“The Busybody Book Club” by Freya Sampson

Title: The Busybody Book Club
Author: Freya Sampson
Publisher: Berkley  
Year: 2025    
Genre(s): mystery
Part of a Series: No

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club pick

Summary: Nova has recently gotten at the community center in the small English town where her fiancé grew up. While dealing with a boss who doesn’t really like her and an overbearing future mother-in-law who is essentially planning her wedding, Nova also runs the small book club at the community center. When money turns up missing and a book club member goes missing, the book club members take it on themselves to solve the mystery – and Nova soon learns if you can’t beat them, join them.

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“Rules for Ruin” by Mimi Matthews

Title: Rules for Ruin
Author: Mimi Matthews
Publisher: Berkley Romance (Penguin Random House)   
Year: 2025    
Genre(s): historical romance
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 1 of The Crinoline Academy

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club pick

Summary: Effie Flint is recalled from Paris by the headmistress of her former home and school, The Crinoline Academy. She is tasked with bringing down a powerful viscount who is poised to destroy legislation that could benefit women in the United Kingdom and beyond. Effie poses as the daughter of wealth and focuses on her task. And then she meets Gabriel Royce, a prosperous betting shop owner who needs the viscount to support legislation that will benefit the slums where Gabriel grew up. Are Effie and Gabriel destined to always be on opposite sides…or will they realize they are better as a team?

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“The Moorwitch” by Jessica Khoury

Title: The Moorwitch
Author: Jessica Khoury
Publisher: 47North
Year: 2025    
Genre(s): romantasy
Part of a Series: No

Why I read it: Amazon First Read pick

Summary: As a child, Rose Pryor makes a deal with a fae named Lachlan to escape a terrible home situation. She grows up practicing magic in a version of Georgian England where it is prevalent. Her talent lies in Weaving – using needle and thread to craft her spells. But as she approaches her eighteenth birthday, her magic grows weaker. Lachlan returns to get Rose to uphold her end of the deal, sending her to Scotland to find a way back into the world of the fae before he and his followers die in a world that is becoming more steel than wood. Rose befriends Conrad North and his sister and realizes how dangerous Lachlan really is. Will she give him what he wants or will she sacrifice her magic to protect her new friends?

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“The Thanksgiving Hookup” by J. Sterling

Title: The Thanksgiving Hookup
Author: J. Sterling   
Publisher: J. Sterling
Year: 2023    
Genre(s): romance
Part of a Series: Kinda.

Why I read it: Wanted a nice holiday read.

Summary: Skye’s plans for Thanksgiving are ruined when a snowstorm grounds all flights. She and the rest of her flight crew manage to get hotel rooms as accommodations start to dwindle but it means she will have to spend the holiday with the airline’s resident playboy, River. But with the close proximity make her see him in a new light or will she join his list of broken hearts?

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“Christmas Eve Love Story” by Ginny Baird

Title: Christmas Eve Love Story
Author: Ginny Baird
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Year: 2024    
Genre(s): romance
Part of a Series: No

Why I read it: Advent Calendar read

Summary: After a terrible Christmas Eve, Annie Jones wakes up to find it’s Christmas Eve all over again. She gets twelve tries to get Christmas Eve right and in the process, finds community and the chance at love with the security guard at work, Braden.

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“Murder at Gulls Nest” by Jess Kidd

Title: Murder at Gulls Nest
Author: Jess Kidd
Publisher: Atria Books
Year: 2025
Genre(s): mystery, historical fiction
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 1.

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club pick

Summary: When letters from her friend Freya suddenly stop, Nora Breen leaves her convent to go search for her. She travels to the small English seaside town where Freya last was known to be and settles at Gulls Nest. When two residents of Gulls Nest die under mysterious circumstances, Nora realizes Freya’s disappearance is just the tip of iceberg.

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“A Betting Woman: A Novel of Madame Moustache” by Jenni L. Walsh

Title: A Betting Woman: A Novel of Madame Moustache
Author: Jenni L. Walsh
Publisher: Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing
Year: 2021    
Genre(s): historical fiction
Part of a Series: No

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club pick

Summary: After suffering an unimaginable loss, Simone Jules flees New Orleans and heads to California along with others looking for gold. She finds her fortune at gambling tables, introducing the game Vingt-et-Un to the prospectors. Over the years, Simone reinvents herself as Eleanor Dumont and follows the gold with her games and her business sense, building a life for herself that she never could’ve imagined in New Orleans.

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