Book Reviews

Accidents Never Happen by Penny Zang

⭐ 4.25/5 Stars

Penny Zang is back with another gritty, female-centered thriller set in the 1980s, and this time she’s borrowed her title from a Blondie song. If you enjoyed the dark, edgy atmosphere of Doll Parts, you’re going to want to pick this one up!

Set in Baltimore in 1985, the story follows Madeline (Mad), a young woman trying to keep her family’s dive bar afloat while dealing with some pretty significant trauma. Her father disappeared and is presumed dead, and now her sister Annabel has gone missing, too. Even more disturbing, other bartenders around Baltimore have been disappearing, only to turn up dead days later. There’s a serial killer on the loose, and Mad is desperate to find her sister before it’s too late.

This book is gritty, atmospheric, and so very Baltimore. Zang does a fantastic job immersing readers in the city and the decade. There are wonderfully specific nostalgic references throughout, from Hands Across America to Mr. Yuck stickers. MR. YUCK STICKERS! I don’t think I’ve thought about those little green faces in approximately 40 years! 😂 But that’s exactly the kind of detail that makes a setting feel authentic rather than simply telling readers they’re in the 1980s.

One of my favorite elements is how thoroughly the story embraces Baltimore’s connection to Edgar Allan Poe. Poe famously died in Baltimore, and the city has claimed him as its own ever since. There’s even the fascinating tradition of the mysterious Poe Toaster, who would visit his grave annually and leave roses and a bottle of cognac. The novel weaves Poe’s legacy and the city’s gothic history into its central mystery, giving the whole thing an especially eerie atmosphere.

I’ve always found it interesting that where someone died can become more closely associated with their legacy than where they were born, and Baltimore has certainly embraced Poe!

Zang’s writing is wonderfully evocative without sacrificing the suspense. There’s something about the grimy dive bars, troubled families, local folklore, and 1980s nostalgia that works so well together. It’s dark and occasionally disturbing, but I was completely invested in finding out what happened to Annabel.

I really enjoy Penny Zang’s writing, and this second novel reinforces that she’s an author I’ll continue to follow. If you appreciate gritty, character-driven thrillers with strong female protagonists, a distinctive sense of place, and a touch of gothic atmosphere, I’d definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with an advance digital copy. All opinions are my own.

📚 Publication Date: January 12, 2027

The Mother-in-Law Book Club by Kate Hash
⭐ 3.5/5 stars

There is something so lovely about an intergenerational friendship, especially when both generations have something to learn from each other. And that was, without question, my favorite part of The Mother-in-Law Book Club. In fact, I wish there had been more of it!

Andy is a successful corporate consultant in her late 30s, a solidly millennial woman whose personal life is falling apart. She’s going through a divorce from her pediatric oncologist husband, Thomas, and dealing with a particularly overbearing soon-to-be ex-mother-in-law. Professionally, however, Andy is thriving. She’s known around her company as the “Boomer Whisperer” because of her ability to work with older male business owners preparing for retirement and help them navigate major transitions.

I really appreciated this about Andy. So often in contemporary romance, a woman’s professional life is just as disastrous as her personal life. Not here! Andy is exceptional at her job, respected for her expertise, and successful in her own right. Her marriage might be crumbling, but her career certainly isn’t.

While traveling to North Carolina for work, Andy overhears two older women complaining about their daughters-in-law. Already a little triggered by her own experiences, she can’t help herself and interrupts to offer a much-needed perspective from the other side. Rather than ending in disaster, the confrontation leads to coffee with one of the women, Marilyn, and eventually an invitation to Marilyn’s weekly book club.

And this is where the novel really shines.

I loved the book club! I loved the conversations, the advice, the disagreements, and especially the moments when Andy helps these older women understand the perspectives of their daughters-in-law, while they challenge her to reconsider some of her own assumptions. There is genuine warmth in these relationships, and the developing friendship between Andy and Marilyn was my favorite part of the entire story.

There’s a lovely found-family element here, and I thought Kate Nash handled the generational differences with empathy and humor. Nobody has all the answers, and everyone has something to contribute. I wanted more of these women sitting around talking about books, relationships, and life!

