A Late Christmas Vacation!

 

TITLE: The Dogs of Venice

AUTHOR: Steven Rowley

PUBLISHER: G.P. Punam's Sons

PUBLISHING DATE: October 14, 2025

PAGES: 80   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: A heartbroken Paul takes a solo trip to Venice while his ex-husband moves out of their joint place back home. While on the trip Paul looks for a connection and meaning.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a short novella I grabbed around the holidays because of course, DOGS!  I didn't get to it until January but still wanted to share my thoughts because I feel it needs more notice.

Paul is going through a divorce and although he has a history of not doing anything alone, he decides to go through with the vacation he and his husband had planned for the holidays. While in Venice, Paul notices a stray but confident dog and he spends the majority of his time seeking the dog out because he wants to be more independent-just like the dog appears.  Along the way Paul breaks out of his comfort zone and starts doing more and more on his own, realizing he too can be more dog-like if he wants.

Paul was a nice character to read about and honestly, I think this read is best described by the word "nice."  The fact that it is on the shorter side lends itself to a solid tale that doesn't get weighed down by unnecessary side plots or details.  I loved that I was able to read it all in one sitting as well.  

The dog doesn't play a big part in the story, but he is a major influence so I think animal lovers would still be quite interested.  I know this author has a few other books which have recently been quite popular so I think readers of those should seek this one out as well. And even though it takes place during the holidays, it isn't really a holiday story so it could be read at any time. My rating is only reflective because I wanted more dogs (of course I did), especially with "Dog" on the title. 

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

I'm Expecting Tons of Snow but They Got Tons of Rain!

 

TITLE: The Storm

AUTHOR: Rachel Hawkins

PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Press

PUBLISHING DATE: January 06, 2026

PAGES: 258   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: 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…

MY THOUGHTS: Looking back, I've never really had my socks knocked off by a Hawkins novel.  In fact, I think I've been telling people I've only read two, so I was going to pick this one up to see if I just needed to stop and move on.  However, I looked it up and I've actually read ALL of her adult novels and one of her YA ones, which I loved.  The adult ones have all hit around 3/5 starts except for The Villa, which is the only one I really remember.  Imagine my surprise when this one really hit for me!

In 1984, Hurricane Marie hit St. Medard's Bay leaving death and destruction in its wake.  One death was the Governor's son, who was having a pretty illicit affair with a residence 19-year-old.  Lo Bailey was accused of murdering Landon Fitzroy but was eventually acquitted. However, everyone just assumed she as guilty.  Fast forward to current day.  There is a new hurricane on the horizon and Geneva, who is now running the family business, the Rosalie Inn, is trying to stay afloat (no pun intended).  She ends up renting out some rooms for the summer to both Lo and August, who has chosen to ghost write a book about the whole situation with Lo's help.  Yet there is another hurricane on the horizon, and it might just uncover buried secrets along the way.

This book was a fast-paced read for me. Of course, it also may have been because it is on the shorter side for a thriller.  Nonetheless, I really enjoyed getting to know the characters who all seem to have distinct strong personalities and to learn how they all intertwine both historically and currently.  There were a few major twists, once of which I predicted and one I never saw coming, which made for an interesting read.  And I would say it held a bit of my favorite trope as well - found family.

This is one I'm really glad I picked up.  Although now I'm guess I'm going to have to read her next book to decide if she is an author for me.  Of course, I've read everything else so at this point, why not.

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

Feed Your TBR - The Only One Who Knows

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

March 3, 2026

FROM GOODREADS: Minnow Greenwood, previously known for stealing her way into the hearts of viewers as Melbourne’s number one morning show host, is now back in her small hometown of Kangaroo Bay. After a horrifying and unexpected episode, she has no choice but to join her estranged brother in their family business of shark fishing. For an insomniac like Minnow, the work is strangely thrilling—there’s something alluring about the dark water at night. Something exciting, grimy… fitting. And maybe it’s not even so bad reconnecting with her brother, who’s the only person who ever saw her for herself. But the last thing she expects to surface on the beach is a human body.

Kangaroo Bay is a town quietly brimming with rage towards invasive tourists and host to a disquieting number of shark attacks—there's no sympathy for the wayward swimmer. Except the media soon uncover that the victim was declared missing weeks before and was long dead before they even entered the water. When the journalist in Minnow kicks back into drive, she discovers something for over forty years, there have been a steady number of missing persons around the area, including her own father’s disappearance ten years ago.

This is her one opportunity to reclaim her career as a journalist, and to learn what really happened to her father, but as Minnow digs deeper into the spate of missing tourists and the mystery of her father, she realizes someone is desperate to keep the secrets buried. . .and then another body washes ashore.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT: I love the fact that this involves water and the MC's name is Minnow.  Too funny.  Besides that, I am fascinated by sharks and wanted to be a marine biologist when I was young for a long time.  Go figure considering I grew up and have always lived in a landlocked state.  

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK???

