Book Review: Magic Uncorked

📚 ARC Book Review: Magic Uncorked

Annabel Chase

🗓️ Publication Date: January 21, 2026

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

📚 My Review: I adored this! It felt like a little ray of sunshine with humor, heart, and just the right touch of magic. The pacing was great, the writing was easy and enjoyable, and I flew through it!

I don’t tend to read a lot of paranormal books, but this was the perfect balance — light, charming, and seamlessly woven into the story. The characters were fun and easy to root for, and the overall vibe was positive and uplifting, even as it explores midlife chaos, fresh starts, and unexpected second chances. A cozy, feel-good read with a magical twist!

Thank you to Storm Publishing via netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚Goodreads Synopsis: Witches are created, not born.

The only magic word Libbie Stark seems to know these days is ‘ibuprofen’ thanks to a headache-inducing job, two teenagers, one ex-husband, and a deadbeat boyfriend—until the death of a friend brings unexpected consequences. Libbie and the other members of her weekly cocktail club are shocked to discover that their eccentric friend was a witch and that they are the recipients of her magical assets.

Libbie would’ve preferred to inherit an island beach house, especially when her life starts to unravel. With the help of the other Dread Pirate Witches and a handsome lawyer with a head of hair that Fabio would envy, Libbie strives to understand her gift and dig herself out of the hole she’s created, one cocktail at a time. The more her life changes, however, the more Libbie realizes that maybe the end of midlife as she knows it is exactly what she needs.

Book Review: The Good Mothers

📚 Book Review: The Good Mothers

Caitlin Weaver

🗓️ Publication Date: January 15, 2026

➡️ For Goodreads Synopsis 

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 My Review: A page turner that kept me invested from start to finish! I really love the author’s writing style. It's engaging, a little edgy, and the twists weave in without feeling over the top. I’ll admit that I struggled a bit with how easily Lacey trusted Regina (especially with a child to look out for), but maybe that’s the point: that desperation can blur lines you never thought you’d cross.

The found-family dynamic pulled me in and the morally gray areas made everything so much messier! This was a thought-provoking, tense, and ultimately very human read that fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy!

Thank you to Storm Publishing & Netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚Goodreads Synopsis: With an eight-year-old son struggling with ADHD and nowhere else to turn, soon-to-be-divorced mom Lacey answers a life-saving “Seeking responsible single mom to join our household. Motherhood can be lonely and we support each other!”

When she arrives at Wildwood Lane she finds a ramshackle house with a welcoming bright yellow door and a wraparound porch with its cozy couch and scattered toys. And inside, three mothers who have forged their own rules for survival.

As Lacey battles her conspiracy-theorist ex-husband for custody while juggling a new, make-or-break job, she discovers these women offer more than shared childcare, communal dinners and late nights bonding over wine after the kids’ bedtime. They're building something a chosen family where women don’t just survive—they thrive.

But when her enigmatic housemate comes up with a risky plan which could secure her financially and protect her son’s future, she faces an impossible choice: How far will she go to protect the family she’s found?

Book Review: The Storm

📚 Book Review: The Storm

Rachel Hawkins

🗓️ Publication Date: January 6, 2025

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

📚 My Review: This was my first read from this author and it definitely won’t be my last. I loved the writing style and how the story was told through multiple POVs and timelines. Lo, Geneva, Edie and August were such compelling characters with perspectives that kept me questioning everyone’s motives. The tension between past and present was so well done, and the final 10% became unputdownable! So many secrets and so many motives, this was a slow-burn build with a payoff that absolutely delivered!

Thank you to St. Martins Press via Netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚Goodreads Synopsis: St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.

As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive—and as deadly—as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…

Book Review: The Last Witness

📚 ⭐ ARC Book Review: The Last Witness

Natasha Boydell

🗓️ Publication Date: January 6, 2026

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 My Review: I really enjoyed this one! Ellie felt very relatable. She was anxious, second-guessing herself, trying to keep it together while everything felt just a little off. If you’ve ever replayed a moment in your head wondering if you remembered it right, her fear will hit close to home. I loved the emotional depth, with the complicated friendships between Ellie, Samantha and Amelia adding an extra layer of tension to the story.