Of course, this is also a romance. Andy develops feelings for Marilyn’s son, Dustin, and the two initially keep their relationship a secret. Their romance is sweet, but I didn’t love the overlap between Andy’s unresolved marriage to Thomas and her developing relationship with Dustin. I also found some of the decisions toward the end a little predictable, while others seemed to come somewhat out of left field.

The epilogue was satisfying, though, and I finished the book feeling that this was a pleasant fall romance with a little more substance than the average romantic comedy. I really appreciate that Nash is interested in exploring something deeper through her love stories. I just thought the intergenerational friendships were more compelling than the central romance, and I would have happily traded some of the romantic complications for additional book club meetings.

Now, a special word about the audiobook, because Brittany Pressley deserves her flowers! 🎧

First of all, THANK YOU for giving these North Carolina women actual Southern accents! They sound like women who live in North Carolina, which is precisely where they live. Imagine that! I appreciate this more than I can adequately express.

Pressley also has such a natural rhythm and pacing when narrating contemporary millennial women. Her delivery feels conversational and authentic, and she understands how to bring humor and personality into the dialogue without overdoing it. She’s one of those narrators who consistently elevates the listening experience.

I was fortunate enough to receive both the electronic ARC and the advance listening copy, so I alternated between reading and listening. In fact, I ended up experiencing the entire book in both formats, essentially reading it twice! I love doing this when I have the opportunity because I inevitably catch things on the page that I missed in the audio and vice versa. It’s a wonderful way to experience a story.

Ultimately, 3.5 stars for a charming fall romance that is at its best when it celebrates the unexpected friendships women can form across generations. If you enjoy found family, complicated family dynamics, successful female protagonists, and stories about learning to see the world through someone else’s eyes, this is worth picking up.

📚 Thank you to Dutton for the electronic advance reading copy and Penguin Random House Audio for the advance listening copy. All opinions are my own.

This Is How You Lie by C.G. Drews
⭐️ 3.5/5 stars

If you love a creepy Gothic thriller with a dark fairy-tale atmosphere, This Is How You Lie might be right up your alley!

The story follows Wren, a young woman who accepts a job as a nanny for a 14-month-old boy whose extraordinarily wealthy parents seem to have very little interest in actually raising him. The position is practically a 24/7 commitment, and Wren soon finds herself immersed in the strange dynamics of the Creswell household.

There’s Cadence, the young mother whose erratic behavior and dramatic mood swings suggest something is terribly wrong. There’s Lucian Creswell, the imposing man of the house, whom Wren instinctively distrusts. And thankfully, there’s a cute chef to provide a little distraction from all the unsettling behavior!

What I appreciated most about this novel was the atmosphere. With such a small cast of characters, much of the tension comes from the setting itself. The imposing mansion, the eerie lake, and the winding road leading to the property all contribute to an overwhelming sense of isolation and dread. It almost feels like stepping into a dark fairy tale where you know something terrible is waiting around the corner.

There are some genuinely grotesque moments, but I would describe this as more creepy than outright horrifying. The suspense builds nicely, and there are several surprising twists along the way. A few revelations seemed to come out of nowhere, and I noticed some minor plot holes, but neither significantly diminished my enjoyment.

Ultimately, I had a good time with this one, even if it didn’t completely blow me away. If your TBR is already overflowing, I wouldn’t necessarily tell you to move this to the top of the pile. But if you can’t get enough of atmospheric Gothic thrillers, this is certainly one worth considering.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a widget of this book!

Solar Eclipse of the Heart by Kate Robb

⭐ 3.5/5 stars

Kate Robb knows how to write a charming romance! Her characters have great chemistry, her banter is delightful, and she has a real talent for creating relationships worth rooting for. I enjoyed Solar Eclipse of the Heart, although I was hoping for a little more magic, both literally and figuratively. Prime Time Romance remains my favorite of her books.

The story follows Annalise, who is preparing to leave for a two-year doctoral program in Europe. She’s also grieving the loss of her beloved uncle to cancer. When a leather jacket that once belonged to him resurfaces at a thrift shop, Annalise discovers that putting it on transports her into a memory. Meanwhile, she’s developing feelings for her roommate, MacKenzie, a musician who happens to be the person who has the jacket.