A Whole Lot of Issues to Unpack

 

TITLE: The Hitch

AUTHOR: Sara Levine

PUBLISHER: Roxanne Gay Books

PUBLISHING DATE: January 13, 2026

PAGES: 304   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: Rose Cutler defines herself by her exacting standards. As an anti-racist, Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior, she is convinced she knows the right way to do everything, including parent her six-year-old nephew Nathan. When Rose offers to look after him while his parents visit Mexico for a week, her brother and sister-in-law reluctantly agree, provided she understands the rules—routine, bedtime, homework—and doesn’t overstep. But when Rose’s Newfoundland attacks and kills a corgi at the park, Nathan starts acting barking, overeating, talking to himself. Rose mistakes this behavior as repressed grief over the corgi’s death, but Nathan insists he isn’t grieving, and the dog isn’t dead. Her soul leaped into his body, and now she’s living inside him. Now Rose must banish the corgi from her nephew before the week ends and his parents return to collect their child.

MY THOUGHTS: I really anticipated this to be a DNF when I started.  I wasn't sure I could stomach the dog attack and subsequent death.  However, for those like me who are sensitive to this stuff, it's pretty much one paragraph and the end of a chapter is it isn't overly detailed, bloody or for lack of a better word, savage.  

Rose lives alone and owns a frozen yogurt company.  However, she is averse to all things dairy and is trying to sell it.  She is also obsessed with her six-year-old nephew, Nathan. His parents only allow her two hours a week with him on Saturdays, but a trip to Mexico means Rose will get to watch him for a full week.  She plans everything, right down to the icky food she expects a child that young to eat and the activities they will participate in such as lengthy chess games. All this goes out the window when a trip to the dog park leads to a Corgi named Hazel dying and then her soul inhabiting Nathan's body. Rose goes on a journey to hide what is happening from her brother and his wife all the while trying to convince Nathan he is imagining the whole thing.  When that doesn't work, despite her better judgement, she turns to a spiritual healer and ends up experiencing her own exorcism.

As I said, I liked this book more than I expected to.  Rose was a piece of work though, and I can't find the words to describe her although neurotic came to mind more than once while reading it.  Nathan was a sweetheart and I felt badly for him because he only wants to be a kid.  Also, reading this book felt a little like ADHD.  Rose would be describing something and all of a sudden break into a recipe for some health-related menu planning and then hop back to why Nathan didn't like his antique chess set.

While I would recommend this book, I will say it probably isn't for everyone.  I'm not sure if there really was a Corgi soul inhabiting Nathan or if Rose was just projecting a lot of her own issues on others.  The ending is just rather blunt as well, but I fully understand the decisions that were made.  

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

Wait, Huh?

 

TITLE: I'll Quit When I'm Dead

AUTHOR: Luke Smitherd

PUBLISHER: Mulholland Books

PUBLISHING DATE: October 14, 2025

PAGES: 384   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: Madison has seen better days. Reeling from a bad breakup, self-soothing with junk food, and totally consumed by her lack of direction, she’s in need of a big reset. When she runs into an old acquaintance at the gym, Madison is shocked by how fit they’ve suddenly become. The cause? An all-female fitness boot camp led by ex-military guru Ellie Fellowes. The course is characterized by grueling reps and minimal contact with the outside world, and when Madison signs up to experience it herself, something doesn’t feel right. The other students keep acting strangely; Ellie seems almost superhuman, and her intense motivational methods are becoming bizarre, even dangerous. But Madison is getting results. How can she stop now? 

Musician Johnny Blake has been struggling with a pain pill addiction after a very public, very bad fall. At the encouragement of loved ones, he retreats to a secluded cottage to detox. But Johnny isn’t alone. Something is lurking in the shadows of his new home—a creature unnatural and hungry, one that traps Johnny in a frightening bargain. If Johnny doesn’t stay off his pills and keep his end of the deal, he will be eaten alive. 

As Madison and Johnny’s predicaments spiral into the unthinkable, they will have to look within to find the true and terrifying answer to the age-old How badly do you want it?

MY THOUGHTS: This book managed to take a trope/writing style/whatever you want to call which I do not usually like at all and turned it into something I enjoyed.  Or at least I think that was what the author did, I'm not sure. I'm really confused - can you tell?

I'll Quit When I'm Dead focuses on two distinct characters.  Madison just dumped her boyfriend, dropped out of college, is out of work and is writing a novel she just can't complete.  Oh, and she constantly wants to lose 15 pounds which is an important part of the novel as well.  Johnny is a musician who has a mediocre career which he just made worse through some really stupid moves which landed him with an active drug addiction and a lengthy hospital stay.  Madison decides to sign up for a month-long retreat promising to be intense but which will leave her stronger, skinnier, and more focused.  Johnny has just moved to a rental in the country where he can continue his recovery.  Both have no idea what lies in store for them but given the cover, I was pretty sure they weren't going to like it. 

