year ago. He’s somehow even better looking as a single dad than when he was the high school football star she once tutored. She’d been hoping to avoid him forever.

As the golden leaves start to fall, Rebecca may find that there’s more to her hometown—and to Cort—than she’d realized, and that the dreams she’s been chasing might have been the wrong ones. Could a spark kindle hot enough in the cool autumn air to call Rebecca home for good?

Sunday Post #354

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Happy Sunday!

The full moon tonight from our front yard

I worked last Sunday and it feels like my whole week it a little off when I work a weekend day. The weather is still warm, in the 80s, but we've been dipping down into the 40s and 50s most nights. It's easier to get our cats to come in at night since the temps have dropped.  

Peanut, my reading buddy. 

I find it harder and harder to read only by my eyes (as in e-copy or physical copy). It feels like it takes forever and I'm not able to do anything else.

We picked a bunch of apples this week and today my husband helped me process them for canning. We did apple pie filling and applesauce and both turned out really good! 

I have an abundance of zinnias coming from the garden! Our apple canning in back.

1000 Piece Puzzle Completed: Jam Jars by Puzzedly

Puzzle 50 of 2026!

I've completed 50 puzzles so far this year!

Read:

Something About September by Julia McKay-4 Stars

Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong-4 Stars

A Map to Murder (The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco #3) by Michelle Chouinard-4 Stars

I haven't been reading much romance lately but I got a physical copy of Something About September and I was able to grab a library audio. I really enjoyed it! Dive Bar at the End of the Road was wild! A page-turning horror/mystery! A Map to Murder was a great mystery filled with interesting bits on San Francisco's true crime history! 

Received:

The Final Final Girl by James Kaine

Sometimes I Scare Myself by Jeneva Rose

The Henchperson's Guide to Unionizing by Marshall J. Moore

Thank you to Simon Maverick, Libro.fm and Bantam!

I have a new giveaway open! See the right sidebar.

How was your week?

Review: A Map to Murder by Michelle Chouinard

 

A Map to Murder (The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco #3) by Michelle Chouinard

Publication Date: September 22th 2026 by Minotaur Books 

Pages: 320

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Capri Sanzio runs a successful San Francisco tour business specializing in the city’s true-crime history. After helping solve two murders, detailing the events in a book and podcast has earned her some attention. So, when Jennifer Torres disappears while investigating the unsolved 1967 murder of her aunt Marilyn, Jennifer’s daughter asks Capri to help find her.

 

Capri digs into Marilyn’s murder, hoping to retrace Jennifer’s steps. Finding people who knew Marilyn nearly sixty years ago isn’t easy, but a threatening phone call shows Capri is on the right track.

 

A Map to Murder was an engrossing mystery! I loved Capri’s determination and ingenuity in searching for answers, and I was especially happy she had Detective Petito as a resource and for support. I’m really enjoying their pairing, as well as the precautions he encourages Capri to take.

 

I thought I had the mystery figured out, but I was wrong, and I loved being surprised by how everything came together. Things got tense, but Capri kept her head!

 

As with the previous books, I also enjoyed the bits of San Francisco history woven into the story. I didn’t know much about the 1967 “Summer of Love” or the hippie movement surrounding it, so I found that especially interesting.

 

This is the third book in the series, but it could be read as a standalone since the central mystery is resolved by the end. That said, I’d recommend reading the series in order to fully appreciate the relationships and previous cases. I hope we get another book in the series!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Beloved true crime tour guide Capri Sanzio returns in Michelle Chouinard’s A Map to Murder, the next book in the USA Today bestselling Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco Mysteries.

True crime tour guide and serial killer aficionado Capri Sanzio knows how central the Summer of Love is to San Francisco’s identity—even if she’s always had conflicted feelings about it. She’s used to weaving feel-good hippie culture and music into her Haight-Ashbury true crime tales, centering her tours around what happens when a revolution looking to lift up the best ideals humanity has to offer clashes with the darkest souls hidden among humanity’s shadows. But what she’s not used to is a guest stepping out from those shadows to drop a murder investigation directly into her lap.

A woman has gone missing in San Francisco after trying to solve her aunt’s murder: a cold case from the Summer of Love. Capri sees herself in the missing woman—both were unable to find the answers they desperately wanted as kids—and sees her own daughter in the tour guest begging for her help. Unable to turn the case away, Capri finds herself following a trail of flower-power footprints turned deadly—straight to a killer who has her in their sights.

Giveaway! 3 Cozy Paranormal Reads

 I'm posting a new giveaway!