The romance is easily the strongest part of this book. Annalise and MacKenzie have wonderful chemistry, their banter feels natural, and the friends-to-lovers relationship is genuinely sweet. This is where Robb really shines.

Unfortunately, the magical realism never quite came together for me. It’s not that the jacket’s powers went unexplained, but rather that the storyline didn’t reach the emotionally satisfying conclusion I was hoping for. There were several threads that seemed to be leading somewhere meaningful but ultimately didn’t amount to much. In particular, I wanted Annalise’s uncle and her grief over his death to play a more significant role in the story. The setup had so much potential for exploring memory, loss, and the people we carry with us, but I felt like we only scratched the surface.

I also had the pleasure of tandem reading this one, thanks to an eARC from Dial and NetGalley and an advance audiobook from Penguin Random House Audio!

The audiobook is narrated by Brittany Pressley, who is one of my favorite romance narrators. She is especially good at voicing slightly insecure, somewhat neurotic female protagonists. Honestly, sometimes she sounds like the voice inside my own head! Her performance was excellent, and this was an especially easy book to follow on audio. I loved being able to switch between the e-book and audiobook depending on what I was doing.

Ultimately, this is a sweet, entertaining romance that left me wishing the magical elements had carried a little more emotional weight. If you’re looking for a charming palate cleanser, something light and easy that doesn’t demand too much of you, this could be exactly the book you’re in the mood for.

3.5 stars. A lovely romance with a magical premise that I wish had gone a little deeper.

Thank you to Dial and NetGalley for the eARC and Penguin Random House Audio for the complimentary advance audiobook!

Oh, Vera Wong, how I adore you! ❤️

This is the third installment in Jesse Q. Sutanto’s delightful Vera Wong series, and I will happily follow this hilarious, meddlesome, utterly endearing woman wherever her adventures take her!

Vera is a Chinese mother in her 60s who is smart, opinionated, occasionally arrogant, delightfully spicy, and sometimes hilariously critical of everyone around her. But beneath all that meddling is an enormous heart. She loves fiercely, and her particular brand of tough love is part of what makes her such an unforgettable character. And yes, she even has her own true-crime TikTok channel!

This time, Vera and her friend Winifred are off to Paris for a girls’ trip. Naturally, when a murder occurs at their Airbnb, Vera simply cannot resist getting involved. Before long, she and Winifred have assembled a colorful cast of suspects and taken it upon themselves to solve the crime. Throw in an art heist, plenty of French culture, and Vera’s trademark confidence in her own investigative abilities, and you’ve got one wonderfully entertaining adventure.

Now, here’s something I don’t often say about a cozy mystery series: You really need to read these books in order.

Ordinarily, I’m quick to reassure readers that they can jump into a series wherever they’d like, but not this time. My five-star rating comes with a caveat: I already know and absolutely adore Vera Wong. I’ve spent two books falling in love with her personality, her relationships, and her wonderfully unconventional approach to life. Without that history, I suspect this might feel like a fairly ordinary cozy mystery. But for those of us who have come to love Vera, getting another adventure with her feels like visiting an old friend.

And what a delightful visit it is!

If you’re already a Vera Wong fan, pick this one up the moment you have the opportunity. I certainly couldn’t wait to get back to her world, and I wasn’t disappointed.

As far as I’m concerned, Jesse Q. Sutanto can keep writing Vera Wong mysteries for as long as she likes, and I’ll keep showing up. Vera is funny, frustrating, clever, loving, and completely irresistible.

Thank you to Berkley for providing me with an electronic advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

Book to be published 4/20/27

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¼ — 4.25/5

Wade Rouse had me at rich people behaving badly at Christmas on Mackinac Island. 🎄❄️

After having so much fun with That’s What Friends Are For, I was thrilled to receive an advance listening copy of The Bluffs—and this was such a fun, messy, surprisingly tender family drama.

The Chapman family built their fortune through a wildly successful multilevel-marketing cosmetics company, and their sprawling Mackinac Island home, Brigadoon, has long been the setting for their elaborate family Christmases. But this year, things are changing. The younger generation is taking over the holiday, new family members are joining the celebration, and decades of secrets, resentments, expectations, and very strong opinions are all arriving for Christmas too.

