From Bookouture, this story was an engaging read of two friends who no longer get along, carrying out their third best friend’s dying wish – to revisit different places they enjoyed together and to scatter her ashes. I loved this story and could not put it down. It was the kind of read that made me laugh and made me cry. There’s something so wonderful about the power of female friendship/sisterhood. Definitely will be on my holiday gift list for some friends this year!
Thank you for my copy!
Here’s the scoop:
Dear Holly and Anna,
I knew it would take drastic measures to bring you together, so, ta da, one drastic measure! I’m sorry I died. And I know you guys haven’t spoken in five years. But here’s the plan: over fourteen days, you are going to scatter my ashes in every place we vacationed together in our twenties.
I wish I could have fixed your friendship before I passed away. But dying comes with one perk—you can’t say no to me now.
You’re going to have the best time. I’ve planned rum cocktails in Cabo and café hopping in Paris. And along the way, I’ll keep sending you letters. Because there’s a secret I wasn’t brave enough to share when I was alive… and if I know the three of us, I suspect we’ve all been hiding something from each other.
The times we spent together were the best days of my life. Nobody made me laugh like you did, Anna. And Holly, promise you’ll let your hair down one last time for me.
I hope by the end of this trip, there’s nothing left we’re afraid to say… xo, Zoe
The Wish List Tripis an unputdownable story of sisterhood, self-discovery and hownotto smuggle your friend’s ashes through French border control… Addictive, escapist and bittersweet, perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Emily Giffin and Jojo Moyes.
About the Authors!
Kerry Lonsdale is the Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Kindle bestselling author of the Everything series, No More trilogy, and multiple standalone romantic women’s fiction and domestic drama novels. Her books have sold more than two million copies and have been translated into twenty-seven languages. She resides in Northern California.
After years of pushing the creativity boundary in corporate communications, Orly Konig made the switch to fiction. She is the author of The Distance Home, Carousel Beach, The Arrangements, and with her best friend and co-author — The Wish Trip List (coming September 8, 2026). She also writes about living an unapologetically imperfect life on Substack. She’s a co-founder and past president of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.
I just love this series about a group of femaile friends living in London during WWII. This one, book 4, focuses primarily on Georgina (“George”) and the man she falls in love with. I’ve loved all the books in this series and I know there are more to come. You can read them as stand alones, but I like reading them all in order! And, as always, I appreciate an uplifting ending!!
Thank you for my copy and for having me on the tour!
Here’s the scoop:
East London, 1943: Will this wartime Christmas bring love, joy and peace to the East End Girls?
Georgina St John-Smythe – George to her friends – is usually the life and soul of any party. But as the East End of London prepares wearily for another wartime Christmas amid nightly bombings, she is finding it hard to muster her festive spirit, still hurting from a recent romantic betrayal. But everything changes when she meets handsome Captain ReverendGuy Moncrieff…
Forced to leave the army after a life-altering injury, Guy is struggling to settle into his new role at a bomb-damaged little church in the centre of the East End. Romance is the last thing on his mind, but when he and George are thrown together to organise a special Christmas Eve carol service that will give their incredible, irrepressible community a chance to shine, the closeness that develops between them surprises them both.
But just as George begins to dream that a future with this kind, generous man might be possible, she is falsely accused of a terrible crime that threatens not only her happiness with Guy, but her future in the Women’s Auxiliary Airforce. Can the East End Girls rally behind one of their own to right this wrong? And as the bells ring out on Christmas Eve, can George and Guy put the past behind them and make a fresh start together? Or is it too late for a happy ever after?
Fans of Katie Flynn, Rosie Goodwin and Lizzie Lane will adore this heart-warming and emotional festive World War Two saga about love, friendship and new beginnings.
About the Author: (I love how the author herself is an “East End Girl”!)
Born and bred in East London, Jean was a District Nurse by trade working throughout East London. Since 2008, she has been publishing bestselling saga fiction, including the popular World War Two Ration Book series, which, like all her books, is set in East London. Jean has also written her autobiography A Child of the East End , about growing up in post-war Stepney and Wapping.
My friends at Penguin sent me a copy of this sweet children’s book because I think they know I love Broadway and musical theater. Good night, Break a leg! was written by Bret Shuford of “Broadway Dads”, which you may follow on social media. Bret was an incredible Broadway performer who sadly passed away from cancer while he was working on this book for his and his husband’s little boy.