The writing relied more on quiet, unsettling moments than constant twists, and it worked! There was a small dip for me in the middle, but the moody atmosphere and creeping unease kept pulling me back in. A solid, engaging thriller that will definitely leave you unsettled.

Thank you to Boldwood Books via netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚Goodreads Synopsis: Ellie can’t stop having nightmares. It’s been the same ever since she saw the car accident, where a man lost his life.

Awaiting the trial of the dangerous driver, where she’s the primary witness, she finds herself befriending Samantha, the widow of the man who died. And – as their children also become friends – their lives become intrinsically entangled.

But then Ellie starts thinking she’s being followed. She wants to believe it’s paranoia. But then she receives a note – written in red ink, like blood – it says just one word ‘LIAR’…

Book Review: The Forget-Me-Not Library

📚 Book Review: The Forget-Me-Not Library

Heather Webber

🗓️ Publication Date: November 4, 2025 - Out Now!

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 My Review: This book felt like a little burst of hope. Juliet and Tallulah meet at exactly the right time, and I loved how their unexpected connection helped each of them find what they’d been missing. The Forget-Me-Not Library is cozy and charming, and the small-town vibe made the whole story feel extra comforting. 

If you enjoy stories about second chances, new beginnings, and fate stepping in at just the right time, this one will leave you smiling!

Thank you to St. Martins Press via Netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚Goodreads Synopsis: A detour. A chance encounter. Two women who alter the pages of each other’s story.

Juliet Nightingale is lucky to be alive. Months after a freak accident involving lightning, she’s fully recovered but is left feeling that something is missing from her life. Something big. Impulsively, she decides to take a solo summer road trip, hoping that the journey will lead her down a path that will help her discover exactly what it is that she’s searching for.

Newly single mom Tallulah Byrd Mayfield is hanging by a thread after her neat, tidy world was completely undone when her husband decided that their marriage was over. In the aftermath of the breakup, she and her two daughters move in with her eighty-year-old grandfather. Tallulah starts a new job at the Forget-Me-Not Library, where old, treasured memories can be found within the books—and where Lu must learn to adapt to the many changes thrown her way.

When a road detour leads Juliet to Forget-Me-Not, Alabama, and straight into Tallulah’s life, the two women soon discover there’s magic in between the pages of where you’ve been and where you still need to go. And that happiness, even when lost, can always be found again.

Book Review: The Wasp Trap

📚 Book Review: The Wasp Trap

Mark Edwards

🗓️ Publication Date: September 16, 2025 - Out Now!

📚My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 My Review: Wow! This book hooked me right from the start! The mix of past-and-present chapters kept me curious about how all their shared history tied into the craziness that was unfolding. I enjoyed the dynamics between the friends, especially how every secret added another layer to the bigger mystery. A couple of the reveals landed better than others, but the overall ride was fun, twisty, and fast-paced.

If you enjoy locked-room vibes, messy friendships, and a plot that goes a little wild.. Add this one to your list!!

Thank you to Atria via netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚Goodreads Synopsis: Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.

But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game when the old friends find themselves held at gunpoint. They are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.

It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out The Wasp Trap. This and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.

Book Review: The Opportunist

📚⭐ ARC Book Review: The Opportunist

Tarryn Fisher

🗓️ Publication Date (re-release): December 16, 2025

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

📚 My Review: This book pulled me in from the very first page. Olivia’s messy, complicated choices kept me turning pages just to see how far she’d go. She’s a perfectly flawed main character... frustrating, fascinating, and impossible to ignore. The way everything unraveled at the end was intense, but in the best way!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA via netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚Goodreads Synopsis: Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Caleb Drake, has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back. Wrestling to keep her true identity and their sordid past under wraps, Olivia’s greatest obstacle is Caleb’s wicked, new girlfriend; Leah Smith. It is a race to the finish as these two vipers engage in a vicious tug of war to possess a man who no longer remembers them. But, soon enough Olivia must face the consequences of her lies, and in the process discover that sometimes love falls short of redemption.