Once in a Blue Moon by Kristan HigginsThe Wellfleet Series

 

Title: Once in a Blue Moon

Series: The Wellfleet Series

Author: Kristan Higgins

Release Date: April 6, 2026

From the international bestselling author of PACK UP THE MOON and OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY…

Winnie Smith was never supposed to be that woman. She’s the responsible sister, the behind-the-scenes event planner, the one who avoids drama at all costs. So how did she end up publicly branded as the other woman—and promptly canceled by the Mommy Mafia of Cape Cod? One disastrous relationship, a missing background detail, and suddenly Winnie’s quiet life is in shambles.

Enter Lorenzo Santini, the world-renowned surgeon, feared and revered by colleagues, with zero patience for incompetence and life’s ordinary tasks. Known to hospital staff as Dr. Satan, Lorenzo needs a personal assistant—and Winnie needs a fresh start. It’s strictly business…until it isn’t.

As Winnie manages Lorenzo’s demanding schedule and carefully guarded life, she discovers there’s more beneath his intimidating exterior than arrogance and ambition. And Lorenzo begins to see that Winnie is anything but invisible.

Once in a blue moon, two people who seem to have nothing in common could turn out to be perfect for each other after all.

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A slow burn romance!

Winnie Smith is one of the Smith siblings, usually the quiet, responsible one. She works as an event planner until, at a child's birthday party she has organized, the boy's mother announces to everyone that Winnie is sleeping with her husband. Of course, Winnie didn't know he was married. He had given her a fake name. Soon her phone stops ringing, no one wants to hire her, and she becomes a pariah in her small town.

Then Winnie finds a new job as personal assistant to Dr. Lorenzo Santini, whom readers met in an earlier Kristan Higgins novel. Lorenzo is a brilliant surgeon who expects perfection from everyone around him. At work, he's known as arrogant and insufferable but also extremely smart and competent, and most people call him Dr. Satan. He also knows he needs help managing his life, so when his sister-in-law Lark, who is Winnie's sister, suggests Winnie, he gives her the job.

Winnie does a wonderful job organizing Lorenzo's life, and they soon discover they enjoy each other's company quite a lot. But can it work long term?

Kristan Higgins is one of my favorite romance authors, and I'll buy anything she writes. I enjoyed Once in a Blue Moon, though not as much as some of her other books. I just wish there had been a few more chapters or an epilogue.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin HilderbrandSommer in Nantucket

Title: The Five-Star Weekend

Series: Sommer in Nantucket

Author: Elin Hilderbrand

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Release Date: June 13, 2023

After tragedy strikes, Hollis Shaw gathers four friends from different stages in her life to spend an unforgettable weekend on Nantucket.

Hollis Shaw’s life seems picture-perfect. She’s the creator of the popular food blog Hungry with Hollis and is married to Matthew, a dreamy heart surgeon. But after she and Matthew get into a heated argument one snowy morning, he leaves for the airport and is killed in a car accident. The cracks in Hollis’s perfect life—her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline—grow deeper.

So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket. But the weekend doesn’t turn out to be a joyful Hallmark movie.

The husband of Hollis’s childhood friend Tatum arranges for Hollis’s first love, Jack Finigan, to spend time with them, stirring up old feelings. Meanwhile, Tatum is forced to play nice with abrasive and elitist Dru-Ann, Hollis’s best friend from UNC Chapel Hill. Dru-Ann’s career as a prominent Chicago sports agent is on the line after her comments about a client’s mental health issues are misconstrued online. Brooke, Hollis’s friend from their thirties, has just discovered that her husband is having an inappropriate relationship with a woman at work. Again! And then there’s Gigi, a stranger to everyone (including Hollis) who reached out to Hollis through her blog. Gigi embodies an unusual grace and, as it hap- pens, has many secrets.

The Five-Star Weekend is a surprising and captivating story about friendship, love, and self-discovery set on Nantucket. It will be a weekend like no other.

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A summer read!

I had to read The Five-Star Weekend because I was ready to watch the TV series, and since the book is usually better, I jumped in.

Hollis Shaw has become quite successful after launching a food blog called Hungry with Hollis. The success has made her husband, Matthew, and her daughter, Caroline, not so happy. Her husband is a heart surgeon, and one day in December they have a fight before he has to fly for a meeting. Later on, she receives the news that he has been killed in a car accident. Hollis is devastated.

