Mockingbird Court by Juneau Black Series: Shady Hollow #6
Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Random House on October 7, 2025
Also by this author: Shady Hollow, Cold Clay , Mirror Lake, Twilight Falls, Summers End
Format: eBook (272 pages) • Source: Libby
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In the latest installment in the beloved Shady Hollow series, everyone's favorite vulpine investigator Vera Vixen must contend with a cold-hearted killer—and the ghost of her own past.
It's a crisp, cool autumn in Shady Hollow, and preparations are underway for the annual Harvest Festival. Creatures have flocked from far and wide to partake in the seasonal festivities, from pumpkin carving to pie tasting to soup throwing. With all these new faces around town, it’s the perfect time for someone to slip in unnoticed.
Unless that someone is Bradley Marvel, the most famous author—and most noticeable personality—in any woodland warren. It seems the wolf is on the lam. Back in the city, a body was found in his penthouse apartment at Mockingbird Court, and Marvel skipped town before the questioning could commence.
Marvel claims to be innocent, and it's up to Vera and her friends to piece together what might have happened that fateful night so many miles away in the beating heart of the big city. But things get complicated when Vera learns that she also knows the victim ... and might even be implicated herself.
As always, I enjoyed this installment! There’s nothing cozier than mystery books featuring woodland creatures as the main characters.
I was wondering if and when this series would suffer from the “small town cozy mystery problem” where I start to wonder how it’s possible so many deaths occur right in this cute, picturesque small town. This book – like many do – remedied this by moving Vera into the city and having the death occur while she was there, and then the rest of the action happened in Shady Hollow.
The resolution was fairly obvious but I liked the ride. The ending didn’t offer a ton of closure for a final book; I would have wanted a little more circling up of everything/everyone for a last hurrah.
I’m sad that this is the final installment in this series because it seems like one that could arguably go on forever, especially with such a unique premise. I wonder what this author duo will write next.
If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia Genres: Adult, Historical Fiction
Published by Penguin Group on September 2, 2025
Format: Audio/Physical (512 pages) • Source: Purchased, Spotify Audiobooks
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An Instant USA Today Bestseller!
Grab your favorite fall candle, cuddle into a comfy blanket, and travel back in time to 1997 in this cozy, slow-burn romance set in the autumn glow of small-town Vermont.
Now with exclusive bonus content!
My new next-door neighbor seems to have everything figured out. Small town golden boy? Check. Single dad extraordinaire? Check. Hot baker forearms? I didn’t notice them, I swear.
I, on the other hand, don’t–at all–have anything figured out. Trust me, I didn’t think taking over my mom’s dream bed and breakfast in Copper Run Vermont was going to be easy. It should be a good place to heal after my divorce. But apparently my scones belong in the garbage with my small talk skills. As pointed out by none other than Cliff.
Cliff is inescapable. He knows exactly what people need–always. His charm, the way he wears flannel, and even his pastries, make not wanting to be friends with Cliff and his daughters pretty hard.
Friends? I can make friends. That’s safe. Except I’m leaving in three months to pass the inn off to my little sister and get the promotion in Seattle I’ve been working towards. So ask me why I’m thinking about kissing my hot neighbor.
I saw this book all over all of my feeds this fall, as it seems to be a recent trend where we all want autumn-specific romances like we get with Christmas/holiday ones (thanks to The Pumpkin Spice Cafe lol). I was sold on the premise in pretty much every way: a girl temporarily heads to her parents’ new small town after her mom dies to run their B&B temporarily until her sister graduates and takes over. She quickly falls in with the hot baker and his two daughters next door. Not to mention – this book takes place in 1997! Super fun.
This is the epitome of a slow burn romance, including how I very slowly fell for it as I was reading. I liked the book, story, and characters enough while reading but I didn’t really FALL for it all until late in the book. I even cried at the end (during the other POV… IYKYK).
This is quite literally the perfect book to read in November – you get fall vibes from the start (I think it begins in September or October) and it continues through all of the holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It creates this excellent transition from autumn to winter/holiday reading. I thought I might’ve read it too late when I finished in mid-November but that’s actually what I’d recommend – Halloween is fresh, Thanksgiving is coming, and then you can finish with Christmas (if you’re someone like me who segues into holiday romances in late November).
I liked the characters and the cute small town – definitely the kind I could read like 10 companion books from. I thought there could have been sparks of something and then there was a bonus epilogue in my copy that made me wonder if that will happen? Or maybe not happen since the implication is already there? Either way, I’d love more!
The ending was genuinely so 90s rom-com; I need the movie ASAP. I thought overall the 90s feels were halfway decent but it didn’t feel like I was truly living in 1997. I could have used a bit more from the “historical fiction” (I’M OLD!) aspect. All in all, absolutely recommend this delightful read.
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