About Our Deal by Stacey Lynn HafnerThe Abbotts Series#1

 

Title: About Our Deal 

Series: The Abbotts Series#1

Author: Stacey Lynn Hafner

Publisher: Rainmaker Publishing

Release Date: August 27, 2024

Welcome to the world of the Abbotts—where love is unexpected, family is everything, and sparks fly in the most deliciously complicated ways. 💖

Teagan Abbott may be the youngest in her powerful, wildly successful family, but she’s no one’s baby sister. She’s been prepping to take over the family empire her entire life, and she refuses to let anyone—or her reputation as the fun-loving Abbott—stand in her way. When whispers about her party-girl image start threatening her career, Teagan does what any savvy businesswoman would do—she strategizes a solution.

Enter Lincoln Thomas.

Linc finally has everything he’s ever wanted—his own restaurant, a solid reputation, and the promise of a thriving future. If only his personal life looked as good as his business. He’s tired of the pitying glances, the unsolicited dating advice, and the constant reminders that his ex-fiancée has moved on. He’s over her. Really.

When Teagan decides the two of them may be able to help each other out, will ‘Linc’ be able to resist her unique charms?

Their chemistry is off-the-charts, their fake relationship is feeling a little too real, and the meddling of their friends and family is only making things more complicated. When emotions get involved, will their “perfect arrangement” give them what they need? Or will they both end up getting burned?

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I started reading this book on the plane back home after listening to an excerpt by one of the narrators at Book Lover Con. He did a fantastic job, and the interaction between the two main characters piqued my interest.

Teagan comes from money and power. Her father is a U.S. senator, and Teagan is resilient, strong, and determined to prove to the board members that she can take over the company one day. However, some of them still think she is too immature because she doesn’t have a stable relationship.

Lincoln Thomas is determined to make his restaurant, Cielo, a success. He works long hours and has no time for dating, especially after his ex-girlfriend hooked up with his best friend. To make matters worse, his mother has asked him to cater their wedding after they lost their original caterer. Linc doesn’t want to do it, but he can’t say no to his mother. If only he had someone in his life who could help him get through it.

About Our Deal was engaging and entertaining. Fake dating at its best!

I liked both characters and how relatable they were. Even though they came from completely different worlds, they made sense together despite being so different.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

This Book Made Me Think of Youby Libby Page

 

Title: This Book Made Me Think of You

Author: Libby Page

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: February 3, 2026

Twelve stories. Twelve months. Once chance to heal her heart...

When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her husband waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock. Partly because she can’t remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. Mainly because Joe died five months ago…

The gift is simple – twelve carefully-chosen books from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him.

Tilly sets out on a series of reading-inspired adventures that take her around the world. But as she begins to vlog her journey, her story becomes more than her own. With help from Alfie, the bookshop owner, her budding new following and her friends and family, can Tilly’s year of books show her how to love again?

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A year of books!

Tilly Nightingale is called by the owner of a local bookstore six months after her husband, Joe, died. Joe had arranged for her to receive a year of books. She will get a new book each month, specifically selected for her.

Alfie is the bookstore owner. He inherited the shop after his father passed away. Alfie feels he must keep the bookstore going—he can’t lose his father’s legacy.

Tilly and Alfie have both experienced loss, and when she comes in, Alfie wants to help her. At first, she is angry, but by the time February arrives, she is eagerly waiting for her next book.

Each book takes her to a new place or introduces her to something new to do or try. Joe has provided her with so many new experiences, including a visit to her in-laws in Connecticut.

As the weeks and then months progress, she and Alfie become close, but neither will admit their feelings. She tries to ignore them because she is still grieving Joe, and Alfie tries to ignore them because he knows she is grieving and probably doesn’t feel the same way about him.

A hopeful story with some very sad moments. Grief is different for everyone, and it can take a long time to heal. I thought Libby Page made a true and caring portrayal of grief.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Crown of War and Shadow by J.R. WardKingdoms of the Compass #1

 

Title: Crown of War and Shadow

Series: Kingdoms of the Compass #1

Author: J.R. Ward

Publisher: Tor Publishing Group|Bramble

Release Date: February 17, 2026

An outcast burdened with a curse and a mercenary who's out for himself collide in this star-crossed, slow-burn, high-stakes romantic fantasy

In the dead of night, passions rise and empires fall.

Welcome to Kingdoms of the Compass.

The Fulcrum is failing, and demons are slipping into the mortal world, stalking the night.

No one is safe.

Especially not Sorrel. An orphan and an outcast, she’s spent her whole life within the walls of her small village, ostracized for her mystical abilities. She wants to survive…and maybe find somewhere she can call her true home. But Fate has other plans.