Here’s the scoop:
Leap, soar, and dance into the joyous life of a little boy whose dads are dazzling Broadway performers in this lyrical, rhyming picture book from one of Instagram and TikTok’s Broadway Husbands.
Where do parents go when they walk out the door for work?
In this charming, vibrant picture book, a little boy’s dads have a very special job—they’re Broadway performers!
By day, these two are like any other parents. They do the dishes, help with chores, and give lots of hugs and kisses. But by night, they take to the stage, donning elaborate costumes and dancing for thousands of theatergoers.
From Bret Shuford, Broadway performer and cocreator of the social media sensation Broadway Husbands, this sweet story is a love letter to the theater and an ode to parents who do it all. Celebrate family, creativity, and unconditional love in this heartwarming book for theater-loving families, aspiring young performers, and anyone who believes in the magic of being yourself.
About the Author:
Bret Shuford was a Broadway performer, content creator, and proud father. His stage credits include The Little Mermaid, Wicked, Beauty and the Beast, and more. Through his work as the co-creator of Broadway Husbands with husband Stephen Hanna, Bret shared the everyday magic of balancing the arts, love, and fatherhood. At the heart of it all, he was a storyteller—one who believed the most powerful role he ever played was being a papa who dared to dream out loud. After a brave battle with cancer Bret is now in the universe protecting Stephen and their son Maverick while filling their hearts with love.
Elena Hager is a Russian American artist. She studied to be a fine painting restorer but realized children’s book illustration was everything her heart and soul craved. Elena currently lives and creates in Atlanta, Georgia.
Knowing that Bret is gone way too soon, it’s nice to know that his love and work live on.
I’m shouting it out for a new title that is the perfect read to kick of Latino/Latinx Heritage month! It’s gotten lots of great reviews and pre-publicity and will publish at the end of September.
In THE KING OF ALOE VERA, Rey has lived on the same block in San Francisco’s Mission District for decades, watching his city transform. Now he spends most of his time volunteering at the library and vigilantly sweeping his stoop, which allows him to keep a careful eye on the neighborhood. He is on the verge of giving up his home and moving to a retirement community, the plan he had made with his deceased wife 10 years ago, when he catches Q, a soon to be unhoused, queer twenty-year-old, littering cigarette butts on his steps. Their friendship begins taking us on a joyful and magical journey through senior dance classes, children’s read-aloud hours, illegal bike trips over the Bay Bridge and fair housing rallies.
Tomas Moniz is a Latinx writer living in East Oakland, CA. His debut novel, Big Familia, was a finalist for the 2020 PEN/Hemingway and the LAMBDA. His second novel, All Friends Are Necessary, won the 2024 California Golden Poppy Award. He’s the recipient of the prestigious SF Literary Arts Foundation’s 2016 Award, the 2020 Artist Affiliate for Headlands Center for Arts, and the 2023 Lucas Artists Residency Program Fellow. Among the residencies he’s attended the 2022 UCross Residency, the 2020 Caldera Residency, the 2018 SPACE on Ryder Farm and others. He teaches at Berkeley City College, the Antioch MFA program and USF.
If you know me, you know I grew up in Napa and still have many friends as well as dear family in the area:
NAPA/BAY AREA FRIENDS: Mr. Moniz will be on a panel of speakers at the NAPA BOOKMINE on Thursday, October 8!
So I could not take this one to read due to my schedule, but I wanted to do a shoutout about it since it sounds really intriguing!
Here’s the scoop:
Minneapolis, MN – From Glenn R. Miller, the acclaimed author of “Doorman Wanted”–praised for its “sly, sophisticated wit” in The Miami Herald–comes a new satirical novel on censorship in the arts: “Rough Cuts” (Koehler Books), inspired in part by his experiences working at NBC studios.
About the book: It’s 1926 and the world of film is about to change forever. On the cusp of “talkies,” directors and actors fear their greatest days might soon be behind them. Patrick J. Shepard, a director at the end of his career, has just completed his masterpiece, his vehicle for eternal fame. But there’s one problem: Ohio.
Harold Dawdry, the young, second-string minister at a small church in a corner of Ohio, has been appointed to the State Film Censorship Board. He regards this appointment as his ticket to the power and relevance he desperately craves. There is one director who has particularly rankled his delicate sensibilities: Patrick J. Shepard. The minister feels Ohio is best served if Shepard makes drastic cuts to his final film. The silent era is about to get loud.
