Overdue

By: Stephanie Perkins
Published Year: 2025
Publisher: Saturday Books
Pages: 416

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Ingrid Dahl, a cheerful twenty-nine-year-old librarian in the cozy mountain town of Ridgetop, North Carolina, has been happily dating her college boyfriend, Cory, for eleven years without ever discussing marriage. But when Ingrid’s sister announces her engagement to a woman she’s only been dating for two years, Ingrid and Cory feel pressured to consider their future. Neither has ever been with anybody else, so they make an unconventional decision. They'll take a one-month break to date other people, then they'll reunite and move toward marriage. Ingrid even has someone in mind: her charmingly grumpy coworker, Macon Nowakowski, on whom she’s secretly crushed for years. But plans go awry, and when the month ends, Ingrid and Cory realize they’re not ready to resume their relationship― and Ingrid’s harmless crush on Macon has turned into something much more complicated.

Overdue is a beautiful, slow-burn romance full of lust and longing about new beginnings and finding your way.

First Impressions

When I got out of graduate school I had been in a reading rut for years. Stephanie Perkins’ novel Anna and the French Kiss was what got me out of it and back into reading. I was so excited to see that no only was she coming out with something new but that it was an adult novel. I could not wait to read it.

What I thought

Ingrid is a librarian who has just kind of sort of broken up with her boyfriend of 9 years. When her sister got engaged, she and Cory talked about how they had never dated anyone else and that if they were going to get married, they should take a break for a month and date other people. But that one month turns into another and another. Ingrid also realizes that her friendship with her coworker Macon might be something more and maybe she wants to explore it.

I found this concept interesting and relatable. I started dating someone at 19 and when we started talking about marriage, I worried about waking up at 40 and having regrets about never having dated anyone else. However, the way Ingrid and Cory talk about other people and not each other felt very obvious to me that they needed more than a break from their relationship.

This book moved month by month through a full year. It moves very slowly, but is definitely the kind of book that would be great in the cold winter months. You really get to live with Ingrid and Macon and all of Ingrid’s friends. It is more of a romance and more of a coming of age novel about Ingrid’s growth. Yes, she and Macon have a romance but she also explores who she wants to be as an adult. I found those parts of the story almost more interesting than I did the romance side.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Macon. And I thought he and Ingrid together were very cute. But to me, it wasn’t the center of the story. This story does kind of hammer home the “when it’s right you’ll know” kind of mentality. Both romantically and life wise. I am a believer in fate, so this didn’t bother me at all. But I could see it being annoying if you don’t think that way.

This is a solid 3.5 stars for me. I found a lot of it really enjoyable, but I also felt it could’ve moved a bit quicker. I think this is a solid first adult novel for Perkins and I hope she continues to write new stories. While this book didn’t have the same magic for me that I remember Anna and the French Kiss having, I still enjoyed it a lot.

Dead and Breakfast

By: Rosiee Thor & Kat Hillis
Published Year: 2025
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 336

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): The new vampires in town are sinking their teeth into solving a murder…

Married odd couple Arthur and Sal are totally normal. They wear sunscreen, not because the sun can kill them, but because even the undead need a skincare regimen. They eat garlic whenever they want, though it gives Sal indigestion. They can talk to creatures of the night, but only the raccoons that rifle through their garbage. Really, they don’t bite… except into delicious baked goods.

Ready to settle down and stay out of trouble, the two have opened a bed & breakfast in the idyllic, if not-so-paranormal-friendly, town of Trident Falls, Oregon. But trouble finds them when the mayor is discovered dead in their begonias with two puncture wounds in his neck. With the help of a werewolf barista, the elven town coroner, and a very human city manager, Arthur and Sal will need to prove they aren’t literally out for blood by catching a killer…

First Impressions

The punny title and the cute cover definitely sucked me in with this one. I was intrigued by a cozy mystery that involved vampires and a bed and breakfast. Because of these factors, this book was on my list well before I was offered the opportunity to read it for review.