3 Paranormal Cozy Reads perfect for reading now!

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

Ghost Business by Jen DeLuca

Road Trip With a Vampire by Jenna Levine

The giveaway is open to US Residents only. Just fill out the Giveaway Tools form for a chance to win. *It will ask for your email so I can contact you if I draw your name as winner.

Entry-Form

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall To-Read List 2026

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Artsy Reader where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic.

This week the theme is: Books on My Fall 2026 To-Read List:

I just checked and I read all on my Summer TBR, so yay! 

Most of the books here are releasing over the fall, but a few are already out:

The Black Orchid by Loreth Anne White (9/1/26)

The Riddle Maker (Porter Beck #4) by Bruce Borgos (11/17/26)

Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong (10/6/26)

I'm currently listening to this one and it's good!

The Final Final Girl by James Kaine (9/15/26)

Thunderbird Ranch by Laura Griffin (11/10/26)

Cold Redemption (Psy-Changeling Trinity #10) by Nalini Singh (12/1/26)

This Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl #7) Matt Dinniman (11/13/24)

This one's going to take a while since the audio book is over 28 hours!

Cozy Little Christmas (Shelter Springs #4) by RaeAnne Thayne (10/6/26)

Birth of the Witch (The Coven of Three Trilogy #1) by Nora Roberts (11/17/26)

Swipe Bite (Corporate Bloodsuckers #1) by Alexandra Vasti (11/10/26)

What's on your fall TBR? 

Sunday Post #353

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Happy Sunday!

Nothing terribly exciting to report here. I worked, had my teeth cleaned and got my haircut. I've been having issues with my right hand. Pain in the knuckles that might be related to my carpel tunnel. Not sure what I'm going to do about it. We had my sister and her husband over for dinner last night.

Blogger seems to be giving issues still. My blog roll on the side isn't updating with new posts on some of the blogs I follow and I noticed my Goodreads challenge below has books listed that I've read a while back.

 I have to work tomorrow (Sunday). Other than that fall is definitely in the air.

500 Piece Puzzle Completed: America's Favorite National Parks by Pippi Post

Puzzle 49 of 2026

Read:

I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas-4 Stars

Lost Talismans and a Tequila by Annette Marie-4.5 Stars

Light the Stars by RaeAnne Thayne-3 Stars

Not a Word by Linwood Barclay-4 Stars

Received:

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio and Ace!

How was your week?

Review: I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas

 

I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas

Publication Date: September 15th 2026 by St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio

Pages: 320

Audio Book Length: 12hrs 34min

Narrator: Jenn Lee

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

When Willa was in high school, she was the only survivor after six people were murdered in the woods. Even though she was cleared as a suspect, the town still blamed her. After graduating, she moved away, changed her name, and became a successful artist. She's built a quiet life for herself until someone leaks her identity and the media descends on her home.

 

When she learns that her beloved art teacher has died, Willa decides to return to her hometown for the funeral. She'll be escaping the media frenzy, but she'll also be going back to a place where most people despise her.

 

I was freaked out by the flashbacks to Willa's past. I was enraged that her parents didn't believe her about the strange things happening in their house. I'd have been terrified! I was also annoyed by the way the town treated her. There was a lot going on, but everything came together in the end.

 

For most of the story, I Am the Monster Under the Bed is a mystery with horror elements, but things get wild by the end! I was completely riveted, worried about Willa, and wondering how everything would work out. This is a great read to add to your spooky TBR.

 

I alternated between reading and listening to the audiobook and would recommend either version. Jenn Lee did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life, performing both male and female voices across a range of ages with just the right emotions.

4 Stars

Book Description:

TIME ONLY MAKES THE NIGHTMARE MORE REAL.

Something lives under Willa’s bed. As an adult, her fondest childhood memories are of the invisible entity under her bed who taught her how to read. Now thirty-two, Willa is a reclusive but successful painter until a bombshell news report exposes her identity as the controversial survivor of the unsolved Rapture Mystery Slayings, a small-town tragedy that splashed across headlines during her senior year of high school. Six teenagers died in the woods while Willa walked free, and everyone thinks she killed them.

When an old classmate calls about a funeral, Willa reluctantly travels to her sleepy hometown, where the possessed forest that stole her friends looms. The trees whistle for her attention, but she knows better than to listen. And the unexplained knocking from the shadows in the basement of her decaying childhood home is honestly the least of her problems.

As her past pulls her back to the place she swore she’d never return, Willa is drawn toward the monster she left behind—and becoming the villain her hometown has always believed her to be.