“Rough Cuts”
Glenn R. Miller | September 29, 2026 | Koehler Books | Historical Fiction, Humor/Satire
Hardcover | ISBN: 979-8-89747-076-1 | $31.95
Paperback | ISBN: 979-8-89747-074-7 | $22.95
Ebook | ISBN: 979-8-89747-075-4 | $9.99
Praise for the author…
“Doorman Wanted” is a “comic novel that doffs its hat to master humorist P.G. Wodehouse with its interest in class differences and its sly, sophisticated wit…”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“[‘Doorman Wanted’] has the rare quality of simultaneously making you laugh and making you think.”
—Readers’ Favorite
About the author…
GLENN R. MILLER: is the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning novel “Doorman Wanted” which was named 2026 Plymouth Reads Book of the Year. “Rough Cuts” is his second novel, forthcoming from Koehler Books. Miller launched his professional career by working on television soap operas and game shows on the back lots of NBC Burbank. He holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and has served as a CBS-affiliate news producer, public television producer, and creative director at production agencies within the Twin Cities. Glenn and his wife live in Minneapolis, and are the parents of two grown sons.
I love Katie Gayle’s Julia Bird cozy mysteries so much! It’s so refreshing to have a smart, resourceful woman over 50 as the protagonist, and her having a sweet doggo is just icing on the cake. I never get tired of these stories and each be read as a standalone. But I enjoy reading them in order as I can watch the characters and their relationships develop.
Thank you for my copy and for having me on tour! I enjoyed this one and did not figure it out!
Here’s the scoop:
ulia Bird is as keen as anyone in Berrywick to see inside the famous Greystone Manor. But when she does, the last thing she expects to find is a body!
When Julia Bird is asked to clear out the gatehouse at Greystone Manor after the sudden death of Colonel Loxton’s sister, she is intrigued to finally see inside the impressive house. But when she discovers the body of the Colonel, who greeted her only hours before, dead behind the sofa with a bruise on his forehead, Julia believes his death is no accident.
Once forensics confirm it was murder, Julia tries to piece together what happened. On the day the Colonel died, she saw an unknown man getting into a car outside the manor. The butler Garforth and the housekeeper Biddy claim there were no visitors that day, so who was this mysterious man? Or is someone in the Colonel’s family not telling the truth, with tensions running high over the inheritance?
Days later, Julia finds another body dead among the rhododendrons and knows the deaths must be connected. At the Colonel’s funeral she heard his friends talking about a long-buried secret. Had the second victim discovered it, and is it motive enough to kill? With time running out, canJulia solve the case before there’s another murder at the manor?
An addictive and totally charming cozy mystery set in the English countryside. Perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and J. R. Ellis.
About the Author(s):
Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats. Unlike their sleuth Epiphany Bloom, neither of them have ever stolen a cat from the vet.
I apologize; I realize I was to post on the 26th, not 27th. My error!
I loved this sweet, feel-good romance about a busy woman who ends up on a small island off the coast of Massachusetts for Christmas, as opposed to an island in the Caribbean, and how she falls in love with the town, the people, and one man in particular. This was a clean read, FYI, and left me ready to start thinking about the holidays!
Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!
Here’s the scoop:
All Celeste wants for Christmas is to escape. But could a surprise visit to an inn where candles glow behind every window and the smell of winter spices fill the air be her chance at a new beginning?
Dropping her suitcase down on the front step of the Christmas Cove Inn, Celeste can’t help but smile. Her holidays should have been spent on assignment in the Caribbean, the perfect way to mend her broken heart. But when her flight was diverted to Sea Spray Island near Cape Cod, she had to take the only room left at the inn.
Celebrating the season is the last thing on her mind but that’s all cheerful islander and single dad Nathan wants to do. His family’s cozy inn is full of festive spirit, and it’s not only the twinkling decorations and crackling fires that begin to thaw Celeste’s aching heart…
With fast-falling snow keeping her on the island, she’s soon drawn in to the Christmas countdown activities by the quirky locals… and is spending more and more time with Nathan. When he asks for her help to raise money for the struggling community center, she says yes in a heartbeat. For the first time in years, has Celeste finally found a place to call home?
But when the snow stops and it’s time for Celeste to return to the city, will she really be able to say goodbye to Nathan and Christmas Cove? Or will the magic of the season give her a reason to stay?
