And Then There Was The One by Martha Waters

 

An enchanting mystery set in the Cotswolds, starring a wonderfully named character, Georgiana Radcliffe, of Radcliffe Hall, who solves murders, whether she should or not.  Her little idyllic village has become a site for Murder Tourism, and Georgie and her crew are intent on stopping the murder spree.  Romance, mystery and humor and good writing make this a good choice for fans of clever cozy mysteries.  And Then There was One was released October 14, 2025, by Atria Books. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

 

Death at the Door by Olivia Blacke

Death at the Door by Olivia Blacke

 

Ruby Young is new to Boston, running away from a bad relationship to make her way in the big city. She’s got unusual help in the form of the former occupant of her new, tiny apartment. Unusual, because she is a ghost. And she died in the apartment.

Ruby has overcome her squeamishness, and thinks of Cordelia, the ghost, as her only true friend in Boston. Cordelia is fond of naïve Ruby and wants to help her make her way. Only murder cases keep falling to them, and they keep figuring out the mysteries!

This is the second book in the Cordelia/Ruby series by this author. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the first one, but that didn’t make Death at the Door hard to follow. The characters are delightful, and the book has a touch of the dark underbelly of both the tech world and Boston. Great book for people who like to “play” with ghosts! Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s/Minotaur for the review copy. Death at the Door was released October 21, 2025.

The Christmas Ring by Karen Kingsbury

 

Vanessa Mayfield is a woman of faith, and her first thought when faced with a question is to pray on it. A devout southern mother and military widow, Vanessa sends her only child off to college and worries about what’s next. But she has a mission--to find the antique ring that has been handed down in her husband’s family for generations… the ring she lost.  Her plan is to find the ring and continue the legacy by giving it to her daughter.

Her quest takes her to Ben Miller’s Antique shop and destiny takes over. Ben has lost his wife as well, and he and Vanessa strike up conversation that turns to friendship, and then more. I understand that this book has been made into a movie that releases in theaters November sixth. Fans of Hallmark Christmas movies, spiritual romances and a love story that won’t embarrass you will enjoy getting to know Vanessa, Ben and the military families of Columbus, Georgia. The Christmas Ring will be available to purchase on October 21, 2025. Thanks to NetGalley, and the publisher, Thomas Nelson Fiction, for the advanced review copy.

Yours for the Season by Emily Stone

Melanie Stone returns with another wonderful holiday story centering around family and the conflicts faced by young people trying to follow dreams and fall in love.

Melanie and Finn meet in Edinburgh on New Years Eve. She’s a talented jewelry designer on the verge of a big break, and he’s a house flipper/carpenter. His family adores Melanie, and she them, but when Finn ends their relationship at his sister engagement party, Melanie is stunned and heartbroken.

 

Then Finn asks her to join his whole family the next Christmas, at a cozy home in Scotland, and pretend that they are still together.

As with all fake romances, someone finds out, but by the end of the book, the real question is just who is fooled!  Lovely writing and satisfying romance, with characters you will remember. Yours for the Season was released by Ballantine/Dell on October 7, 2025. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the delightful review copy.

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

 

Ian McEwen books have been my must reads for years, but I would never call them easy reads. What Can We Know juxtaposes the literary scholars of the future against intellectuals of our era who take themselves a bit too seriously. Add the fact that the world we know today has been mostly destroyed by nuclear explosions and the flooding of a warmed globe, and the scholars face even more complications to discern meaning from 21^st century poetry than we might today. 

As always, beautiful writing carries McEwan’s twisty story to a rewarding finish.  What We Can Know was released September 23, 2025. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Knopf, for the review copy.

My Favorite Holidate by Lauren Blakely

 

A fake romance between a billionaire owner of an NFL franchise and his merchandise designer heats up during the company’s annual Christmas celebration which coincides with the designer’s sister and the billionaire’s best friend’s wedding.  This is a fun and easy Holiday read, complete with lots of snow, hot chocolate and spice.  When I say spice, I mean lots of explicit sexcapades, so if that’s not your thing, you might want to pick another author.  This one turns on the heat! Published on October 7, 2025, so it is ready when you are to cozy up!  Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy.

Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman

 

Grace and Henry have each lost a beloved spouse and their families want them to move on. But they were happy in their lives, and to lose their partner is sad. So, Grace and Henry are sad. When Henry’s mother sends him to fix Grace’s Wi-Fi at the holidays, it is clear that they have been set up.  But because they share the terrible experience of losing their spouses, they agree to be friends, because it is always nice to have someone to talk to who knows what you know.

They begin a friendship of sharing the movies they have loved with their past spouses, and with the help of an adorable dog, two fascinating kids and even a bunch of mice, Harry and Grace explore and share their grief and what it will mean to move forward in life.  The wonderful characters and their journey make for a delightful read, and the messages distilled from the holiday movies they share make this a charming book. Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon was released on October 14, 2025. Thanks to the publisher Ballantine/Dell and NetGalley for the early release copy. 

Holiday Ever After by Hanna Grace

Clara Davenport is a savvy businesswoman, in line to increase her position at her family’s toy company. She’s in charge of their small business program, which creates partnerships with businesses in their line of work. Until she is reassigned to an emergency post as incentive to get her promotion.

While she is away, her program gets hijacked. What she sees as her baby, her competition in the company sees as a way to make fast money, cheap. When she discovers the marketing nightmare created by the social media of the small town whose favorite small business has been abused, she has to find a way to fix it, fast. Her promotion is on the line.

 

What she doesn’t plan on is falling in love at Christmastime with tiny Fraser Falls, or with the toy maker who has been maligned. Clara’s journey to win over the town, the man and get her promotion makes a fun holiday read, and ripe for a Hallmark movie!  Holiday Ever After will be released September 30, 2025, by Atria books. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy, which was a wonderful, warm escape for me!

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.