Forget Me Not

Finished March 21

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

This standalone psychological suspense follows Claire Campbell as she returns to her mother's home in small town South Carolina. She returns because her father has called her and told her that her mother broke her leg and could use some help. 

Over twenty years earlier, Claire's older sister Natalie, eighteen at the time, disappeared and while her body was never found, her blood was found on a shirt in a man's car and he was convicted of the crime. Claire always wondered what happened, and since her sister's room is basically untouched, she pokes around and finds a cardboard box of photographs. Some were from the summer job at a small winery that Natalie worked at earlier in the summer, some were of their family, and there was one of the man with the car. 

Claire's mom tells her she doesn't need her, and Claire is tempted to go back to New York, but she's recently quit her newspaper job and gone freelance, and hasn't been doing well, so doesn't have much finances. She's also sublet her place to someone. So instead she decides to try to find the winery Natalie worked at, and she does. But the Galloway winery is no longer open to the public, and the man she encounters wonders why she's there. On a whim, she agrees to work there for a month, earning some money, getting a place to stay, and maybe learning more about her sister. 

But then she finds a diary, that seems to be by the quiet woman married to the winery owner, and she is intrigued by what she reads. A story that both captivates her and scares her. The young man who she first met is friendly and she begins to feel at ease with him, but not so much the owner, who she finds a little creepy. There is no phone reception there, but she does manage to email a former co-worker back home about where she is and what she's doing. She finds, that while the work is physically strenuous, it is satisfying and calming. But the suspicions grow, as she learns more from the diary, and from other research she does, and she finds that she may not be acting as 'under the radar' as she thinks.

This book is eerie and creepy, as we learn along with Claire what's been going on out here and with the people she's met. Who can she trust, and what does her mother have to do with it all?

Unfortunately Yours

Finished December 8

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey

This is the second book in the duology A Vine Mess centred on the Napa Valley. I enjoyed the first book Secretly Yours, which also gave some hints about the couple in this book and had meant to read it for a while. 

Natalie Vos returned to her childhood home some time ago, after a bad call at work meant losing her investment management job and her fiancé. She has plans for a comeback, one that will prove to the investment community and her ex that she knows what she's doing. The problem is that she needs some money to start her own firm, and the only way that seems possible is to access her trust fund. Unfortunately, her estranged father has made the stipulation that she be married to get access. 

August Cates owns a vineyard, but his passion for it comes from the loss of his best friend, whose dream it was. He is intent on the endeavour, but is running out of funds, and knows his latest batch wasn't a success. When Natalie offers him funding contingent on them going into a fake marriage, he can't decide if it is a good idea or not. But a unexpected visitor makes his mind up for him. 

They have to do a convincing enough job to trick the local banker, but the greater difficulty may be trying not to notice their intense chemistry. 

Natalie has the skills to know how to improve August's wine, but he has a hard time letting anyone into his life in a meaningful way. We can see each of their weak points and the inner needs that they have, but they both have to be willing to admit them to each other, and to themselves. 

A quick engaging read that kept me wanting more. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, and how their interactions felt real. 

Funny Story

Finished November 4, 2025

Funny Story by Emily Henry

This romance novel was a quick read, as I got totally caught up in the story. Daphne moved to Michigan from Vermont with her fiancé Peter, finding a dream job as a children's librarian in the small town. As the novel opens, Peter returns from his bachelor party only to inform her that he is in love with his female best friend Petra, a tall blonde elegant woman that he's always assured Daphne is just a friend. They are leaving for a couple of weeks to give Daphne time to find a new place to live and move out. Daphne is shattered, and the next person to appear at her door is equally shattered, Petra's boyfriend Miles. So Daphne decides that she will move in with him and he agrees.

At first they grieve their losses separately, but another shared dig at their loss brings them together, Daphne makes a questionable choice in deception, and Miles offers to show her around this area of Michigan, which she hasn't really explored. Daphne also begins interacting more with her co-workers, starting with her adult librarian counterpart Ashleigh. 

I could relate to the librarian side of things, and feel for the sudden change of heart of Daphne's fiancé. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the outings that Miles and Daphne took as they explored the area, and loved Ashleigh's character. The author has written another satisfying and fun-filled read that is great to curl up with and immerse oneself in. 