What I thought

Maybe my expectations were too high?

Arthur and Salvatore are two married vampires that recently moved to the town of Trident Falls and bought a bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, Trident Falls isn’t very paranormal friendly and it gets less so when the mayor’s body is found in their garden drained of blood with puncture wounds. When the Sheriff takes in Salvatore for questioning, Arthur decides to take it upon himself to solve the murder.

I don’t know what it was about this story but it just did not hook me in. I didn’t find any chemistry between Arthur and Salvatore and actually found both of them a little irritating, especially Salvatore. I felt more that Arthur found him irritating too rather than in love.

They frequently make fun of the sheriff for being a bumbling idiot, but Arthur runs off with any small clue to immediately suspect the next person. He rarely has anything more than one piece of evidence and then he becomes heavily convinced they’re the murderer. I honestly don’t know how he solved the murder other than pure lock.

I did like the medical examiner, but found she wasn’t in enough of the story for my liking. The mystery aspect was just ok. I found the murderer to be relatively obvious and even at the end wasn’t quite sure why he did what he did.

This story was fine. I don’t know if the miss for me was my high expectations or the writing itself. I wasn’t crazy about the two main characters and can tell this is going to be an ongoing series. I would be willing to try one more to see if it works a little better, but wouldn’t be surprised if I forgot it existed by the time a sequel comes out.

Lion Women of Tehran

By: Marjan Kamali
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 327

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): An “evocative read and a powerful portrait of friendship, feminism, and political activism” (People) set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran—from nationally bestselling author Marjan Kamali.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams for a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions of becoming “lion women.”

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.

“Reminiscent of The Kite Runner and My Brilliant Friend, The Lion Women of Tehran is a mesmerizing tale” (BookPage) of love and courage, and a sweeping exploration of how profoundly we are shaped by those we meet when we are young.

First Impressions

This was a book club pick but I was unable to attend book club. Decided to read it on my own time. I was honestly a little hesitant about this pick and would not have picked it up off the shelf myself.

What I thought

This book was such a pleasant surprise!

Ellie is growing up in Iran in the 1950’s-1960’s. When her father dies, she and her mother are forced to leave their large home for the slum neighborhoods where she meets her best friend Homa. When Ellie moves back to the rich side of town, she and Homa lose touch until she shows up at Ellie’s high school. The story follows the two girls as they deal with the trials of friendship, womanhood, and political upheaval of Iran.

I was worried that this book was going to be really heavy and slow and it was not. Sometimes when dealing with heavier topics, these types of books can come off preachy but I never felt that way. Even though Ellie was frustrating a lot of the time, I couldn’t fault her. She was naïve and a lot of her actions were explained by her upraising.

I loved all of the relationships in this book. The friendship between Ellie and Homa was so interesting to see how it developed over time and maturity. I also adored Mehrdad and Abdol as well as Ellie’s high school friends Noomi and Sousana. Of course, her relationship with her mother was a bit tough but it felt realistic.

I did talk about the book briefly with one of the other book club members and we talked about how this book sparked curiosity about the Iranian revolution and taught us things we didn’t know before. I appreciated the history about the political activism in the country because the Iran we know now is so starkly different from the Iran of the 1970s.

This was a beautifully written story about friendship and life. It moved quickly and captured my interest from early on. I’m curious to read more by this author given how she took topics that could’ve been dry and depressing and made them so colorful and full of life.

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

By: Sangu Mandanna
Published Year: 2025
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 336

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps her aunt run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her. But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power…

Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and might just know how to unlock the spell’s secrets. Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain bewitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell. Worse, he might actually be thawing.

Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera Swan is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone...and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.

First Impressions

Last year I read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and fell in love. I had been a little resistant to read it but ended up loving it. When I saw Mandanna was coming out with a new book this year it immediately jumped to the top of my to-read list. I do think I like this cover a little more than Irregular, so I would have picked this one up off the shelf before the other.

