Thursday, January 8, 2026

Review: Remember That Day by Mary Balogh

 
Remember That Day (Ravenswood #5) by Mary Balogh

Remember That Day (Ravenswood #5) by Mary Balogh
Publication Date: January 6th 2025 by Berkley
Pages: 368
Source: Publisher
Rating: ★★★★½
Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:
Twenty-one-year-old Winnifred Cunningham, adopted daughter of Lady Camille and portrait painter Joel Cunningham, knows how lucky she is to have been taken into such a warm, boisterous family. She’s never believed marriage was necessary for her happiness, until her easy friendship with Owen Ware, the Earl’s youngest son, makes her wonder if marriage could be a happy possibility.
 
Colonel Nicholas Ware, Owen’s older brother, is preparing to propose to Grace Haviland. At thirty-four, he’s ready for a settled life filled with love and children. Grace is beautiful, poised, and perfectly suitable, yet Nicholas can’t seem to imagine true happiness with her. Something essential is missing.
 
When Winnifred and Nicholas meet, the spark between them is immediate and undeniable. They’re hardly an obvious match, both are on the cusp of commitments to others, and their age difference, but fate keeps placing them in each other’s path. With every encounter, their connection deepens.
 
Remember That Day was an absolute delight! This is the fifth book in the Ravenswood series, and I think you could get by reading this as a standalone, but you’d get more reading them in order because there’s a history with the Ware’s, a devastating event that made a huge impact in their lives.
 
Mary Balogh’s writing shines as she breathes life into her characters, their hopes, fears, longings, and quiet moments of vulnerability. Both Winnifred and Nicholas dealt with internal struggles, yet their bond became a source of comfort and clarity. The secondary cast, especially the many children with their charming side stories, added warmth and joy to every chapter.
 
Winnifred and Nicholas’ journey to love was tender, thoughtful, and deeply satisfying. Their story touched my heart from beginning to end!

4.5 Stars


Book Description:

A soldier and a pacifist make the unlikeliest of pairs, but when attraction sparks, there’s nothing that can prevent their love from igniting.

Winifred Cunningham, the adopted daughter of a portrait painter, hopes that her new close friend, Owen Ware, will soon ask for her hand in marriage. But when Owen introduces Winifred to his elder brother Nicholas, the late Earl of Stratton’s second son, the slow burn of attraction between them begins.

Nicholas is a cavalry colonel—a hardened soldier whom Winifred at first despises. She finds him intimidating and cruel-looking, while he finds her strange and startlingly forthright. During a summer at Ravenswood, however, Nicholas and Winifred are unwillingly thrown together on several occasions, until they realize the passion that drives their disagreements is not due to dislike—it is because of attraction.

Winifred still awaits Owen’s proposal, and Nicholas has made his intention to marry his commanding officer’s daughter quite clear. With allegiances to other marriage prospects and brotherly bonds at risk, not to mention the age difference between them, Nicholas and Winifred know it would be wholly improper to pursue a romance...

And yet, romance is irresistible. Perhaps even inevitable.


Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Review: The Storm by Rachel Hawkins

 
The Storm by Rachel Hawkins

The Storm by Rachel Hawkins
Publication Date: January 6th 2026 by St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio
Pages: 288
Audio Book Length: 7hrs 48min
Narrator: Alex Knox, Cathi Colas, Dan Bittner, Jane Oppenheimer, Patti Murin, Petrea Buchard, Stephanie Németh-Parker
Source: Publishers
Rating: ½
Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble | Kobo Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:
Geneva has inherited her parents’ beloved but financially struggling inn, the Rosalie, perched on the hurricane‑battered coast of St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama. The historic property has weathered many storms, yet keeping its doors open has been a fight. So, when August Fletcher, a true‑crime author, books a long stay to research the infamous Lo Bailey case, Geneva sees a rare opportunity to help keep the Rosalie afloat.
 
Lo Bailey, a local girl accused of killing her married lover during the catastrophic Hurricane Marie in 1984, has always been a name Geneva recognized but never truly understood. As a new hurricane builds and threatens, secrets are revealed that tie past and present together.
 
The tension builds chapter by chapter, each reveal raising the stakes as the incoming hurricane barrels closer. The story unfolds through multiple POVs, primarily Lo and Geneva, with glimpses of August through his manuscript and other characters. Lo, in particular, was a standout: flawed, magnetic, and impossible not to root for.
 
