December was definitely the month for amazing books. With only limited time for reading these days (first term nursing student here!) it’s become very important that I fit in time for books that really hold my interest when I’m ‘reading for fun’. Each and everyone one of these books delivered and more! Keep reading for my suggestions on which books you need to pre-order for 2025.
The Family Inside | Katie Garner
I’ve officially nicknamed author Katie Garner “The Queen of the Twists.” After reading last year’s The Night It Ended, I should have been prepared for the fact that The Family Inside would be another amazing book. Set in a small town where single mother Iris Blodgett’s life has been turned upside down once again after the death of her husband three years ago, she’s lost her job and her home, so when her new beau offers Iris and her daughter Ellory a place to stay at his families crumbling mansion, she readily accepts. It’s only once she arrives at Ravencliff that she begins to uncover years of family secrets.
Releases January 28th, 2025
It takes a special family to turn a home into a nightmare.
Since her husband’s unsolved murder three years ago, Iris Blodgett’s life has unraveled. Awash in grief and buried in debt, she can’t pay her mortgage—and now that she’s lost her job, she has no idea how she’ll provide for her unruly teenage daughter, Ellory.
Facing eviction, Iris turns to her new beau, prominent architect Hugh Smoll, for a shoulder to cry on. But the seemingly perfect Hugh offers her something more: an invitation to move into his mother’s centuries-old mansion while he renovates the property.
It seems like the perfect solution, but when Iris and Ellory arrive at Ravencliff, the family inside isn’t quite what they expected. Iris didn’t know Hugh had siblings, much less that they’d all live together.
With repairs underway, the house gives up its dark secrets one by one. Before long, Iris unearths a chilling family history—and the terrifying reason she and Ellory were invited in the first place…
Rating: A+
A Beauty Queen’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem | Kristen Bird
This book (part of a series featuring stable hand turned beauty queen/amateur detective) is yet another favorite of mine. The story set in the small town of Aubergine, Virginia has all the charm that you would expect from a small town, along with a heavy helping of family secrets.
After the death of her mother, Dakota Green receives the 11th letter from her mother, which tells her compete the the annual beauty pageant which is shrouded in the mystery after the disappearance of Miss 2001. When the pageant owner vanishes, all suspicions land on Dakota, Aunt Dee who has been managing the pageant since she won back in the 90’s.
If you love a good mystery with a side of romance and family secrets, you’re going to want to pre-order your copy as soon as they’re available on Amazon. The official release date is February 11th, 2025.
Stable hand Dakota Green would rather compete in the Hunger Games than Aubergine’s annual beauty pageant. But her late mother’s last wish is about to see her trading her muck boots for Jimmy Choos – and uncover a decades-old mystery of a missing beauty queen.
Welcome to Aubergine, Virginia, where the mountains are blue, the air is sweet, and the beauty queens have secrets darker than last year’s spray tan.
Armed with more sarcasm than sequins, Dakota reluctantly enters the cutthroat world of sashes and smiles to save her family home. But when the pageant owner vanishes faster than she can shimmy into an evening gown, suspicion lands on Dakota’s beloved Aunt DeeDee.
Now Dakota must navigate a minefield of catty contestants, skeptical judges, the infuriatingly handsome new sheriff and a decades-old mystery of a missing beauty queen – all while mastering the art of walking in heels without looking like a newborn foal. Can this reluctant pageant star unmask a killer, clear her aunt’s name, and claim the crown? Or will she be the next to disappear?
Hilarious and heartfelt, A Beauty Queen’s Guide to Murder & Mayhem is perfect for fans of small-town mysteries with big laughs. If you love the wit of Janet Evanovich, the charm of Only Murders in the Building, and beauty queens with a penchant for trouble, this book is a must-read.Rating: A+
Beg, Borrow or Steal | Sarah Adams
Leave it to me to discover a ‘new to me’ author on the third book of a series. Despite starting on the penultimate book of the series (aka there’s only one more book coming for the series), you won’t find yourself lost if you choose to start with this one. It tells the story of Emily Walker, school teacher by day and romance novelist by night. Her nemesis, Jack Bennett left four months before the end of the school term to move to Nebraska with his fiancee… only to return at the beginning of the summer much to Emily’s disappointment. While determined to keep him from moving into the house next door (and taking residence at her favorite table at the local coffee shop), Emily soon finds that maybe they aren’t enemies after all.