This book was strange because in the beginning, I was more interested in Johnny's story and about mid-way it shifted, and I became more interested in Madison's tale.  I also wasn't sure how the two were connected or even if they were, so the reading was a bit disjointed throughout at least 80% or maybe even more.  Madison's experiences had me more on edge because I think in her situation, the monster is real and is in the form of a retired military veteran, Ellie who has a lot of baggage of her own. And trust me, I think Ellie is way scarier than most mythological monster. Johnny's monster is in the form of a boggart, which other than a particular series which "won't be named" I've never ran across before.  

Needless to say, this book completely intrigued me, and I devoured it in a few days.  It wasn't on my radar until I stumbled across the cover on the new release shelf of my local library and I am so glad I snatched it up.  If you love horror and psychological drama, with a pretty heavy dose of fantasy during some parts, this is definitely one you will want to grab.

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

Feed Your TBR - How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

February 3, 2026

FROM GOODREADS: When Jamie Prescott and her best friend Laurie attend a speed-dating event, Jamie expects to meet a roster of mediocre men and indulge in some street food afterwards. She doesn’t expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at their table during a blackout. When the lights come back on and there are more bodies on the floor, it becomes clear that speed dating can be a very dangerous pastime.

Armed with makeshift weapons and Jamie’s extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a horror movie, the remaining speed daters try to find an exit while the killer adds to their body count. As the night progresses and Jamie comes face-to-mask with the murderer, she begins to suspect he is committing the slayings to woo one of the daters and turn her into his real-life Final Girl. But Jamie has a different love story in mind, and as she fights for her life, she can’t help but find herself ensconced in a love triangle with two of the other speed-daters. Will she survive the bloodshed to find her happily ever after? Or does this machete-wielding psychopath have another Final Girl in mind?

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  I love a good slasher trope and this one sounds like there might have some comic moments as well.  At least I am hoping.  

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT ON THIS WEEK???

2 Readers 1 Series - Willowleaf Lane (Hope's Crossing #5)

 

Stormi and I do at least two buddy reads each month, sometimes three, and in 2026 we really want to try to wrap some of our series reads up.  So we kicked off the year with what we anticipated would be a quick read and continued on with the Hope's Crossing series.  While it will never be the same as Virgin River was for me, it is similar enough to fill the huge void that one left.  Read on for my thoughts and then hop over to Storm Reads to see if Stormi liked it!

 

TITLE: Willowleaf Lane (Hope's Crossing #5)

AUTHOR: RaeAnne Thayne

PUBLISHER: HQN Books

PUBLISHING DATE: June 25, 2013

PAGES: 379   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: Sometimes going back is the best way to start over.

Candy shop owner Charlotte Caine knows temptation. To reboot her life, shed weight and gain perspective, she's passing up sweet enticements left and right. But willpower doesn't come so easily when hell-raiser Spencer Gregory comes back to Hope's Crossing, bringing with him memories of broken promises and teen angst. A retired pro baseball player on the mend from injury—and a damaging scandal—he's interested in his own brand of reinvention. 

Now everything about Spencer's new-and-improved lifestyle, from his mission to build a rehab facility for injured veterans to his clear devotion to his preteen daughter, Peyton, touches Charlotte's heart. Holding on to past hurt is her only protection against falling for him—again. But if she takes the risk, will she find in Spencer a hometown heartbreaker, or the hero she's always wanted?

MY THOUGHTS: While I still enjoyed it, the last installment in this series fell a bit flat for me. I am pleased to say this one pulled me right back in and I loved Candy and Spencer's story.

When she was a teen, Candy had a huge crush on Spencer. They became good friends, but Candy's weight issues and her lack of confidence prevented it from becoming more.  Spencer went on to be a famous athlete but got into some trouble and is now back in town starting over.  Candy spent the last year addressing her health and getting in shape.  She has never forgiven Spencer for something he did years ago, and she is not happy to see him.  However, she does feel a kinship to his daughter who has recently lost her mother, just like Candy did when she was her age.  Can Candy forgive Spencer and act on the spark she is once again feeling when she looks at him, or is the damage already done?

I really enjoyed Candy as a character and this is basically an enemies-to-lover trope because when Spencer comes back to town, Candy definitely treats him like an enemy.  I think Peyton, Spencer's daughter, actually does a lot of bring down Candy's walls and as that relationship flourished, so did the one with Spencer.  I also liked how Thayne added the story of Candy's brother in with this one and I'm excited to see what comes from him in future books.  As always, there is an adorable dog named Tucker who Candy babysits for her brother from time-to-time and as always, I have to give him a shout-out.  Go Tucker!

As far as ratings go, the last book received a 4/5 from me but gained a whole rating point due to the dog.  This one also gets a 4/5 but it stands on its own and doesn't need an extra boost. If you love feel-good small-town stories, then this is definitely a series to consider.  I think we have two more books and this series will be complete, and I am looking forward to both of them.

MY RATING: 4 PAWS