While I correctly guessed some of the twists and found a few details a bit far‑fetched, I was completely absorbed from start to finish. It’s an engaging, atmospheric read that kept me turning pages.
 
I alternately read and listened to the audio copy and can recommend either version. The audio was wonderfully narrated by a full cast, Dan Bittner, Patti Murrin and Stephanie Németh-Parker, just to name a few, and it definitely enhanced my entertainment!

3.5 Stars


Book Description:

St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.

As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive—and as deadly—as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…


Monday, January 5, 2026

Favorites of 2025: Mystery/Thriller

 Happy Tuesday! I'll be posting my favorites for 2025 this week starting with Mystery/Thriller here.



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.


My Favorite Mystery/Thrillers for 2025:

Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong
We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter
Head Cases by John McMahon
The Dark Hours by Amy Jordan

Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong
We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter
Head Cases by John McMahon
The Dark Hours by Amy Jordan


Sharp Force by Patricia Cornwell
A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos
Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz

Sharp Force by Patricia Cornwell
A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos
Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz


Guess Again by Charlie Donlea
South of Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver
The Cross by Steve Cavanagh

Guess Again by Charlie Donlea
South of Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver
The Cross by Steve Cavanagh


A Silence in Belgrave Square by Jennifer Ashley
A Tarnished Canvas by Anna Lee Huber
Death at a Highland Wedding

A Silence in Belgrave Square by Jennifer Ashley
A Tarnished Canvas by Anna Lee Huber
Death at a Highland Wedding



How about you? 
What were some of your favorite mystery/thriller or other genre books for 2025?




3 Romance Book Giveaway: Romantasy & Fantasy!

I've been on vacation with family in Montana so I haven't been able to do any blogging and hardly any reading! I'll be heading home today, but wanted to post this giveaway since I basically had the post done before I left.

I'm giving away three books in the Romantasy and fantasy genre:


Realm of Thieves by Karina Halle
Rebel in the Deep by Katee Robert
Her Knight at the Museum by Bryn Donovan

Fill in the Giveaway Tools to enter for a chance to win! Giveaway is open to US Residents only and ends on January 23, 2025 at 11:59pm. Winner must respond to email within 48 or another winner will be selected.










Review: Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

 

Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Publication Date: December 9th 2025 by Berkley
Pages: 352
Source: Publisher 
Rating: 

My Thoughts:
Morgan went on one date with Zach and soon after his ghost started haunting her.  Zach has no memories of his past, so he’s not sure how he ended up stuck with Morgan, but the haunting isn’t a good situation for either one of them.
 
Sawyer’s fiancée, Kennedy, died five years ago but her ghost has lingered on. Lately she’s been fading and Sawyer isn’t ready to say goodbye.
 
When Morgan and Sawyer meet in a ghost support group they get to talking and decide to help each other figure out their ghostly situation. They work together trying to figure out more about Zach’s past and why he can’t move on while working on Sawyer’s yard, the project Kennedy meant to tackle, forming a friendship in the process. I really felt for Sawyer with his grief and for both ghosts stuck in limbo. I really liked Morgan as well who dealt with feelings of inadequacy.
 
Seeing Other People was a touching story dealing with grief, moving on, but the sad parts were balanced with humor. The relationship between Morgan and Sawyer progressed from acquaintances to friends and then more. The romance was a sweet, slow progression and felt just right for the story.

4 Stars



Book Description:

Two people haunted by their exes find that love isn’t dead in this heartfelt romance from the beloved authors of The Roughest Draft.

Morgan is being ghosted by her ex. No, really. It’s sad Zach died and became a ghost. But Morgan and Zach only ever went on the one date, and now she’s being haunted by him. Zach has no desire to spend eternity with Morgan, but he can’t recall his past and doesn’t know how to move on.

At a support group for humans and their haunters, Morgan and Zach run into Sawyer, whose fiancée-turned-ghost has started to fade. Unlike Morgan, Sawyer isn’t ready to part ways with his ghost. Although they face opposite issues, Morgan and Sawyer decide to work together to solve their problems.

As Morgan and Sawyer try to solve their paranormal conundrums together, they find something even more surprising—a tender, growing affection between them that threatens any unfinished business they’re seeking to close. The ghosts of their past might be there in spirit, but the connection between Morgan and Sawyer is as alive as anything they’ve ever felt.