The social media memories that pop up are constantly teasing me because what do you mean I'd read nearly 40 books by this time in 2022? Anyway. I did manage to listen to two audiobooks this month, and I tried another but pretty quickly DNF'd it. I do however know just about everything there is to know about the Nancy Guthrie investigation. #WhereIsNancy? But seriously I haven't been this chronically online since Hannah Kobayashi took a missing persons vakay to Mexico. WHERE IS NANCY?
Book 9 of 2026 🎧 Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano (4/5⭐️)
Finlay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet . . . but at least there's not a body in her backyard.
Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.
Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case―or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.
However, when the focus of the investigation widens to include Finlay’s ex-husband, Steven, Finlay and Vero are left with little choice but to get closer to Mrs. Haggerty and uncover her secrets . . . before the police start digging up theirs. But who will solve the mystery first?
I've enjoyed this whole series, but this may be my favorite book so far. The development of the relationships between the characters was exquisite. The cliffhanger this book ended in has be anxiously awaiting book 6 to come out next month. Also, I just realized there is a short story (book 3.5) about Veronica that I definitely need to see if Libby has. These are quick, fun reads that constantly have me busting out laughing.
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
Book 10 of 2026 🎧 Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight (4/5⭐️)
When Cleo, a student at NYU, arrives late for dinner at her childhood home in Brooklyn, she finds food burning in the oven and no sign of her mother, Kat. Then Cleo discovers her mom’s bloody shoe under the sofa. Something terrible has happened.
But what? The polar opposite of Cleo, whose “out of control” emotions and “unsafe” behavior have created a seemingly unbridgeable rift between mother and daughter, Kat is the essence of Park Slope perfection: a happily married, successful corporate lawyer. Or so Cleo thinks.
Kat has been lying. She’s not just a lawyer; she’s her firm’s fixer. She’s damn good at it, too. Growing up in a dangerous group home taught her how to think fast, stay calm under pressure, and recognize a real threat when she sees one. And in the days leading up her disappearance, Kat has become aware of multiple threats: demands for money from her unfaithful soon-to-be ex-husband; evidence that Cleo has slipped back into a relationship that’s far riskier than she understands; and menacing anonymous messages from her past—all of which she’s kept hidden from Cleo . . .
Like Mother, Like Daughter is a thrilling novel of emotional suspense that questions the damaging fictions we cling to and the hard truths we avoid. Above all, it’s a love story between a mother and a daughter, each determined to save the other before it’s too late.
I really liked the style of this story. It was told in both the mother and daughter's perspectives. It was told from the mother's perspective before she went missing, and the daughter's perspective after, but both perspectives were interwoven together until they meet in the resolution of the story. I'm not sure if this is meant to be YA or not, but I think the story covers a wide-range of audience.
Book 11 of 2026 📖 The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (4/5⭐️)
France, 1939 - In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France … but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.
Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can … completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.
With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France―a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
This book was frequently highly recommended, and after loving Hannah’s The Women (which I expected to not interest me) I knew I wanted to give this one a go. I’d been a little hesitant because I’ve read A LOT of WWII historical fiction and got kind of burned out on it. The book was slow to start for me. I’m about to start I mean at least the first half. I part on and then did not want to put it down in the second half. And 100 pages to go when we had a two hour delay and it took every ounce of willpower not to pick this book up because I knew I wouldn’t finish it in time and then I would just be thinking about it all day long.
If you have not read this book yet, stop now reading my thoughts now. There will probably be mild spoilers to follow. Kristen Hannah. How could you do this to me?? The ending!! I kept my emotions in check the whole book till the very end and then I sobbed like a little baby. ðŸ˜
Book 12 of 2026 🎧 Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank by Elle Cosimano (3.5/5⭐️)
Veronica Ruiz is on the run for the first time in her life—though certainly not the last. After being falsely accused of stealing money from her college sorority, she packs up and heads to her cousin Ramón's apartment, planning to change her name and start over, away from backstabbing girls and university drama (and far, far away from her arrest warrant in Maryland).
At the local bank on the first morning of her new life, it occurs to Vero that she'd be a better bank teller than most of the current employees; she may not have much money, but what little she does have, she knows how to manage. Unfortunately, the only available position is a cleaning job and so, desperate for a fresh start, she takes the bank manager’s offer.
But nothing in Vero's world has ever been simple so of course, shortly after she begins work, she overhears a conversation between her new boss and a security guard: someone who works there has been stealing. Seeing a window of opportunity, Vero sets out to find the identity of the thief, present the evidence, and then push for the perfect job. All of which would be easier if her irresistibly infuriating childhood crush Javi wasn’t living in the same damn town.
I am a big Vero fan, so I'm not sure why I hadn't listened to this one yet. My only complete is I wish it were a full book rather than a short story! I would love more books from Vero's perspective.
Book 13 of 2026 📖 The Housemaid's Wedding by Freida McFadden (4/5⭐️)
Today is supposed to be the happiest day of my life.
I'm engaged to the man of my dreams, and in a few short hours, I'm going to stand before a judge, who will declare us husband and wife, till death does us part. Despite some bumps in the road, this day is everything I dreamed it would be.
There's only one problem:
Someone out there doesn't want me to live long enough to say my vows.
And if I'm not careful, they may very well get their wish.
I'm not usually a lover of short stories, because I like more meat in my books, but this was one I enjoyed!
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means when you purchase something through that link, you're helping support this blog (and my reading addiction!) at no additional cost to you!*
(Summaries are from Amazon, but all thoughts about them are my own!)
Reading Challenge: 8/52 physical books read in 2026
Total Books Read in 2026: 13
You can find previous book reviews here and add me on Goodreads here! Also, if you use StoryGraph, you can add me here! Also, I am on Fable here!
