The Storm - Rachel Hawkins

 

 

"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…"

What Worked for Me:

I loved the dual timeline and how it was used to fill the reader in on details so we could better understand the gravity of the situation and what happened back then. I also found the story in both timelines to be equally interesting so I didn't mind when we moved between the past and present. 

The setting was impeccable and used to the full advantage of the plot. I loved the drama of the impending storm along with the history of the town and how many storms it had survived in the past.  There was an appropriate reverence for the power of the weather that really came through.  Despite reading this in January in Pennsylvania, I could really feel the sticky heat and humidity coming off the pages. 

Despite my feelings below in regards to the stakes of the book, I did feel like the reveals were really well done and intriguing.  There were a few reveals that got an audible gasp out of me when I read them, which doesn't often happen. 

What Didn't Work For Me:

I didn't quite get enough 'so what' for my liking.  I wanted there to be more at stake for our characters or for the town.  As it stands now, it felt more like small town gossip that didn't have any real impact.  I think if there was some sort of bigger threat looming - maybe the case being reopened, maybe a big anniversary coming up, maybe the people who live there protesting and could become violent. I think the True Crime aspect was really under-utilized and could have been an easy way to get some extra weight and depth to the story. 

 Because of the lack of stakes, it almost didn't feel like a mystery book at all - like the characters weren't actively trying to solve the mystery of what happened all those years ago.  It felt more like I was along for the ride and the book was more just showing me scenes from these character's lives rather than me watching the characters trying to work toward a goal.  I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened in the past but it would have been nice to have some characters along for the ride with me on that journey. 

Overall, I enjoyed this read - I wish there were more obvious stakes and drama but I loved the dual timeline, setting, and reveals. 

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.  Publication date was January 6, 2026.  

Romance Wrap-Up December 2025

 He Sees You When You're Sleeping - Alta Hensley

I'm pretty sure anyone remotely looking for holiday romances this year has seen a video/TikTok/Reel/etc about this book.  I love me a good unhinged romance every now and again and this read did not disappoint in that area.  We get sort of thrown into the plot without much backstory about our two characters and why the MMC is stalking our FMC.  We do find out later and I wasn't a big fan of this reveal or how some side characters treated this information - it was sort of like the reason given was made to soften our MMC and make him not seem like such a big red flag but it didn't really work for me. I do think Hensley did a great job of building these characters up so they could have a sort of 'your crazy matches my crazy' romance and I think it was really fun in that regard.  I do love the little bit of suspense we got as well in regards to these secret lives being revealed.  I'll probably pick up the next book in the series during the next holiday season.

Tropes: Dark Romance, Stalker, Kinky, Firefighter MMC

Series: Naughty or Nice #1

 

Chilled and Thrilled - Cleo White

As many age gap romances as I read, I do have some pretty specific guidelines I like to stick to.  I generally don't like age gap romances where the characters have known each other since the younger one was under-aged, only to 'suddenly realize' they were perfect once they're barely 18.  Even more so when a daughter/son is involved.  In this case, I really enjoyed that our MCs don't meet until the youngest is in college and it sounds like they didn't have a ton of interaction until our FMC came to work at MMC's company.  I think this read more like a boss/employee romance first with the daughter's best friend angle not really pushed until later.  I think these touchy tropes were handled well and I didn't really find myself icked out at any point.  White did an excellent job of really showing the reader how much both MCs liked the other as a person which helped keep the creep factor low.

Tropes: Boss/Employee, Age Gap, Best Friend's Dad

Series: Daddy Issues #1

You Make it Feel Like Christmas - Sophie Sullivan 

Sophie Sullivan books are always solid comfort reads for me.  I really enjoy her style of character development and the couples in the books always give off the feeling that they were inevitable which gives me the warm and fuzzies.  I think the fun and games element was handled well with just enough family games/competitions to see different personalities and dynamics, but it didn't feel overly-chaotic or overblown. I do wish we could have seen the one night stand or maybe the morning after first hand because I did have a bit of an odd time trying to pin down the characters and their feelings about those events.  We do, eventually, get details but I think it would have been more impactful for me if we saw that up front.  I loved that there was no real third act breakup - but instead was some realistic challenges that they had to work through.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.  Publication date was September 23, 2025