What I thought

This one did not disappoint!

Sera is one of the most powerful witches in England until she uses her powers to resurrect her great aunt. 15 years after doing so, she is running an inn in England with her great aunt and a few misfit residents. When Luke, a witch historian, shows up at her inn, Sera realizes this might be her one chance to get her magic back.

This book is described as a grumpy/sunshine but I didn’t really find Sera to be grumpy or Luke to be sunshiney. Regardless, they had great chemistry and I greatly enjoyed them both. The cast of characters at the inn were great too. Clemmie, the with trapped in a foxes body, was maybe my least favorite but I think we’re supposed to have a bit of a love/hate relationship with her as the reader. I adored Matilda and Sera’s aunt Jasmine and also enjoyed her nephew Theo and Nathaniel. They each played off of each other wonderfully and brought balance to some of the heavier storylines.

The way that Mandanna balances whimsy with heart is unmatched. She also writes found family stories so well. I think this book and Irregular are great for people who might not have a family or aren’t super closer to their families. They show that even misfits can find their place.

I found it interesting that she chose to have an autistic child as a character in this story, but think it was written sensitively and realistically. On top of that, the magical mystery side of the story was so fun. I loved how Sera’s magic was described. Yet again, I would gladly live in this universe for multiple books.

I flew through this book. I loved living at the inn with all of these characters and wish I could go visit them. The romance was one to cheer for and Sera’s magical journey was beyond intriguing. If you enjoy whimsical romances with a magical twist I highly recommend this one.

Passion Project

By: London Sperry
Published Year: 2025
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 368

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A compassionate and hopeful romantic comedy, Passion Project is a reminder that love is waiting for us to let it in

If your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life, Bennet Taylor is failing miserably . . . with a big emphasis on the miserable. Where’s that zest she keeps hearing about? She’s a temp worker in New York City with no direction, no future, and no social life. And at the painful center of this listlessness is grief over the death of her first love.

When Bennet runs into Henry Adams just hours after standing him up for a first date, she makes an alcohol-fueled confession: She’s not ready to date. In fact, it’s been years since she felt passion for something. Not even pottery, or organized sports—not anything. Rather than leaving her to ruminate, Henry jumps at the opportunity for adventure: Bennet needs to find a passion for life, and Henry will help her find it. Every Saturday, they’ll try something new in New York City. As friends, of course.

As their “passion project” continues, the pair tackle everything from carpentry to tattooing to rappelling off skyscrapers, and Bennet feels her guarded exterior ebbing away. But as secrets surface, Bennet has to decide what she wants, and if she’s truly ready to move on. With emotional resonance and sparkling banter, Passion Project is a fun, flirty, thoughtful story of finding a spark—and igniting happiness.

First Impressions

I can’t remember how I came across this book, but it definitely made a strong first impression with the cover and title. The cover is so cute! I remember reading the summary and adding it to my to-read list immediately.

What I thought

I listened to this book and I think I’ve found a new favorite narrator!

Bennett is in her 20’s, living in New York City, and battling with depression. When she stands up a first date, she later runs into him multiple times. The second time she runs into Henry, he challenges her to be his friend and try to find her passion with him this summer. As he pushes her out of her comfort zone, she starts to realize just how far she has closed herself off from those around her.

I really enjoyed this story, even though Bennett drove me a little bit nuts at times. Bennett is dealing with the grief of her ex-boyfriend having passed away about 3-5 years ago. Can’t remember if they said specifically how long ago he passed away or if I just can’t remember. My irritation came with the fact that Bennett does absolutely nothing to deal with this grief. Trust me, I know grief personally and I know it’s not easy and that everyone deals with it different. But she makes comments about why she thinks therapy won’t help, yet she has been dealing with anxiety and depression her whole life. On top of that, she is so obviously self aware that she is struggling, yet refuses to do so.