Think ** Succession meets The Family Stone**—with fudge, snow, family secrets, and a whole lot of money. Rouse mentions The Family Stone as an inspiration in his lovely author’s note, and truly, I cannot think of a better comparison. The beginning especially is incredibly funny, and somehow even the snobbiest, most elitist characters became people I wanted to keep reading about.

This is an ambitious novel, with 12 different points of view, and that was probably my biggest hesitation. In roughly 300 pages, that’s a lot of people to keep straight, and occasionally I wished we could spend more time with fewer characters. But this is also where the audiobook absolutely shines. 🎧 The multicast narration gives each character such a distinct voice and personality, and the performances helped enormously in keeping everyone straight.

What surprised me most was how tender the story becomes underneath all the family chaos. There are thoughtful themes about loving your children unconditionally, accepting that the people we love may disappoint us, and recognizing that complicated people don’t suddenly transform into entirely different human beings just because it’s Christmas. Some of these characters grow; some reveal softer sides; and some remain frustratingly themselves. That felt refreshingly real.

And I loved seeing Mackinac Island in winter. So many stories focus on the island as a summer tourist destination, while The Bluffs gives us snow, Christmas, fudge shops, island families, and a glimpse of what life there might feel like after the tourists leave.

Funny, messy, Christmasy, heartfelt, and just the right amount of dysfunctional. If you love complicated family dramas, The Family Stone, wealthy families with secrets, or simply want to spend Christmas on Mackinac Island without actually freezing, put this one on your holiday reading list. 🎄🏠❄️

The Bluffs publishes October 13.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for gifting me the advance listening copy! 🎧

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Courtney Walsh is a favorite author of mine, so I’m always excited when she has a new book coming out. I’ve loved Brighter Than Before, Everything’s Coming Up Rosie, and Christmas with a Crank, but unfortunately, As Luck Would Have It fell a little short for me.

Grace is a middle-aged woman whose life has been completely upended after discovering that her husband, Tom, a professor, has been having an affair with his 24-year-old graduate student. Grace has spent much of her life putting everyone else first, and after the divorce, her sister Romy sends her on a trip to Ireland in hopes that she’ll finally do something just for herself.

I really liked the idea of Walsh writing about an older heroine getting a second chance at both life and love. I’d happily read more romances centered on women at this stage of life! Unfortunately, Grace never quite came alive for me as a character. Some of her characterization leaned heavily into familiar stereotypes about middle-aged divorced women—she always wanted to be a mother, never saw the affair coming, and has seemingly never done anything for herself. I kept waiting for more depth and complexity from her.

Once she arrives in Ireland, Grace meets August, and of course romance follows. ☘️ There are some sweet moments, but the story moved pretty slowly for me, the Irish setting occasionally felt a little overplayed, and I never became particularly invested in Grace and August as a couple. Ultimately, I was just a little bored.

One other thing I continue to notice in Walsh’s books: I would genuinely love to see some LGBTQ+ representation among her supporting characters someday. Many of her stories exist in theater and entertainment-adjacent worlds, so the continued absence of queer characters has become increasingly noticeable to me. Representation doesn’t need to be the focus of the story—I’d simply love for a queer character to exist naturally within one of these communities.

This wasn’t a bad book, and I still really appreciate Walsh writing a romance about a middle-aged woman finding herself and getting another chance at love. It simply didn’t have the character depth or emotional spark I’ve found in some of her other books.

⭐️ 3/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the advanced reading copy. As Luck Would Have It publishes in March 2027.

⭐️⭐️⭐️½

The House at Hanger Hill by Ashleigh Mounser
Publication date: February 16, 2027
Minotaur Books

This is one of those books that is just deeply, deeply unsettling.

The House at Hanger Hill is a slow-burn gothic suspense novel with a touch of horror and a strong supernatural undercurrent. But this isn’t really a story about a murderer lurking around the corner. It’s about a house, generations of women, family secrets, and all the things that refuse to stay buried.

And wow, does this family have some things buried.

The story moves through multiple generations of women connected to Hanger Hill, and I really loved that aspect of it. These are strong, complicated female characters, and the house itself almost becomes another character as the history slowly unfolds.

There are a lot of generations and relationships to keep straight, though. My biggest request for the finished book: PLEASE give us a family tree at the beginning! 😂 I found myself mentally trying to map out who belonged to whom more than once.