A heart-warming and joyous festive read full of romance, Christmas spirit and small-town charm. Perfect for fans of Pamela Kelley, Heidi Swain and Sarah Morgan.
(Note: this book was previously published as Celebration At Christmas Cove)
About the Author:
Kristin Harper earned an MFA in creative writing. Before becoming a full-time author, she held numerous professional roles, including college professor, data analyst, and development director. She grew up in New England, and has lived in various places across the US, including the West Coast and Washington, D.C. Kristin’s now happily back in Massachusetts, just a stone’s throw from Cape Cod – the source of inspiration for the setting of her Dune Island series.
Wow – this was a super suspenseful thriller that I could NOT put down, focusing on an influencer whose daughter is kidnapped but who is working to hide a whole lot of things from her past.
Here’s the scoop:
My life is perfect. Bad things don’t happen to me. So why has someone taken my daughter?
I thought I was the luckiest woman alive. I have a loving husband, who supports me in everything I do. A beautiful home, with comfy couches and art taped to the fridge. And Stella—my kind, gentle daughter. I’ve fought so hard for this life, and every day I’m grateful for it.
So it hits me like lightning, the moment I see my nanny stumbling towards me, blood drying on her forehead. She was attacked. Stella is gone.
The world spins. I fight to breathe. This can’t happen to me. Not now.
I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but as I sit in a daze on Stella’s bed, my eye falls on a stuffed cat, threadbare from cuddling, that I thought I’d never see again. My blood freezes. Because now I know who did this, and they won’t rest till my perfect life comes tumbling down.
But they don’t know how hard I’ll fight to protect myself, my daughter—and my secrets…
A gasp-out-loud psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Not My Mother, with a twist you’ll never see coming. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Lucy Foley and Gillian Flynn.
If you like this genre of psychological thriller that keeps you guessing, you’ll want to read this one!
Thank you for my copy and for having me on the tour.
Here’s a bit about the author:
Miranda Smith writes psychological and domestic suspense. She is drawn to stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Before completing her first novel, she worked as a newspaper staff writer and a secondary English teacher. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and three young children.
Image: An audiobook plays beside tea, berries, and earbuds on a rustic garden table.
If you know me, you know that I love listening to audiobooks on my commute (and I have been commuting for over 35 years).
Here’s a wrap up of some of my recent favorite audiobooks! All were from Audible with my Audible credits.
The Unknown by Riley Sager (very engaging and suspenseful!)
In 1926, five women disappeared from a remote island in Vermont. Now, one hundred years later, it’s happening again.
Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She’s even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a weeklong research trip to that very spot.
Because New Avalon isn’t your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums—until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman. Some locals say they simply left. Others think they were murdered. But the prevailing opinion, thanks to a diary left behind by one of the vanished, a young woman named Daisy Rue, is that a séance gone wrong conjured something supernatural that took them all one by one.
Not long after arriving, Marin and her castmates, including legendary actress Violet Wright and white-hot director Ronan Peters, begin to realize all is not right with New Avalon. They hear strange noises in the night and notice mysterious symbols left behind by the island’s previous occupants. And after a sudden health emergency leaves Marin, Ronan, and the other actors stranded on the island, the disappearances begin again.
Is it the work of someone trying to derail the movie? Or is the island’s alleged supernatural past catching up with the present? As fear and suspicion mount, Marin turns to Daisy’s diary, hoping it holds the key to figuring out what really happened to the women of New Avalon—and how to keep the island’s terrible history from repeating itself.
Second Chances at the Little Scottish Bookshop by Debbie Johnson (sweet and fun to listen to)
The most important stories are told by our hearts. So come and discover your second chance at happiness, at our cozy village bookshop in Bonnie Bay…
Single mother Jane can’t believe it when an invitation to Bonnie Bay falls from the pages of a book: the Scottish village she was supposed to run away to with her first love. Until he broke her heart, that is. But he’s far away now – and why shouldn’t she spend a summer there, daughter Beth in tow? They’ll snuggle up reading, stroll by the wild sea, and maybe even banish Beth’s teenage grumps.
But arriving in the charming village, Jane’s jaw drops when she sees a familiar pair of green eyes… it’s Rory Callaghan,her first love, and the boy who broke her heart. The problem? Rory is now very much a man. He’s taller, broader. His Irish lilt still makes her weak at the knees. And the sizzling spark between them crackles just like it used to.