Sorrel has been chosen. Cursed.

She must cross the Badlands to return the Queen's crown and convince the fearsome female to save their world from destruction.

Well aware she’s no brave hero, Sorrel makes a dangerous deal with Merc, a brooding, commanding mercenary known only by his unscrupulous profession.

The deal? A night in his bed that she will never forget, in exchange for her safe passage.

But Merc has secrets of his own, and even though passion runs hot between them, enemies are around every corner, and danger and betrayal threaten at every turn.

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A fantasy novel by J.R. Ward

Sorrell is an orphan who is gifted with herbs and helps deliver babies with her abilities. The town knows what she does, but no one acknowledges it in the daylight. She has only one friend, whose health is declining. For the most part, she is an outcast who works at the local pub.

There are whispers that the Fulcrum is failing and demons are slipping into the mortal world, stalking the night and killing unsuspecting humans. If the Fulcrum fails completely, the demons will win.

Sorrell is told that she is the future. In order to preserve the Fulcrum, she must travel to the Badlands to ask for the Queen’s help. She is given a crown to take on her journey. However, Sorrell can’t do it alone. Bad things are waiting for her on the way to the Queen’s land. She enlists the help of a mercenary named Merc, who mistakes her for a prostitute and offers to help her in exchange for sleeping with him. Can she reach the Queen in time, and can she give her body to him? I guess you’ll have to read it to find out.

I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward, and I wanted to read The Crown of War and Shadow to immerse myself in a new world created by her. Sorrell is a determined young woman, and her character growth was well done. Merc came out of nowhere but was willing to help and protect her. The world-building was extensive and will help set up the next book in the series.

As a whole, I enjoyed this novel, but not as much as the BDB books.

Cliffhanger: Yes

3.5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Tor Publishing Group|Bramble via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Murder at 30,000 Feet by Susan Walter

 

Title: Murder at 30,000 Feet

Author: Susan Walter

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Release Date: February 17, 2026

Under the cover of turbulence, a killer strikes. With nowhere to land and nowhere to hide, who will save the passengers from this nightmare at 30,000 feet?

It’s a ticket to paradise. Flight 868 has nonstop service to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Over a dozen tipsy passengers are off to a destination wedding. A team of high school baseball players is headed to a tournament. The plane is packed with people eager to escape their lives, and others who can’t wait to return to their beloved home.

But sweet anticipation turns to terror when a lightning strike short-circuits the avionics and plunges the plane into darkness. When the lights come back on, a passenger is found brutally murdered, with only a bewildered air marshal to solve the crime. He soon realizes that several passengers are harboring dark secrets, but the identity of the murderer eludes him. There’s only one The killer is on the plane.

Thousands of feet above the earth with thunderstorms closing in, the danger outside is as grave as the mounting threat within. Can the captain outrun the storm? Or will the murderer among them bring the plane down first?

Passion, betrayal, and murder collide in this high-stakes, locked-room mystery. A must-read for fans of T. J. Newman and Jeneva Rose.

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A trifecta with a side of murder!

Flight 868, nonstop service to San Juan, Puerto Rico, is about to be in trouble.

Among the passengers are a group of high school baseball players heading to a tournament, a wedding party traveling to a destination wedding, and a grieving mother searching for answers about what happened to her son. Who ran him over and left him to die on the road? Then, the plane is struck by lightning, short-circuiting the avionics and plunging the cabin into darkness. When the lights come back on, a man has been murdered in the bathroom.

Flight 868 also has an air marshal who is dealing with a very recent breakup with a flight attendant who was supposed to be part of the crew. At the last minute, the crew was pulled due to required rest. His head was not in the game, and now someone has been murdered on his watch. He has no clue who did it. He might lose his job, but he has to figure it out before the flight ends.

Murder at 30,000 Feet is full of suspense. There are so many suspects, and at first, we aren’t given the victim's identity, but it soon becomes clear who was murdered and why. Many secrets will be revealed with a very satisfying ending.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Blackstone Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ours Is a Tale of Murder by Nora Murphy

Title: Ours Is a Tale of Murder

Author: Nora Murphy

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Release Date: February 10, 2026

One quiet neighborhood

Three different families

Bound by murder

Klara never wanted the house with the white picket fence. Troy never wanted anything else.

Nothing is quite right with this happy couple, but they fit right in. The mother in the blue house, Mary, is cleaning out her son's old room before she sells, haunted by the mistakes of her past and afraid of what her home has become. Next door, Henry, freshly laid off and back living with his parents, has plenty of time to watch everyone – especially wives. He knows something is wrong. But then nothing is quite as it seems, and sometimes you miss what is right in front of you.

Murder will soon thread its way through this world in ways no one will see coming ---unless you've been plotting all along.