There are also plenty of surprises. A few twists came so completely out of nowhere that I wished there had been a little more groundwork or exposition leading up to them, but overall, this was a really effective creepy read. The atmosphere is excellent, and Mounser knows how to create that feeling that something is just slightly wrong long before you understand why.

This reminded me of When the Night Comes Knocking and Something in the Walls. It has that same creepy-horror-movie-date-night energy: slow-building dread, family secrets, supernatural elements, twists, and the literary equivalent of a few jump scares. 👀🏚️

If you like suspense that leans more toward generational secrets and supernatural unease than traditional murder mystery, put this one on your 2027 list.

3.5/5 stars.

Thank you to Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Publishing Group for the advanced reading copy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¼ — 4.25/5

Here We Are at the End is a beautiful, tenderhearted novel about the end of the world—and somehow, that description doesn’t capture what this book really is at all.

Grace and Ben have gathered on an island for their destination wedding, surrounded by their families, bridesmaids, photographer, and the people they’ve chosen to share this moment with. Then they lose connectivity with the outside world. Eventually, they learn why: a meteor is coming, there is no way off the island, and these are the people with whom they will spend their final hours.

Yes, it’s devastating. But Sara Barnard is far less interested in the science of an impending apocalypse than she is in what happens when everything we normally worry about suddenly becomes irrelevant. Who do we reach for? What do we regret? What do we want the people we love to know? What does a life look like when you can finally see its ending?

I’ve seen this categorized as science fiction, but I wouldn’t necessarily describe it that way. There’s very little interest in explaining the meteor or the mechanics of what is happening. This is much more of a literary, character-driven novel about connection, legacy, grief, love, and ultimately acceptance.

It reminded me quite a bit of TJ Klune’s We Burned So Bright in the way it approaches mortality with an enormous amount of tenderness.

There are twelve people on the island, so this is a large and occasionally messy ensemble. We don’t get an enormous amount of time with any one character, but I was impressed by how distinctly Barnard was able to draw them within such limited space. Their relationships—with one another and with the lives they know they are leaving behind—are what give the novel its emotional weight.

I hesitate to call a book about everyone dying “hopeful,” because…well. 😂 But there is something unexpectedly comforting here. Barnard allows her characters—and eventually the reader—to move toward acceptance. The world is ending, but their relationships still matter. Their lives still mattered. The love they gave to other people mattered.

That tenderness is what I’ll remember most.

⭐️ 4.25/5

Here We Are at the End by Sara Barnard is expected to be published March 16, 2027.

Thank you so much to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reading copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ — 3 stars

It Looks Like You in the Dark by Mathilda Zeller is an atmospheric Indigenous horror debut set in a remote Iñupiat village in Alaska. It will be published October 13, 2026.

The story follows Tapeesa, a young woman newly out of high school who works at a fish processing plant in her small village. I loved the setting—Alaska is not somewhere I encounter often in fiction, and Zeller creates such a strong sense of place. The isolation, darkness, wilderness, and tight-knit community all work especially well for a slow-burn horror story.

At the center of the novel is a creature from Indigenous folklore, the kushtuka, which can appear in the form of someone you love. That becomes particularly terrifying for Tapeesa because her sister, Esther, has recently gone missing. At the same time, outsiders continue to descend upon the area, and some of them have disappeared as well. The novel weaves supernatural horror together with the very real history of outsiders exploiting Indigenous land and communities.

This is definitely a slow burn, and I think readers who particularly enjoy folklore-driven horror will appreciate it more than I did. I liked the story and thought it was a solid debut, but it never quite grabbed me enough to move beyond a three-star read.

I also had mixed feelings about the audiobook performance. Zorga Qaunaq has a pleasant voice, but the narration felt somewhat restrained to me. I tend to prefer more vocal variation and differentiation in tone, especially in a story with this much atmosphere and tension. Because of that, I suspect I might have connected more strongly with this one in print.

Overall, It Looks Like You in the Dark is an interesting debut with a wonderfully unusual setting, a compelling use of Indigenous folklore, and a strong sense of atmosphere. I’ll be interested to see what Mathilda Zeller writes next.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for gifting me the advanced listening copy.