The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen

 

Every once in a while, we all need to read a fast-paced thriller, especially one as complex as Sarah Pekkanem’s The Locked Ward. The book opens with elegant, successful, heiress, Georgia escorted unceremoniously into the locked ward of the mental hospital, on suicide watch and accused of murdering her younger sister.  Then we meet scrappy bar owner, Amanda who is summoned by a lawyer to meet his client, Georgia. He informs Amanda that Georgia is, in fact, her twin sister.

The rest of the story is the unraveling of the alleged murder, as well as the relationship between the secret twins. It would give away the fast, exciting story for me to go on, but I’ll just recommend The Locked Ward to anyone in the mood for a mystery! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this review copy. The Locked Ward was published on August 5, 2025.

Fox Creek by M.E Torrey

 

Fox Creek is a southern plantation in northeast Louisiana, set in the mid 1800’s. It follows the story of Monette, a mulatto child whose white planter father adored and grants all the privileges of favorite child to. When he dies, the planter’s son sends Monette and other slaves from the plantation to the auction blocks of New Orleans, where she is bought by the owner of Fox Creek, as a playmate for his own daughter. She enjoys many of the Big House privileges she has become accustomed to, until the planter’s mother determines she’s become too “uppity.”

While the story is easy reading, it portrays the stereotypes and tropes the general public has come to assign to this period of American History. I found it to be dismissive of the diverse slave population, illustrating them all as unintelligent and fearful. It also portrayed women to be weak and not suited to “unladylike leanings” …anything other than motherhood. It felt like the kind of novels popular in the 1960’s where women and slaves were all portrayed as lustful animals. While the author is a good storyteller, I didn’t care for the story she told.

Fox Creek was published September 1, 2025, by Sly Fox Publishing, LLC. I appreciate the review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

Beautiful Nights by Nina George

Beautiful Nights is the story of Claire, a middle aged, (if we still think the mid-forties are middle aged,) esteemed professor of human behavior in Paris. From the outside, Claire has success, a happy marriage, a grown son and a good life. Internally though, she is trapped, by expectations, achievements, status and the very things that are supposed to make her happy. She is aware of her husband’s many affairs, and her answer is not to confront him, but to lose her inhibitions in one-night stands where she doesn’t even know the name of her partner.

Her grandmother, Jeanne, has left a large vacation home on the coast of Breton to Claire, and as they have every year of her marriage, the family travels there for the summer holidays. The only difference is that this year, Claire’s son brings along his 19-year-old girlfriend, Julie, who he wants to marry.

Julie is another very well-developed character, trapped in a world of working menial jobs to get by when what she really wants is to sing, which she never does in public. Clair and Julie’s relationship is strained at first, but after Claire teaches Julie to swim, they recognize kindred spirits in one another and pursue a relationship that gives each of them the courage to seek her true happiness.

 

The writing is gorgeous, and it made me wish I spoke French so I could read it in the original. The sentiments of femininity and the place of women in the world reminded me of   1899 novel by Kate Chopin, The Awakening, condemned at first for its depiction of female sexuality. Both heroines want more… fulfillment, expression of their own opinions and desires in a male dominated world, and acceptance of their sexuality. While Edna, in The Awakening, walks into the sea and never returns, Claire swims so far out she might be expected to be lost, but using her own strength, returns, to claim what she desires. While Edna pursues men, Claire’s object is Julie. The development of their passion, and the differences between them create a sensitive story of the choices, given time, space, and freedom, maturity lets Claire, and women for that matter, develop healthy and balanced lives.

I loved the writing, particularly the descriptions and, as a swimmer, the sea. I found the story to drag a bit though, with repetition and changing viewpoints that detracted from its strength. I’d recommend this book for mature readers who are not disturbed or embarrassed by same sex relationships, and who can appreciate the confused thoughts of a woman in this age.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for the review copy of Beautiful Nights. The book was published July 25, 2025.

Through an Open Window by Pamela Terry

Through An Open Window by Pamela Terry

I first encountered Pamela Terry when given the opportunity to read her first novel The Sweet Taste of Muscadines, (Random House/2021) fell in love with her characters, setting and beautiful prose, so I was excited to read this new novel, Through an Open Window. To say I was NOT disappointed would be an understatement!