Aged for Murder

Finished October 18

Aged for Murder by Fiona Grace

This is the first in a series of cosy mysteries set in Tuscany, Italy, but the novel starts out in Chicago. Olivia Glass works as an advertising executive and has lately been working on branding for a large wine company called Valley Wines and the clients love her work. The problem is that Olivia doesn't love the product, and she's found that she really wants to put her efforts into smaller enterprises. She is meeting her boyfriend Matt for dinner and has decided to tell him how she feels about her work. 

At the dinner, Olivia does tell him how she feels about the Valley Wine account and her work, but unexpectedly Matt breaks up with her. Olivia shows herself to be a confident and intelligent woman as she delves into his reasons for leaving her, and she had the admiration of several other diners at the way she handled it as well. 

She decides to go to her assistant's apartment to give Matt time to clear his stuff out of hers by the deadline she gave him, and the two enjoy the wine she brought from the restaurant, and she ended up sharing her dream of owning a vineyard in Italy herself someday. The next morning she scans her feeds and sees her oldest friend Charlotte has rented a villa in Italy for the summer, after having cancelled her upcoming wedding. When Olivia gets to the office, and finds out she will be promoted and in charge of several accounts under the same parent company as Valley Wine, she finds herself quitting on the spot, and telling Charlotte that she's going to accept her invitation to join her in Italy. 

The majority of the novel takes place in Tuscany, in and near the villa that Charlotte is renting. Olivia finds herself taking a job at a nearby family-owned winery and beginning to learn about the wine-making process. But when one of the winery's staff members is murdered, she finds herself a suspect, so determines to figure out who the killer is herself.

I liked the strong female character, who found ways to deal with the setbacks she faced, and to support her friend when that became necessary. The details about the wine industry were interesting, and the goat only added to the charm. There's even a slight hint of future romance. 

A winner. 

Breathe

Finished October 1

Breathe by Lucinda Race

This is the first in a series of romance novels set around the Finger Lakes winery industry in New York. Tessa Price has been the marketing manager for her family's winery for several years, hoping for more. But she has realized that her brother is the heir apparent, and begun looking elsewhere. As the novel opens, she tells the family that she's just bought Sand Creek Winery, a relatively new winery in the area that was in danger of going under. Kevin Maxwell was the owner of Sand Creek, and as she did her research before the purchase, Tessa believed that keeping him on board would be helpful to her.

As Tessa and Kevin (Max) began working together, they begin to see how their skills and working styles complement each other, and Tessa wants him to be more involved.

When an accident brings their lives in danger, Max realizes how his feelings for Tessa have grown. This is a story of romance but also a larger story of the winery industry, with a lot of details on how things work, and a story of family for both Tessa and Max.

I found the story a little slow, with sometimes more details than I felt necessary, and put it down a few times before finishing it. I'd be interested to see how further books in the series compare.

Secretly Yours

Finished November 17

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey

This is the first of a series of romance books set in the Napa Valley. Here, Hallie Welch runs her own garden company: designing, planting, and looking after gardens for her clients. She has a real eye for it, and she is following in her grandmother's footsteps in this endeavour. She is still mourning her grandmother, and the stability that her grandmother brought to her life. Related to this, she's recently been extremely angry at a new wine store that has opened in town, called Uncorked. It is located right across from her grandmother's friend's store, Corked, and has had a major impact on business there. Corked hasn't kept up with the times and looks a little shabby, which hasn't helped. 

When Hallie hears that her schoolgirl crush, Julian Vos, the son of local vintners, has come back to town, she gets a little excited and curious. With memories of the one kiss she had with him, she can't help but wonder if she's still attracted to him. 

Julian has returned to town on a sabbatical from his university teaching job to write a novel. He's made the move after a colleague's health crisis, and he finds that his mother, who runs the vineyard now, has secrets and issues of her own. 

Both Julian and Hallie feel an attraction, despite their different lifestyles and personalities, and it was interesting to see their relationship develop. The secret letter plot wasn't as central as I'd expected and didn't always ring true for me. 

The side stories only added to the interest, and I could see who would be a likely candidate for the second novel, since Hallie's bestie is already married. I'd also like to see more around the wine store rivalry and where that goes. 

Overall as good as what I'd expect from Tessa Bailey. A very entertaining read. 