Tropes: Small Town, Second Chance, One Night Stand, Sports (Hockey)

Standalone

 

A Heart for Christmas - Sophie Jomain

This was an early Christmas gift from my sister - which is 100% the only reason I picked it up and finished it.  I haven't read YA romance since I was in college and while I'm not opposed, it just isn't something I'm reading for any more.  That being said, when I saw this was a YA romance, I was still excited to read it given the 24 chapters/Advent read layout.  The plot seemed pretty straightforward based on the synopsis on the book - best friend's brother, small ski town, our FMC finding herself after a health scare - all perfectly fine in theory.  However, this was probably the worst written book I've read in a long time - plot, characters, and actual writing were all super low quality.  It honestly had me wondering, at times, if an editor had looked at this at all.  It was published by a big publisher, so it must have, but goodness it was rough. From a little looking around on Goodreads, it seems Jomain writes primarily in French but this was an English book with no notes of a translator so I assume she's bilingual but I don't think that excuses the amount of poor writing (and goodness, the amount of exclamation points was absolutely unhinged!).  I think a lot of the plot issues I had were to do with the very short amount of pages we actually had to get through the story so that I blame more on the publisher than the author.  I did finish the read as it was a pretty fun gimmick to 'unseal' and read a chapter a night before bed, but I absolutely do not recommend this book. 

Tropes: YA, Best Friend's Brother, Small Town

Standalone

 

Good Spirits - B.K. Borison

This is, for me, the absolute perfect Christmas romance.  I loved everything about this from start to finish and the amount of Christmas magic was spot on.  There are romances that take place during Christmas, but this one went a step above and truly captured that special, sparkly, holiday feelings.  Our MCs are well rounded and their slow burn coming to terms with their feelings was delectable. I'm excited that this is the start of a new series because the supernatural world Borison introduced us to deserves a whole pile of books exploring the different entities. 

Tropes: Paranormal, Fated Mates, Grumpy/Sunshine

Series: Ghosted #1

 

The Bright Side of Christmas - Morgan Elizabeth

Every year, I pick at least one cutesy, small town romance and this was the pick for this year.  I think Christmas romances always fit those tropes so well that finding good examples of those tropes can sometimes be a bit of trouble.  I wanted  a good amount of characters, good world building, but without characters or plot elements feeling overly cliche.  This book starts with our FMC being absolutely OBSESSED with Christmas to the point where I was initially worried she would come across more like a caricature than a real person.  However, that sort of characterization quickly settled down and we got to see her as a well-rounded character.  The opposites attract elements were fantastic and I really enjoyed that we got to see early on just how much these two were attracted to each other.  I also found the main conflict to be very realistic given their dynamic and personalities.

Tropes: Small Town, Grumpy/Sunshine, People Pleaser FMC, Fame (Songwriter)

Series: Holly Ridge #1

 

Scrooged for the Holidays - Kayla Grosse

I didn't think I needed 'A Christmas Carol but make it smutty and kinky' but I stand corrected.  Grosse does a great job of really building out the world and the details on how her version of the three Christmas ghosts work.  I loved that our FMC was a true scrooge, down to the evicting people during the holidays and saying some absolutely horrible things.  That being said, she wasn't too far gone so her eventual change into a nice person didn't feel unreasonable.  We got a good mix of seeing the different relationship dynamics between all the characters and I loved that we got all 4 POVs. 

Tropes: MMMF, Paranormal, Scrooge FMC

Standalone

 

Elf Against the Wall - Alina Jacobs

I was pleased that book 2 in this series was just as unhinged as book 1 was - which I very much enjoyed.  If you enjoyed book 1, then you should absolutely pick up book 2 as well. They are so similar, I had to go back and check that we are following a different family this time around.  It did feel very copy+paste - our FMC is a huge doormat for her absolutely horrible family, our MMC doesn't seem to care about anything anyone thinks and says the most unhinged things, the two end up fake dating for plot reasons and eventually everything works out.  I'll absolutely continue on in the series next holiday season, and it looks like book 3 might be a little different and not so similar to books 1 and 2.

Tropes: Fake Dating, Bad Boy MMC, Revenge Plot, Awful Family

Series: The Wynter Brothers #2