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Three storylines that seem unlikely to cross paths—until they do.

Klara is a wife trapped in an abusive relationship. She meets Troy, a man who, little by little, isolates her from the world. She is a personal injury lawyer in her thirties, working toward a promotion when she meets him. Troy seems to be there for her on her bad days. He appears likable and understanding at first, but he gradually isolates her and makes her completely dependent on him.

Mary, a woman in her sixties, reminisces about the time when her only son, Owen, was just a kid and her husband was abusive toward her. In the present, she is cleaning the house she has lived in for years because she is ready to sell it.

Then there is Henry, a young man who was recently laid off and spends his time watching his neighbors—specifically the women.

Ours Is a Tale of Murder was dark and suspenseful. I was desperate to know how the storylines would connect, and when they finally did, it all made perfect sense. What a twist!

The last paragraph of the epilogue got me.

As a whole, it was a deeply satisfying read.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Sourcebooks Landmark via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. JamesFell, New York

Title: A Box Full of Darkness

Series: Fell, New York

Author: Simone St. James 

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: January 20, 2026

Siblings return to the house they fled eighteen years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request to come home.

Strange things happen in Fell, New York: A mysterious drowning at the town’s roadside motel. The unexplained death of a young girl whose body is left by the railroad tracks. For Violet, Vail, and Dodie Esmie the final straw was their little brother's shocking disappearance, which started as a normal game of hide-and-seek.

As their parents grew increasingly distant, the sisters were each haunted by visions and frightening events, leading them to leave town and never look back. Violet still sees dead people—spirits who remind her of Sister, the menacing presence that terrorized her for years. Now after nearly two decades it’s time for a homecoming—because Ben is back, and he’s ready to lead them to the answers they’ve longed for and long feared.

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A ghost story.

It's the 1980s, and the ghost of their brother, Ben, is calling the Esmie siblings—Violet, Vail, and Doddie—back to their childhood home in the town of Fell, New York.

Ben was six when he disappeared during a game of hide-and-seek. He was never found by the police, and each of the siblings blames themselves for his disappearance. In almost two decades, none of them has set foot in the house. They all ran away as soon as they could from a place that reminded them of their pain and the terrifying moments they survived as children.

As adults, they return together to finally uncover what truly happened to Ben.

A Box Full of Darkness is a gothic novel by Simone St. James, set in the same world as The Sun Down Motel. Between the suspense, the atmospheric setting, and the spooky factor, I had to listen to it during the day.

The novel was entertaining, but I didn’t love it as much as I loved The Sun Down Motel. Will I read the next book set in Fell? Yep, I would.

Kudos to narrators Saskia Maarveled, Ari Fliakos, and Anna Caputo for scaring me!

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Berkley via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

Title: Mad Mabel

Author: Sally Hepworth

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: April 21, 2026

From Sally Hepworth, the New York Times bestselling author of The Soulmate and The Good Sister, comes a twist-filled, darkly funny mystery about the two kinds of people no one ever expects to be murderers: little girls and old ladies.

Meet Mad Mabel.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old. She's lived on her idyllic street, Kenny Lane, for sixty years--longer than anyone else. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else's business, few would suspect that Elsie has a past that she has worked exceedingly hard at concealing. Because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, once a little girl and now an old lady, has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end.

When a new little girl (talkative, curious, nosy) moves into the neighborhood and stops at nothing to befriend Elsie, her carefully-constructed life threatens to come crashing down as the secrets in Elsie's past start coming to light. Who was "Mad Mabel" fifty years ago? Who is Elsie Fitzpatrick today? And if the past has a habit of repeating itself, who has the most to lose?

Told with Sally Hepworth's twists, humor, charm, and heart, MAD MABEL is novel that weaves past and present together--through the power of justice and redemption, and all the way to its stunning conclusion.

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Another success in my book!

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old when her past comes back to haunt her.

Elsie was minding her own business when the girl next door tried to strike up a conversation with her. The young girl, Persephone, needs to complete a homework assignment that involves talking to an older person, and Elsie fits the bill. At the same time, it turns out that Elsie’s neighbor hasn’t been seen for a while, and packages are piling up at his front door. Elsie decides to investigate and finds his dead body. Soon, the cops are swarming the scene.

Was it foul play? Was he murdered? And who is Mad Mabel?

We learn from Elsie that, as a child, her mother owned a large property that her father fell in love with. They got married and had Mabel. But Mabel’s life was never easy. Her parents lacked warmth toward her, and her life only became more difficult from there.

Quite an interesting novel with a memorable main character. It’s painful at times, and I won’t lie—some tears might have come out at the end.

I’m a fan of Sally Hepworth. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.