I think this is why it bothered me a little bit at the end of the story because it felt like her healing journey came together so quickly and almost out of nowhere. I did love Henry, but wouldn’t have minded if he has been a little bit fleshed out. There’s a part of the story where Bennett mentions that she has only viewed Henry for his surface level personality and I felt a little bit like the author could’ve shown a little more why he was the way he was.

I id like how the story was more than just the passion project. Bennett’s relationship with her roommate as well as some of her coworkers helped to fill out the story. Although here is one work storyline that I’m realizing I would’ve liked to be handled a little differently, but obviously hasn’t impacted my enjoyment of the story.

This is a fun story with a serious undertone. I think the author deals with the grief storyline well, even if it isn’t the way I dealt with it in my life and I would’ve been yelling at my friend if they were dealing with it the way Bennett dealt with it. It’s not overly heavy, and I think if you’re looking for a romance that has a little more substance you will enjoy this book. I’m also shocked that this is a debut and can’t wait to see what she will write next!

Seven Exes

By: Lucy Vine
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Pages: 432

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A delightful rom-com about a woman who decides to revisit each of her seven exes, convinced that one of them is “the one who got away.” Seven Exes. Seven Missed Chances. Who was the one who got away? Esther is nearing thirty, with a great job and a flat she shares with her two best friends, Bibi and Louise. But her life is missing that special someone. Tired of being single and sick of bad date after bad date, she thinks she’s found the answer to her romance problem in an old women's magazine. According to the magazine’s dating column, there are seven archetypes a woman will date before finding Mr. Right. It all seems silly at first, until Esther realizes she has exactly seven exes that match the The First Love, The Work Mistake, The Overlap, The Friend with Benefits, The Missed Chance, The Bastard, and The Serious One. Is it so hard to believe that perhaps one of them is The One? Deciding she must have left her true love in the reject pile, Esther contacts each of her old boyfriends. But finding her soulmate isn’t as simple as she hoped it would be. Madness, mayhem, laughs, and tears ensue as she valiantly works her way through her past love life and faces up to her previous mistakes. It’s an odyssey of the heart that will teach her a lot about herself . . . and just might lead her to the man of her dreams.

First Impressions

I found this book in a bookshop at the airport in England. The cover and title immediately caught my eye and when I read the summary I was hooked. It sounded like a cute story with a fun twist.

What I thought

This book was interesting.

Esther has had a string of bad dates. When she and he friends discover an article in a magazine about how everybody has Seven Exes but that one of them is “The One” she realizes that she’s already maxed out on her seven and decides to revisit them. Her two roommates and best friends help her along this mission while she reaches out. As she reconnects with her past, will she discover that one of these guys was her One?

This book was predictable but also had some little twits I didn’t see coming. It had second chance romance, but also had Esther realizing that she broke up with certain people for a reason and that reason wasn’t going to change. Esther was self-involved and a little immature, but showed growth and deeply cared about her friends. It was an interesting dichotomy of a story.

I could see a lot of people disliking Esther because of her immaturity, but for some reason it didn’t bother me? I think the only part I got annoyed with was her slacking off on her duties at her job to pursue this idea that she has to find The One. Well, and maybe that she was trying so hard to convince herself to like some of the guys when it was obvious she didn’t.

I appreciated how the story showed that confronting your past doesn’t always mean that there was a fairy tale you missed but that everyone who comes into your life comes in for a reason. This book felt realistic to me in that she didn’t immediately meet with an Ex and have a whirlwind romance.

The balance for this book was her friendships. While she isn’t always the best friend, her friends also aren’t perfect so it doesn’t get frustrating. I think I was honestly more irritated with her friend Lou and how she treated Esther and their other friend Bibi than I was with Esther when she was lacking with her friendships.

This book as a solid 3.5 stars for me. It was a fun and easy read, but nothing ground breaking. I think if you like the concept of this story then you will enjoy the book. The characters are a bit messy, but that brings a refreshing realism to the romance. I’m curious to check out what else Vine has written.

