A Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen with a body count? Count me in. Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox is a fresh, twisty take on the locked-room whodunnit. The story kicks off at Sophie Matthews’s over-the-top birthday bash, hosted in her father’s newly renovated, maybe haunted, cliffside mansion in the Texas Hill Country. Just as the party…
Category: United States
Left of Forever
Left of Forever is a heartfelt, second-chance romance centered on Ellis and Wren, former spouses who find themselves unexpectedly reuniting for a cross-country road trip, thanks to a series of emotional letters and a Byrd family reunion neither quite anticipated. As the miles stretch on, old wounds resurface, truths are finally spoken aloud, and the…
The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant
Berkley kindly sent over an early copy of The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant, and while I enjoyed it, I did feel it could have been leaner in places. Olivia Blunt, a former fact‑checker eager to break into detective work, becomes the assistant to Aubrey Merritt, the country’s most renowned private investigator….
Savor It
Sage Byrd, a small-town teacher content with her quiet life, and Fisher Lange, a charming, big-hearted guy temporarily in town to get a new restaurant up and running. What starts as a casual arrangement slowly turns into something much more complicated and undeniably sweet. This is a slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance with plenty of heart and…
Forget Me Not
Claire, a woman still grappling with her sister’s unsolved murder, as she’s drawn back into the mystery when another girl goes missing—with eerie similarities to her sister’s case. Through journal entries and flashbacks, the story slowly unravels layers of grief, trauma, and suspicion. It’s part introspective literary fiction, part psychological thriller. I liked the premise…
The Nature of Fragile Things
Set against the backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, The Nature of Fragile Things follows Sophie, a young Irish immigrant who answers a mail-order bride ad in hopes of building a better life. But when she arrives in California, she quickly discovers her new husband is hiding dark secrets. As the earth begins to…
The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie
This is a beautifully tender story about Lolly, a woman navigating grief, self-discovery, and unexpected love, all wrapped up in gentle magical realism. The magic elements provide glimpses into her past and add layers of emotion as she faces hard choices and seeks a new path forward. I read this a few years ago and…
The Women of Wild Hill
Both Lula Library and The Change made my Top Reads lists for 2023 and 2024, so when I found myself in a bit of a reading rut, I turned to Kirsten Miller again to pull me out and The Women of Wild Hill did not disappoint. I loved about 95% of this book. It takes…
The Retirement Plan
Three best friends, one big betrayal, and a whole lot of life insurance money. The Retirement Plan is a sharply funny, slightly murderous debut that dives into the chaos of long-term marriages, lifelong friendships, and the dreams we have for our golden years. When Pam and her friends Shalisa, Nancy, and Marlene find out their…
Weather Girl
Let me tell you… this book was like a cozy rainy day wrapped in a warm blanket: comforting, emotional, and surprisingly bright. In Weather Girl, we follow Ari Abrams, a Seattle TV meteorologist who’s passionate about weather but struggling under the emotional thunderclouds of a toxic workplace and her own lifelong battle with depression. When…