I absolutely loved the Gilmore Girls meets Hart of Dixie feel that this book had. There were heartwarming moments and laugh out loud moments especially in the early part of Jack’s return to Rome, (Kentucky) that made me enjoy the book even more with the turn of each page. I definitely plan on going back and reading the first two books of the series.
Releases January 7th, 2025
Emily Walker hates having her carefully crafted world disrupted by anyone, most of all her legendary nemesis, Jack Bennett. He’s the opposite of the wonderful heroes she dreams up in her double life as a romance writer, which is why Emily was perfectly happy when Jack left Rome, Kentucky, mid-school year with his fiancée. The last thing Emily saw coming was Jack’s return at the start of the summer after calling off the wedding and ending his relationship, but he’s here to stay—as her colleague and her neighbor.
Jack is glad to be back, eager to renovate his house and work on the next mystery novel under his bestselling pen name. But when he realizes he’s now neighbors with the one woman who has always pushed his buttons, he discovers something he’s even more excited about—thwarting Emily and her petty plans to sabotage his return.
With their chemistry-fueled animosity at an all-time high, Emily accidentally sends an email to their school’s principal that could reveal her secret literary side hustle. She needs to steal back her manuscript, and Jack—she hates to admit—is just the man to help her. Surprisingly, he agrees. Will their unlikely alliance put an end to their rivalry? Or could it lead to a steamy plot twist they never saw coming?
Rating: A+
You are Fatally Invited | Ande Pliego
This book will have its hooks in you from the moment you turn the first page. Set at a private manor coast, the anonymous author J.R. Alastor hand picks a group of writers, all of whom have connections and crimes that must be exposed. Mila, an aspiring writer herself, jumps at the opportunity to help host the retreat, especially since she has a past with one of the writers.
It soon becomes apparent to all those involved in the retreat, that not everything is quite as innocent as it first seemed (but then again, none of the writers are innocent either). When the first guest turns up dead, the writers find themselves thrust into a week of games, riddles that they may not survive.
For those who love murder mysteries that will keep you guessing up until the very last page, this book is for you!
Releases February 25th, 2025
When renowned anonymous author J. R. Alastor hires former aspiring writer Mila del Angél to host a writing retreat at his private manor off the coast of Maine, she jumps at the chance—particularly since she has an axe to grind with one of the invitees. The guest list? Six thriller authors, all masters of deceit, misdirection, and mayhem.
Confess the crimes, survive the tropes.
Alastor and Mila have masterminded a week of games, trope-fueled riddles, and maybe a jump scare or two—the perfect cover for Mila to plot a murder of her own. But when a guest turns up dead—and it’s not the murder she planned—Mila finds herself trapped in a different narrative altogether.
One by one, you’ll lose your turn.
With a storm isolating the island, and the body count rising, Mila must outwit a killer who knows literally every trick in the book.
Until only one of us remains . . .
The Stolen Queen | Fiona Davis
To say that this book did not disappoint would be an understatement. After reading Davis’ The Magnolia Palace published in 2022 (but it feels like yesterday!) I was excited to get my hands on an early copy of her latest novel, The Stolen Queen.
It’s female lead character driven, involves archeology (something I’ve always been fascinated by) and features a dual timeline and an heist at the Met during the ‘party of the year’. What’s not to love!
Releases January 7th, 2025
Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. That is until an unbearable tragedy strikes.
New York City, 1978: Nineteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.”
Meanwhile, Charlotte is now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art. She’s consumed by her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.The night of the gala: One of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing, and there are signs Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening. Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, and a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return: Egypt. But if they have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.
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