Fast-forward seven months, and Hollis comes across an article about a Five-Star Weekend. A woman asked four friends to take a trip with her. Hollis, who is still grieving, decides that this is what can help her. She decides to bring friends from each phase of her life, and at the last moment, she adds a friend named Gigi, whom she met through her blog. She also asks Caroline to come back to Nantucket and film the experience.

Of course, nothing goes as planned, and secrets will come out during their stay.

The Five-Star Weekend was an easy and fast-paced read. Hollis was likable, and I felt sad for what she was going through, including the distance her daughter was keeping from her.

This novel was enjoyable but not my favorite by this author.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs

Keep Them Close by David Ellis

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Title: Keep Them Close

Author: David Ellis

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Release Date: June 30, 2026

From the bestselling author of Look Closer comes a new domestic thriller about betrayal and murder inside one twisted family

Siblings Allison and Luke have been through a lot together. They’ve always stood by each other. They’d do anything for each other.

When Allison’s husband, Finley, is murdered, the investigation threatens to expose the siblings’ darkest secrets. An illicit affair. A decades-old accident. A stunning deception. How do these events explain Finley’s death? How far will Allison and Luke go to keep their secrets buried? And can the siblings even trust one another anymore?

As the investigation winds tighter and past and present collide, the most shocking betrayal might lie a little too close to home…

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A sibling bond is about to be tested...

Siblings Allison and Luke have always had each other’s back. They have secrets, and they want to keep it that way.

The book begins with Allison Brice following her husband and discovering he is cheating with another woman. Allison used to be a prosecutor but is now a successful criminal defense attorney.

Luke is also successful as a college baseball coach. The kids love him, and he is good at what he does.

Weeks later, after learning about Finley’s indiscretions, Allison and Finley have separated. Then Finley is murdered, and the police are all over the case. Allison becomes the main suspect—but did she do it?

This is a twisty thriller with so many great characters. Allison and Luke were both likable. They had many flaws, but I was still rooting for them.

Despite enjoying Keep Them Close, Look Closer is still my favorite book by this author.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by G.P. Putnam's Sons via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Shippers by Katherine Center

 

Title: The Shippers

Author: Katherine Center

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: May 19, 2026

She wants him to help her woo someone else.Genius. Foolproof. Can't go wrong.

After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. Armed with pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly divorced wedding guest). Determined to woo him for closure, she ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, as her wingman. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but showed up anyway. Cooper: who moved to London without a word four years ago. Cooper: who broke her heart.

Shipboard antics abound in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, as JoJo and Cooper team up, fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, get jealous, answer long-held questions, and finally, at last, discover truths about each other that will change everything.

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A summer rom-com!

Jojo Burton is a runaway bride. When the story begins, Jojo is about to marry her long-standing boyfriend. But before she walks down the aisle, her best friend, Cooper Watts, shows up from England and helps her realize this isn’t what she wants.

Six weeks later, she is on a cruise where her sister, Ashley, is getting married. Jojo dated Ashley’s fiancé years ago—long before he and Ashley got together—and he still seems to hold a grudge against her.

Jojo believes that in order to break the curse she feels she has about intimacy and finally be lucky in love, she must kiss her first kiss again. Finn Turner grew up in the same neighborhood and was Jojo’s first kiss. Luckily for her, he is now divorced and has RSVP’d yes to the wedding.

Katherine Center has written some of my favorite rom-coms. Her novels usually make me laugh and cry. The Shippers was cute, but I can’t say I loved it. It had great characters that made me want to learn more about them—like Jojo’s parents and Ashley. However, some of the characters were unlikable. I really disliked Ashley’s fiancé. Holding a grudge against Jojo for so many years just wasn’t right. If I were Ashley, I wouldn’t marry him.

My favorite character, hands down, was Cooper. He was supportive, patient, and sweet toward Jojo—always there for her. Jojo, on the other hand, was very immature for her age. She created most of her own problems, and many of her decisions were quite questionable.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs

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

The Night We Met by Abby JimenezSay You'll Remember Me #2

 

Title: The Night We Met

Series: Say You'll Remember Me #2

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: March 24, 2026

A beautiful, compelling novel that revels in laughter, friendship, and the messy choices life can throw our way.

In everyone’s life, there’s a split-second decision that can change everything...