 

This is at heart a family story, the primary story following the life of Margeret Eliot and her three children in small town Georgia. Margaret is recently widowed, and though content with her life in Wesleyan, where she has lived all her life, she wonders what is next for her. Enter her long dead Aunt Edith…her ghost that is, and Margeret begins a journey that expands her life in such ways that she questions her own sanity. She’s the most down-to-earth character I’ve read in a long time, and when her three children and their friends/spouses join the party, you will want the book to go on and on, because you like them all so much.

Anyone who enjoys low country fiction, will love Pamela Terry and especially Through and Open Window. The book was released today, August 19,2025. Thanks to Random House/Ballantine and NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this wonderful book.

The Seven Rings by Nora Roberts

Another exciting conclusion to a Nora Roberts trilogy. Nora is an author generally classified as either a romance writer or a mystery writer. To be sure, she is both, writing under her own name or her nom de plume, J. D. Robb. I can’t say I care how she’s classified; this author knows how to tell a great story. Weaving her plots with charming and interesting characters, both male and female, and sprinkling in more than a dose of magic, I always look forward to reading her books.

 

The Seven Rings is no exception. In this one, the protagonist, Sonya, and her sidekick Cleo, are determined to reclaim the Poole Mansion from the evil witch/ghost Dobbs, who haunts it and is responsible for the deaths of so many of Sonya’s ancestors, simultaneously saving all the people who have been haunted and persecuted by her. To do this, they must reclaim the seven rings that Dobbs has taken from her victims. Along the way, Sonya and Cleo must continue with their careers, learn to cook and maintain their new romantic relationships. It’s a satisfying and fun read. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy. The Seven Rings will be released November 18, 2025.

Full Bloom by Francesca Serritelli

 

This is a lovely novel by an author I’ll keep watching and reading. It is the story of 32-year-old Iris, whose long-time fiancé has suddenly decided their relationship isn’t enough. Iris, who’d been planning her life around Ben, is unmoored. She’s also discovered that she has low fertility and if she ever plans to have her own children, she will have to find the money for treatments.

At the same time, she’s overlooked yet again at work, where her boss is her mentor/father figure, but also a member of the patriarchy, and gives opportunities that should go to Alice to her friend Nate, because…he’s a family man.

Enter Madame Rapacine, a Frenchwoman trained and excellent as a Nose…the creator of exquisite perfumes, and a dear friend of Iris’s. As such, she creates a signature scent for Iris, to complement her unique chemistry.

Then…things begin to happen. I wasn’t as thrilled with the middle of the book when all Iris attributes all the good things happening in her life to the perfume, but it is fun. When reality barges in, Iris doesn’t know what to believe. That struggle was credible and authentic, and I forgave the “magical middle” because it is that good. Well written, well plotted and lots of fabulous characters. Full Bloom was published on August 5, 2025, by Random House/Ballantine. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy!

The Payback by Kahana Cauley

 

 

This is a delightful heist novel. Jada, a young black woman who has a dream of dressing the rich and famous, especially on movie sets, but like many young career women, is sabotaged by an actress who refuses to accept that she has no concept of her own size. As quickly as a seam can rip, Jada is blackballed in the film industry, a career she’s gone deeply in debt for so she can go to film school.

Jada bounces back and finds a job in retail, which she loves. She loves the mall. She loves the vibe at Phoenix, the upscale store she works at for a 20% commission. She can make her rent and chink away at her student loan payments, but a lapse of judgment and a history of lifting goods left behind leaves her unemployed and basically unemployable.

Enter the Debt Police, in their ugly turquoise uniforms and propensity to violently beat anyone behind on their student loans, especially black women. Inspired by the bruises and pain inflicted on her and her friends, Jada masterminds a plan.

You are going to have to read the book to get the scoop, but it’s a quick and entertaining book with a lot to say about culture, race, and the police state that we seem to be flirting with today. The satire drips with authenticity and humor.