My Friends

By: Fredrik Backman
Published Year: 2025
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 436

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.

First Impressions

I love Backman’s books. I haven’t read some of his more recent ones because I didn’t love the Beartown series and just haven’t gotten around to Anxious People, so I was excited to get this one. His writing is just so beautiful. I don’t know if his covers are always my favorite, but he will be an auto-read author for me forever.

What I thought

Beautiful as always.

Louisa has always live the painting The One of the Sea. After breaking into an auction to see the painting in person, she gets herself into a little trouble but winds up (legally) with the painting in her possession. She also winds up in the company of one of the teenagers in the painting, though now he is almost 40. They go on a journey together as he teaches her about the history of the painting, the people in it, and the artist who painted it.

This story bounces back and forth between the present and the summer when the painting was made and the teens were 14. It’s a fantastically written story of friendship, childhood, grief, and teen angst. I loved seeing the connections between Louisa and the past. She is 18 in the present yet she feels the emotions of someone who lived through that summer which was so sweet.

The way Backman handles grief and trauma is so beautifully done. It never feels like he’s pandering or writing about traumatic events just to get a rise of out his readers. It’s real and grounded and never over the top. I loved getting to know the friends in the painting and felt like I lived that summer with them.

I don’t want to say too much about the tory itself because I feel like what made reading it so good was being on the journey with Louisa and learning about hat summer and the artist with her. The ending was so satisfying and I feel like this is one of those book that is going to sit with me and just continue to have a greater impact on me as it sits with me over time.

The book is a bit slower paced, which is why I couldn’t quite give it 5 stars. I enjoyed the story and I don’t think it necessarily needed to be quicker, but it’s a book I would recommend you read when you’re looking for a book to live with for a little while. Backman hits it out of the park again with this one and if you enjoyed his other books, you won’t be disappointed.

Book Club August 2025- The Good of the Woods

By: Liz Moore
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Pages: 490

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

What I thought

This book was on all of the lists last year for best thriller. I knew a coworker who had read it who thought it was overhyped, and I haven’t been as into thriller as I as a few years ago. I was excited but hesitant when one of the girls picked this for book club.

Set in the summer of 1975, a camper at the overnight camp goes missing. The camper is also the daughter of the family that owns the camp and their second child to go missing. Told across timelines, the past tries to solve the mystery of what happened to the Van Laar’s first child, Bear, while the present (1970s) tries to find their second daughter, Barbara.

I loved the setting of this mystery. The 1970s summer camp in the Adirondacks was so well written. I went to summer camp growing up and it definitely brought me back to those vibes. The first part of the book focuses on the present day mystery of Barbara, but then it jumps back and forth across a variety of timelines. I liked the way that the years were marked at the top of the chapters since it showed all possibilities and helped me keep track of where we were in the story.

I think I slightly preferred the mystery of Bear to the mystery of Barbara. But I did like the storyline of Louise, Barbara’s camp counselor, and I loved the female investigator Judyta. It was cool that she was a female investigator in the 70s and while she did meet some adversity for being a woman, it never felt over the top or like it was taking away from the central story.

I definitely semi-figured out the mystery, but not super early and not 100%. The ending was slightly underwhelming but it was satisfying. I wasn’t left a million questions and I also didn’t feel like it got thrown together at the last minute. I also appreciated that it didn’t make me feel like I was dragged in a bunch of different directions just for the sake of giving me as the reader a big twist. I’m excited to discuss this one with book club!

What Book Club Thought

Everyone really loved this one. We all got sucked in and felt like we couldn’t put it down. It was a lot of fun to talk about the theories we had along the way and what surprised us versus what didn’t. It also was nice to discuss because there were a couple of things that each of us interpreted a little differently. I think it would’ve been fun to be able to discuss it as we read as opposed to afterwards, but it was till enjoyable. We talked about how it would be a good mini-series as well as how we would all enjoy a spinoff series following Judyta solving different mysteries.