I received this book for free (hey, thanks!) in exchange for an honest review. I promise that this does NOT affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. For real.
Stranger Things Have Happened by Kasie West Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Published by Macmillan on April 14, 2026
Also by this author: The Distance Between Us, Pivot Point, On the Fence, Split Second, The Fill-In Boyfriend, P.S. I Like You, Lucky in Love, Listen to Your Heart, Snow in Love, Maybe This Time
Format: eARC (352 pages) • Source: Publisher
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Can fake dating lead to real love? In Kasie West's next sexy adult romcom two people must decide where the lie ends and the chemistry begins.
Sutton knows she needs therapy. After all, she’s managing her newly opened restaurant remotely while taking care of her ungrateful sick mother. Plus, her boyfriend of two years just dumped her over the phone. But does therapy with a handsome stranger, who she has to pretend to be engaged to, in order to help her friend’s struggling relationship count? Probably not. Then why did she just agree to go? Because she’s had a few too many drinks? Because this stranger, Elijah, is smug and annoying and really, really handsome? Because she feels guilty that she abandoned her best friend, Tara, after high school and this might just make up for it? Whatever the reason, she has committed to this unhinged plan.
What the hell is Sutton doing?
Helping Tara prove a point: a good therapist can tell the difference between real love and fake love. That’s what she’s doing. But as they attend their sessions, Sutton and Elijah only seem to be proving one thing—the lines between pretend desire and real desire are very blurry. This true connection forming between them is threatening to unravel everything Sutton thought she knew about family, friendship, and her own heart.
I loved Kasie West’s YA books back in the day and the new trend of YA romance authors writing adult romance has been amazing. (I seriously need to read Steph Perkins one.) I haven’t read as many YA books at all lately and even missed some of West’s recent releases. I was planning on reading her adult debut before this one but for whatever reason this spoke to me when I was browsing my Kindle for something to read.
The story follows Sutton, an LA restauranteur returning to her hometown to help her mom recover from an accident. She reconnects with her newly engaged high school friend Tara, and finds herself involved in a bet. Tara’s fiance Michael doesn’t want to go to couples therapy before their wedding and insists that two strangers could go and the therapist would never realize they weren’t an actual couple. Enter Sutton and Elijah, Michael’s brother. They begin a four-week session with a local therapist to see who wins – does Michael need to go to therapy with Tara or will she win the bet? Sparks fly between Elijah and Sutton while she also navigates complex family dynamics and co-managing her restaurant from afar.
Candidly I didn’t love the characters in this one. It took me a while to like Elijah and root for them as a couple. Sutton had some annoying tendencies and her relationship with her mom was tough to read. Her friendship with Tara was underdeveloped, especially as they alluded to this issue from high school that was barely mentioned but resolved by the end.
The overall premise and writing were super strong though – I think Kasie West was born to write adult romance; the addition of steamy scenes was great mixed with her writing style. I didn’t find myself cringing as I sometimes can with sex scenes. I’m excited to go back and read WE MET LIKE THIS and see if different characters jive with me.
There was a lot of good character development by the end for a few people though, so I appreciate how West kept it real and didn’t try to make her characters incredibly likable and perfect. I’d recommend this one if the premise sounded interesting to you!
Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Sourcebooks on January 28, 2025
Format: Audio/Physical (420 pages) • Source: Purchased, Spotify Audiobooks
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She gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she's hiding a terrible secret. It's time for the truth to come out…
Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they've committed to her audience. She can't guarantee the police won't come after her "guests," but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that's proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.
But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother's murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother's murderer is dead.
Poe killed him.
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and The New Neighbor comes a chilling new thriller that forces the question: are murderers always the bad guys?
This book has been on my radar since it got popular last year. I’ve even owned it that entire time. My mystery book club selected it for the May meeting so I was happy to finally find the time to read it. The book follows a podcaster, Poe, who brings people on to confess – “tell me what you did.” When a man comes on claiming to be her mom’s murderer, she’s confused and freaked out… since she killed that man years ago.
I thought this was pretty addicting and well-done overall. It always held my attention because it relied on tension rather than twists and turns. It wasn’t the kind of mystery where you’re really trying to solve whodunnit so it was definitely a thriller without the twists? There was really just one twist that most of us in book club saw coming.
I thought it was a little dense in the middle with some unnecessary scenes. The author brought in a main character from another one of his books for some cameos and honestly I thought it was an unnecessary element. There were a few things I would’ve removed to save like 50 pages. Despite feeling that little drag in the middle, again it still held my attention.
This was a cool concept for sure and always love a New England setting! The main character was from New Hampshire and lived in Vermont, in towns/cities I’ve been before. I didn’t love her as a character and she wasn’t really memorable, but I don’t think she needed to be.
I’d recommend overall if it intrigued you.
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