Rory might be a long way from his Irish hometown, but he’s made a new home right here. The cozy bookshop is his refuge, and owner Moira his replacement family. So when Jane arrives it’s like an arrow through his heart. She’s still gorgeous, still his Jane. And the fierce look in her eye tells him she’s just as passionate as he remembers.
After promising to help Moira turn the bookshop into a community hub, and with Beth making friends, Jane can’t walk away. Soon, days at the bookshop turn into very late nights with Rory. And with them both spilling secrets, the real reason they broke up soon comes to light… but will this summer adventure turn into a second chance romance? Or will their hearts end up broken all over again?
This book was previously published as Second Chances at the Hopeful Hearts Bookshop.
A totally gorgeous escapist romance with a delicious sprinkling of spice, perfect for fans of Susan Mallery, Phillipa Ashley and Laurie Gilmore. Let million-copy bestselling author Debbie Johnson whisk you away to Bonnie Bay, where the bookshop is welcoming, the sea views are breathtaking, and the nights are steamy!
Land by Maggie O’Farrell (I didn’t love it as much as Hamnet or The Marriage Portrait but Maggie O’Farrell is SUCH a talented writer!!)
On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster.
The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is unexpectedly sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and the lives of those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás, and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping and get them both home?
Land is a novel about separation and reunion, tragedy and recovery, colonization and rebellion. It is a story of buried treasure, overlapping lives, ancient woodland, persistent ghosts, a particularly loyal dog, and how, when it comes to both land and history, nothing ever goes away. As spellbinding and varied as the landscape that inspired it, Land is, above all, a story of survival, for our times and for all time.
A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (Not gonna lie, I DNF’ed this one – sorry!)
Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan’s first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City’s five largest organized crime families. Other prosectors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they’ve all focused on the crime syndicate’s traditional businesses—bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing—or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its role in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can’t get Luciano alone.
Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all.
Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a network of women. Bridging the enormous divide between them and risking their own lives, they assemble evidence bit by bit, under the nose of the man they’re trying to convict. It is this very alliance—of two women from vastly different worlds—that launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen.
Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See (current listen)
From belovedbestselling author Lisa See, the story of three Chinese women whose unexpected friendship helps them survive and, despite the odds, thrive, in the turmoil of post–Civil War Los Angeles.
In 1870, three Chinese women arrive in the small, dusty, and violent pueblo of Los Angeles. Dove, the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, is entrancing and innocent. These characteristics should bring her great rewards, beginning with her arranged marriage to a much older merchant. Petal, the big-footed daughter of peasants, has grown up hungry and with dirt between her toes. In a moment of desperation, Petal’s father sells her to buy money for rice seed, and she is loaded onto a ship to the Gold Mountain—America—where she is once again sold. Moon is married to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. She is educated, speaks fluent English, and has been endowed with a face of great beauty, yet her failed footbinding as a child has left her with a limp that lessens her value in the eyes of many.
Each woman has her own desires. Dove wants to love and be loved, Petal desires freedom, and Moon seeks justice. Together they face a larger society that wishes them not one ounce of good will. Anti-Chinese sentiment is strong in Los Angeles, and this eventually leads to the Night of Horrors during which all three women are challenged in ways they could not have imagined. Brought together by hardship and heartbreak, they must use their bravery, endurance, and ability to “eat bitterness” to discover their voices, find freedom, and connect through solace and friendship. Together they are daughters of the sun and moon.
The Widow by John Grisham (a solid legal thriller)
Simon Latch is a lawyer in rural Virginia, making just enough to pay his bills while his marriage slowly falls apart. Then into his office walks Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Apparently, her husband left her a small fortune, and no one knows about it.
Once he hooks the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar. But soon her story begins to crack. When she is hospitalized after a car accident, Simon realizes that nothing is as it seems, and he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn’t commit: murder.
Simon knows he’s innocent. But he also knows the circumstantial evidence is against him, and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. To save himself, he must find the real killer….
Go Tell the Bees that I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon (current listen and veeeeerrrrrrryyyyy long – almost 50 hours!!)
The past may seem the safest place to be…but it is the most dangerous time to be alive….
Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1746, and it took them 20 years to find each other again. Now the American Revolution threatens to do the same.
It is 1779, and Claire and Jamie are at last reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children on Fraser’s Ridge. Having the family together is a dream the Frasers had thought impossible.