For Larissa, it came when choosing which guy to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she’d met the perfect man. She and Chris are great together, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread (pumpernickel for the win!). For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy.

But Chris isn't the one who drove Larissa home all those months ago—Chris is her boyfriend's best friend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else. And he’s just not that guy.

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How did I miss this release this year? No clue

Larissa works as a waitress. She also takes on smaller jobs just to pay off the debts her father incurred using her name. She is living with her mother, who never seems to pick the right guys.

Chris is a pharmacist dealing with the loss of his mother.

These two meet after a concert with friends. Larissa needs a ride home and has to choose between Mike and Chris. She decides to go with Mike, who is Chris’s best friend.

Two months after Mike and Larissa start dating, Mike calls Chris to bail him out. He had promised to take Larissa and his mother to the hospital for Larissa’s mother’s hand surgery, but Mike was too tired and hungover to do it. Chris gets dressed on his day off and takes them instead.

After Mike helps her get her broken car out of the shop, they make their relationship official. Unbeknownst to Larissa, Chris was the one who forced Mike to help with the bill.

Chris and Larissa form a friendship that deepens over time. They also bond after finding a dog they name Wooferine—a Yorkie with a hunting streak. Larissa helps potty-train him and walks him while Chris is at work.

This is probably one of the best ways a love triangle has been done. Mike wasn’t a bad person; he just needed to realize he needed help. Chris was enabling Mike most of the time. Chris reminded me of Cyrano de Bergerac with everything he was doing in the background. He was making Larissa’s life better without her knowing it was him helping her, and all those lovely things he did for her made Larissa fall for Mike, believing it was him doing them.

The narrators, Terea Palmes and Zachary Webber, performed this audiobook perfectly.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

 

Title: Dolly All the Time

Author: Annabel Monaghan

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Release Date: May 26, 2026

If they start by pretending, can they end with something real?

Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.

So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high-society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself—can she really start now?

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Fake Dating as it's best!

Dolly Brick and her son, Gus, are moving back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her father and her brother, Christopher.

Dolly is a hard worker. She is a kindergarten teacher, an Uber driver, and a call-center representative for a company in Boston. She loves small-town life and knows Gus has been having trouble with friends at school, so she hopes he can make new ones here.

Dolly became an adult at twelve when her mother left the family. Her mother had been in an accident that injured Christopher, and she couldn’t deal with it, so she walked out. Dolly stepped up and took on all the responsibilities. The same thing happened when she got pregnant, and the father wanted nothing to do with being a parent—she became a single mom and handled it on her own.

Her life changes when she helps Stewart Whitfield, the town’s rich golden boy, change a tire. He recently went through a very public breakup after his fiancée was caught cheating with a baseball player. Stewart is trying to become the CEO of the family company and needs to improve his image. He proposes a fake-dating arrangement to help with that. In exchange, Dolly asks him to replace the roof on her father’s house.

Of course, the more time they spend together, the more they realize they enjoy each other’s company—and maybe there’s something real worth pursuing.

I love reading Annabel Monaghan’s books. They’re all great, and Dolly All the Time is no different. I fell in love with Dolly and Gus—they’re wonderful characters. Stewart was nice enough, but he could have been better when Dolly needed him to be there for her.

I listened to the audiobook because Julia Whelan is the narrator, and she is amazing.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by G.P. Putnam's Sons via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Other by Annie NeugebauerThe Outsiders Sequence #2

 

Title: The Other 

Series: The Outsiders Sequence #2

Author: Annie Neugebauer

Publisher: Shortwave Publishing

Release Date: June 9, 2026

A couple on an outdoor retreat meet their doppelgangers on a hiking trail and are soon tested on how well they truly know each other.

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After reading the first novella, The Extra, I couldn't wait to read The Other.

Set in the same world as its predecessor, The Other follows Elisa and Logan, a couple hiking in an attempt to reconnect before their marriage completely falls apart. They have been together for many years but have not yet had children, and that might be the thing that finally breaks them.

Elisa and Logan are ready to set up camp when they come across another couple at the site—Bryce and Allison—who look eerily similar to them. They are bewildered by the resemblance, but in the end, they decide to stay the night.

The next morning, chaos ensues.

I’m loving this series, and what a great, truly unexpected finale!

I will be setting aside any other book when the next book in this series comes out.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

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