The Best Man

Finished August 30

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins 

This is the first book in a series set in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Set in a small town focused on the many local wineries and the lakes themselves, Faith Holland grew up in a family that ran Blue Heron Winery. She's the youngest of four kids, and her mother died in a car accident when she was still quite young. Faith has epilepsy, and was in the car accident as well, and has always felt guilt for distracting her mother just before the accident. 

Faith had a long relationship with Jeremy Lyons from high school when he and his family moved to town from California, but it ended on the day they were to be married. She left and found herself a new life elsewhere, as a landscape architect, returning home only on occasion. 

Now she's back for a longer period, working on a personal project on the family property, and picking up some other local jobs as well. She's made peace with Jeremy but still has issues with some of other people from her youth, and she finds herself forced into dealing with her past in a number of different ways. 

Levi Cooper is the local police chief, and Jeremy's best friend since high school. Despite being well respected in the community, he still has issues from his social status growing up, and feeling accepted in the community socially. He also has mixed feelings regarding Faith.

As the two are thrown together, they find themselves open to dealing with the past and moving forward. 

Vintage 1954

Finished March 20
Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain, translated by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce

This light novel has an interesting premise, time travel from wine made from grapes affected by an alien spacecraft. It's way better than that sounds.
Back in 1954, Pierre Chauveau saw a UFO. It appeared suddenly above his vineyard, stayed for a while, then suddenly disappeared. He was not the only one to report a sighting that year. No explanation for the phenomenon was ever discovered. In 1978, he opened a bottle of wine that he had laid down from that vintage, and shared a little (as he always did) with his German shepherd. The next morning, the two of them set off for work at the winery, but never arrived.
The main story begins in 2017, where a group of people get together for an impromptu celebration at an apartment building. They are all living there, some temporarily like Bob Brown, an American staying in an Airbnb on a long-planned trip to Paris, missing his wife Goldie who is in a coma in hospital back home in Milwaukee, and who was supposed to be with him. Others had recently moved into the building, like Magalie Lecoeur, a restoration specialist who took over a former carpet shop on the ground floor and used the former sixth floor storeroom as her apartment. Julien Chauveau, great-grandson of Pierre, also recently moved in to a small apartment in the building. Julien is a barman at the famous Harry's Bar, and has always been fascinated by his ancestor's story. Hubert Larnaudie, on the other hand, has lived in the building his whole life. It was his family who originally built it in 1868, and gradually sold off bits as they needed the funds. He retains a lot of pride in the building and its fixtures and accoutrements, and has recently raised the issue of the security of the cellars, many of whose shutters are broken leading to some recent burglaries. When he goes down to the cellars to check on them, he is drawn back into memories as he finds the myriad of items his family has stored over the years. One of them is a bottle of 1954 wine. When he gets locked in the cellars, he cries out for help, and it is Bob, arriving at the apartment, who hears his call for help. As he sends Bob to Magalie for assistance, Julien is also there, and after releasing Hubert and securing the cellars temporarily, Hubert invites them up to his apartment to share the bottle of wine.
When they awake and venture out the next morning, they find themselves in a bright sunny Paris, and each only gradually realizes that it is 1954. And then the adventures begin as they find each other and try to figure out how to get back to their own time.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The Me I Used to Be

Finished March 14
The Me I Used to Be by Jennifer Ryan

This romantic suspense book brings the reader in to the middle of a situation. As the book opens, Evangeline is heading to a parole hearing, hoping she'll be able to get out. She's had a tough time in jail, including getting physically attacked by another inmate. She is surprised to see the cop, Chris Chambers, who arrested her walk into the room, and even more so as he asks for her immediate release.
Evangeline is not prepared for the world that awaits her now. Her father has died, her mother openly resents her, and her brothers seem to be annoyed at her existence. She just wants to move on with her life, with the skills she took the time to learn while in jail.
But Chambers has something else he wants from her, cooperation in finding who was really behind the crime she went to jail for. But she has a secret she's held to herself this entire time, and she won't give it up easily.
This book has a lot going on. Evangeline was a woman who was ready to move on from a wild youth when she got caught up in a situation and went to jail. She's had time to think about her life, and about what got her where she is now, and she wants a life where she can hold her head up. Chris seems to be on her side, wanting to see her succeed, but is he really?
And will her family ever be willing to take her back into their lives in a meaningful way? Only her best friend Jill, now married and a mother, welcomes her back.
I liked Evangeline and how she was the smart one in the family, level-headed even in tough situations. A good read.