Yet, even in the North Carolina backcountry, the effects of war are being felt. Tensions in the Colonies are great, and local feelings run hot enough to boil Hell’s teakettle. Jamie knows loyalties among his tenants are split, and it won’t be long until the war is on his doorstep.
Brianna and Roger have their own worry: that the dangers that provoked their escape from the 20th century might catch up to them. Sometimes, they question whether risking the perils of the 1700s – among them disease, starvation, and an impending war – was indeed the safer choice for their family.
Not so far away, young William Ransom is still coming to terms with the discovery of his true father’s identity – and thus his own – and Lord John Grey has reconciliations to make, and dangers to meet…on his son’s behalf and his own.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary War creeps ever closer to Fraser’s Ridge. And with the family finally together, Jamie and Claire have more at stake than ever before.
Ms. Drew reached out about her Minnesota Thrift Shop cozy mystery series. I had not read any of them before and it was so much fun and such a treat to have a protagonist who was more my age (on the other side of 50 ahem…). And her shop is called Once Upon A Find – love that!!
Here’s the scoop about her latest: Add a Pinch of Poison. Find out what happens when a recipe box is discovered in the thrift shop and it looks like a recipe for murder!
Thrift shop owner Maggie Doyle is delighted when her grandson Parker starts bringing Gianna, the lovely Italian exchange student (he definitely does not have a crush on), to spend afternoons at Once Upon a Find.
But when Gianna discovers a hand-painted recipe box marked Dal Vecchio Paese (From the Old Country), the cozy afternoons turn deadly. Inside are treasured Italian recipes… and chilling instructions for poison.
Scrawled in the margins are dates and a name: the witness whose testimony sent an innocent man to prison. When Thaddeus Reynolds died suddenly years later, was it natural—or was it murder?
I loved these characters and look forward to reading more. Thank you for sending me a copy to review! Readers, this is not a long read either, under 200 pages, which is perfect for a weekend afternoon relaxing and reading!
I’m adding a note from Nora herself as I like her overview of the book better:
I’m Nora Drew, lifelong thrifter and author. Through my stories, I bring readers into the world of small-town Minnesota, uncovering hidden secrets in ordinary objects. Thrift shop owner Maggie Doyle is delighted when her grandson Parker brings the lovely Italian exchange student (he definitely does not have a crush on) to spend afternoons at Once Upon a Find. When Gianna discovers a hand-painted recipe box, the cozy afternoons turn deadly. Inside are treasured Italian recipes… and chilling instructions for poison.
And here’s her author bit via Amazon:
Nora Drew is the author of the Thrift Shop Cozy Mysteries, inspired by her lifelong love of secondhand treasures and the stories hidden inside ordinary things. A devoted thrifter, she believes the best mysteries often arrive disguised as forgotten objects—waiting patiently on a shelf for someone curious enough to ask questions.
Nora’s fascination with thrifting goes beyond the hunt for bargains. She’s drawn to the history, humanity, and quiet drama woven into well-worn belongings. Estate sales, rummage rooms, and small-town thrift shops have always felt like story vaults to her, filled with clues about the lives that came before.
At the heart of her writing is a deep appreciation for genuine friendship. Nora loves stories about people who show up for one another, swap theories over coffee, and solve problems together—preferably with humor and heart. Her mysteries are gentle, community-centered, and rooted in curiosity rather than chaos.
When she’s not writing, Nora can usually be found near a lake. She tries to hop in for a swim every day of the year—even in winter—believing that a little cold water is good for clarity and courage. Through her books, Nora invites readers to slow down, look closer, and discover the extraordinary hiding in the everyday.
Me again – I love that bio! Nora sounds like someone I’d like to have a cup of tea with and gab about books, or maybe investigate a vintage shop with. I give her props for swimming in the lake daily (I don’t do “water without sides”), though I do appreciate the serenity of lake life.
GLENN R. MILLER: is the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning novel “Doorman Wanted” which was named 2026 Plymouth Reads Book of the Year. “Rough Cuts” is his second novel, forthcoming from Koehler Books. Miller launched his professional career by working on television soap operas and game shows on the back lots of NBC Burbank. He holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and has served as a CBS-affiliate news producer, public television producer, and creative director at production agencies within the Twin Cities. Glenn and his wife live in Minneapolis, and are the parents of two grown sons. 
