Mae and her family spend every Christmas at a cabin in Utah with their family friends, but this Christmas will be their last one. That is, until Mae makes a wish, and she is stuck in a sort of Groundhog's Day time warp. Mae is in love with her childhood friend, Andrew, so maybe this is her one chance to finally get that unrequited love returned.

This was my first book by Christina Lauren. I own some of their other books, but have not read them yet. I will definitely be moving them up to the top of my TBR now. The story was sweet and funny and even heartbreaking sometimes which makes for a great contemporary romance in my opinion. While reading, I felt transported to Park City and the family cabin. I could picture the beautiful scenery and the tourist town as well as the cabin itself. I thought they picked the perfect place for this story.

I think that the Groundhog's Day type storyline was fun for this book. It brought some humor to it, and I loved Benny's character. Mae dealing with time travel was funny as well. I enjoyed her relationship with Andrew, but felt a little more storyline with Theo was needed.

Overall, this is a great holiday read! I was surprised to enjoy a Christmas story in the fall, but maybe that is what we all need right now!

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

One to Watch tells the story of Bea, a plus-size influencer who gets cast to star in a reality TV show to find her future husband (like The Bachelor). I thought the premise was original, and it was a fun story. I laughed and I cried and I was happy with how it ended. The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars was some of the book was written in text or email form so it took a while to get used to that otherwise I loved it!

25 years ago, Charlie Crabtree brutally murdered one of his classmates and then vanished. Paul Adams has not returned home since his friend was murdered, but now that his mother is in hospice, it’s time for him to come home to Gritten Wood (aka The Shadows) and face the past he left behind.

Alex North does it again with a spooky setting and creepy storyline. I loved The Whisper Man so was excited to read The Shadows. Although some parts moved slowly to me, I enjoyed the story overall. I liked the dual timelines with Paul flashing back from present day to 25 years earlier. Charlie was such an unlikeable character and the scenes with him kept me on edge. I love a spooky setting in a book, and The Shadows were definitely that for me.

If you’ve read The Whisper Man, you’ll be happy to see Detective Amanda Beck return in this story. I liked how North connected the towns to have her be in this book as well.

One thing I will mention is that this book isn’t really horror so if that’s what you’re looking for I wouldn’t recommend this. However, if you’re looking for a mystery/thriller this one is for you. The author throws in a couple of big twists that I didn’t see coming at all. To me that’s what makes a thrilling read!

I wish I had realized this was an abridged audiobook version when I borrowed it from Libby. It was so much shorter so I didn't really get a feel of the relationship between Rule and Bundy. It was still good although I think I'll probably have to read the full version at some point.

Unfortunately not a lot happened and when it did, it was just weird. I was looking for more of a scare.

I really wanted to love this book! The beginning was great. I loved Christopher and his friends, and I loved Christopher's relationship with his mother, Kate. There was great character development as well. Then the book just got weird. I found myself confused at times especially towards the end. This book is 700+ pages, but I feel that it would have worked better if it was shorter. There was too much going on to always keep track of it.

I also want to mention, that the age of Christopher and his friends felt off to me. Their language and independence (sneaking out, not listening to their parents, etc.) didn't seem right for 7 year-olds.

I listened to the audiobook and want to mention how great the narrator was.

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors, but sadly this was not one of my favorite books by her. I felt there were too many characters to keep track of, and I didn’t really feel a connection with any of them.

I listened to the audiobook because I enjoy Imogen Church as a narrator. She narrates all of Ware’s books.

After a car accident, Diana Sparrow has anesthesia-induced amnesia and cannot remember the last few months of her life. She knows her husband is having an affair with her best friend, Val, but can't remember what led them to get together. Val's mother-in-law has been taking care of her since the accident, and when Cole Pelham enters her life, she starts to wonder what really happened.

This story was told from three different perspectives - Diana's, Val's, and Cole's. They are all unreliable narrators, but I found the story very intriguing especially with Diana's memory loss. My biggest issue was that none of these characters are likable. They're all really bad people and complete liars.

There were some really big twists throughout the story though. The problem is that I was able to figure all of them out including the really strange one at the end. I kept thinking to myself, "that can't be what is happening", but it was. I'm not sure how this author came up with that ending, but it was very icky and not realistic in my opinion.

If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller this might be a good one for you, but it fell a little flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.