The Payback was published on July 15, 2025, by Atria Books. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

 

Overdue by Stephanie Perkins

 

Ingrid is happily employed at the gorgeous library in Ridgetop, North Carolina. She’s also basically happy with her personal life, having lived with her one and only boyfriend, Cory, for eleven years. Then her younger sister announces her engagement, and Ingrid and Cory are stunned. Shouldn’t they be getting married before the younger siblings? But---they’ve neither one ever been with anyone else, and they are afraid they will regret it.

So, they agree to take a break of one month, where they are each free to sow their wild oats as it were, and then fully expect to reunite and get engaged.

The reader gets to follow Ingrid, who has only one person in mind she feels she’ll regret not …trying out. It is her close work friend, Macon, her best friend actually, and when she determines her feelings are not reciprocated, we get to cringe along with Ingrid as she explores the world of other men.

It’s a delightful, classic romance, written with enough old school yearning and new school sizzle to keep the pages flying. Overdue will be released October 7, 2025, by St. Martin’s Press. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

 

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

 

Every once in a while, it is great to have a real live romance novel, with complicated protagonists, love interests, and the hurdles they must cross to be together. Add in family rivalries, enormous wealth and just for fun, a gothic mansion on an island accessible only by boat or helicopter. Altogether, the formula for a great summer read.

The Storm family is American royalty. When the patriarch dies in a spectacular accident, the four children and widow gather on the island, they think to pay their respects, but actually, to fulfill the final requirements left by their father. If any of them fail, no one inherits.

To say that these people have issues is the ultimate understatement, but they are all entertaining and have redeeming qualities. Sarah MacLean knows her craft and These Summer Storms proves it. This book was released on July 8,2025 by Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine.  

Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein

 

Sometimes women’s fiction is all about relationships, and too often those are relationships with men. Spectacular Things gets it right…the relationships that matter in this lovely book are those between the women.

The Lowe women, Liz, the mother, Mia and Cricket, are soccer players. They love the sport and live for it. They have immense talent—size, speed, coordination and brains. They have what it takes to go all the way.

But life has other ideas. Liz’s dream is cut short when she becomes pregnant with Mia, but she never suffers over it. She knows that her daughter is more important than soccer, and she steps up, working multiple jobs to provide a safe and loving environment for her daughter, which included morning soccer workouts on the beach. Mia has what it takes to be a star.

But it isn’t until Cricket comes along that the super star is born. Liz and Mia are good, but Cricket is great. And when their mother can no longer keep up with the practices, travel, work and parenting, she asks Mia to step up. Mia is happy to help, and her focus shifts from soccer to academics, where she excels at the Ivy League level. She gets her chance when she is accepted to the college of her dreams.

And then tragedy strikes, and sacrifice is required again and again.

The characters in this book are wonderful, nearly too good to be true, but you won’t stop cheering for them. Their family rituals were delightful, and these women made me want to get in shape! A great summer read, with so much to share, both of the soccer world and the art of being family.

Spectacular Things was published July 1, 2025. Thanks to Random House Publishing Group/The Dial Press and NetGalley for the review copy.

Fulfillment by Lee Cole

 

Lee Cole has written a dynamic novel that perfectly portrays the complications of family, career and life in general in the flyover section of contemporary USA. On one side, Joel, the educated, successful brother who has moved to New York with his wife and cat, has written a well-recieved memoir of essays about his tragic upbringing in Kentucky, complete with poverty, alcohol and drug use. Emmett, the younger “unseen” brother, drifts from job to job, seemingly unconcerned about his “career” until both brothers arrive at the family home in Paducah, where expectations and the desire for fulfillment clash.

The best part of this novel is the characterizations. Joel is not very insightful, though he believes himself to be a great thinker. And Emmett is much more insightful and intelligent than the reader expects him to be. Between them, Alice, Joel’s wife, and Kathy, their mother serve as a brilliant contrast of the roles of women in down home society.

The descriptions of the countryside feel authentic, highlighting the “brushstrokes of irrelevance in the landscape itself, especially as contrasted to Manhattan, where despite the dream of living there, one still feels isolated, banished and yearning.

I had not read Cole before but look forward to reading more in the future. Fulfillment was released on July 17, 2025, by Knopf Pantheon Vintage, and Anchor Knopf. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.