Maybe This Once Review

 Author: Sophie Sullivan

Series: Rock Bottom Love #3

Publisher: St. Martins Griffin

Release Date: Feb. 10, 2026

Many thanks to the publisher for a complimentary arc of this title for review. Opinions expressed are my own.

Two people end up with more feelings than they bargained for after pursuing a summer fling, in this small-town, opposites-attract romance from Sophie Sullivan.

Review:

Author Sophie Sullivan takes readers back to the remote Get Lost Lodge for book 3 of the Rock Bottom Love series with Maybe This Once. No worries if you haven't read the two previous books as everything you need to know to enjoy this one is woven within the story of this small-town, opposites attract romance. Sullivan excels at low angst, happy ever after romance, and this one lives up to the hype. Settle in for an evening of romance with a high cute factor and a side of humor.

Charlie runs from her life in California to spend a summer with her great uncle at Get Lost Lodge after a heartbreaking betrayal and a video gone viral. She needs time to lick her wounds, revamp, and decide how to move forward with her life. She didn't plan on meeting a hunk like Grayson, the owner of the lodge, and a man with baggage of his own. Grayson is still recovering from his ex-wife's betrayal when Charlie arrives and blows him out of the water. He has no interest in anything long term since his divorce and vows never to trust another woman with his heart. However, there's nothing wrong with a short-term friendship with benefits, right? A summer fling? Both Charlie and Grayson find out just how hard it is to keep real feelings and emotions out of the equation when one acts on attraction. Will either of them be able to keep their heart intact when it's over?

Author Sophie Sullivan has rendered another sweet, heart touching romance in Maybe This Once with lovable, intelligent characters leading productive lives while dealing with issues not of their own making. Trust is a big issue for both characters, and it was nice to see how they worked through that roadblock without a lot of extra drama thrown in for effect.  Dual points of view allow readers inside both characters' heads as the story unfolds. Found and extended family continue to be themes the author explores as well as the dynamics surrounding quirky characters often found in small towns. Maybe This Once is small-town romance at its best. Highly recommended to fans of opposites attract romance stories with low angst.

Synopsis:

Charlotte “Charlie” Ashford has worked hard to become her own person. Tired of living in the shadow of her famous parents, she gladly left behind a life of glitz and glamour to pursue her true passion: becoming a counselor. However, when a viral video upends Charlie’s plans, she wonders if the real key to discovering herself is through her late father.

Grayson Keller has finally found his footing. He’s settled in one place, surrounded by family, and secure in his business. By his third summer as owner, Get Lost Lodge is showing a steady profit and seeing its fair share of repeat visitors. Whatever happens, Grayson is perfectly content with his quiet life and careful heart. That is, until he meets Charlie, who he can’t seem to get out of his head.

On the surface, Charlie and Grayson seem to have nothing in common more than a growing attraction that neither of them can fight. Trusting each other isn’t easy. They’ve both been hurt before, and they’re not looking for anything serious. The solution is easy: they’ll date, have some fun, and walk away unscathed. Right? Or, maybe this once, they can see past the hurt to what, or who, is on the other side waiting for them.

You Make It Feel Like Christmas Review

Author: Sophie Sullivan

Publisher: St. Martins Griffin

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2025

Many thanks to the publisher for a complimentary arc of this title for review. Opinions expressed are my own.

All bets are off when a single-minded photographer and a professional hockey player are forced to spend a week together on his sister’s Christmas tree farm, perfect for fans of Jenny Holiday and Maggie Knox.

Review:

Nothing says Christmas like a small town, low angst romance set on on a Christmas tree farm (Tickle Tree Farm) in Merry, Washington, reuniting a couple who can't forget their one-night stand six months ago - the one where he ghosted her the next morning. Throw in lots of family members and an adorable kid and you've got a winner. 

Maisie Smart is a highly successful photographer whose family is invited to Tickle Tree Farm for the holiday. It's just what Maisie needs until she discovers the brother of her host, Ellie, is none other than Nick King, professional hockey player and her steamy, unforgettable one night stand. Nick is recovering from a knee injury and at a crossroads in his professional life when he's floored to realize that Maisie is the one-night stand that he can't get out of his head. Nick had his reasons for leaving without saying goodbye afterwards, and he's regretted it ever since. Can he get a second chance with Maisie? Does he want one?

Author Sophie Sullivan excels at rendering mesmerizing, small town, happy ever after romances with a lot of family and friends' dynamics. While lighthearted on the surface, deeper themes include mental health, major life changes and parental control over life choices. Sullivan weaves it all together flawlessly with holiday decorations, music, and activities including snowball fights. One precocious kid brings the cute factor, and the shower scenes bring the steam. The author does a great job handling Nick's mental health issues in an honest, relatable way drawing attention to the issue of mental health struggles among professional athletes and the keeping it quiet mentality that exist among some. 

You Make It Feel Like Christmas is a sweet, entertaining, heartwarming romance that's sure to put readers in the mood for Christmas as well as romance. Characterizations are perfect and the scenes are beautifully descriptive. This one should be a Hallmark movie! Highly recommended to fans of second chance, low angst romance. Grab this one for the holidays! 

Synopsis:

Maisie Smart has a don’t-look-back policy–not on the choice she made to be a photographer (despite her family’s wishes) and not on the one-night stand she had six months ago. Sleeping with someone she barely knew was out of character; sleeping with a professional hockey player who bolted the morning after is a whole new level of embarrassing. Getting invited to spend the week at Tickle Tree Farm with her family this Christmas is a sure way to fill her with holiday spirit. Until the universe throws a Grinch in her festive plans in the form of the one man she hoped to avoid.

Nick King is a mess. After a significant injury lands him on the bench for every game for the rest of the month, he has more time to dwell on the one night stand he can’t get out of his head. With time on his hands, his anxiety hovering, and the holidays around the corner, he figures visiting his sister and nephew at their Christmas tree farm will be a good way to lie low and sort himself out. He’s in for a surprise when it turns out Maisie is staying at his sister’s and his attraction for her hasn’t lessened one bit in the last six months. Apparently, neither has her anger at him for bailing. But Christmas is the time for second chances, and the forced proximity may help Nick and Maisie unwrap feelings neither of them can walk away from twice.

The Whistler Blog Tour

 Welcome to the blog tour for The Whistler

by Author Nick Medina!

Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: Sept. 16, 2025
Genres: Horror, Indigenous, Mystery, Thriller, Adult Fiction

Read my full review in Mystery & Suspense Magazine. 

Readers: Please note trigger warnings

 A young man is haunted by a mythological specter bent on stealing everything he loves in this unsettling horror from the author of Indian Burial Ground and Sisters of the Lost Nation.

"Told through the lens of a chilling Native superstition, Medina’s third novel, THE WHISTLER (Berkley Hardcover; on sale September 16, 2025) is an unsettling tour de force about the cost of not heeding warnings and what it means to confront the past and chase the things that haunt us. The story follows a young man grappling with his new life with quadriplegia while being haunted by a mythological specter bent on stealing everything he loves."

Review:

Nick Medina returns with another haunting novel steeped in Native superstitions and legends. The Whistler dives deep into the terrifying consequences of ignoring age-old warnings. The prologue sets the tone with full-force supernatural horror — a grisly tale illustrating the disastrous results of breaking the taboo against whistling at night, which summons evil spirits who can control your life. From there, the main story follows twenty-four-year-old Henry, a man haunted by a mythological presence that is methodically stripping away everything he loves. Dark, intense, and chilling, The Whistler had me looking over my shoulder and jumping at every strange sound. And while I don’t consider myself superstitious, I can say with certainty: I will never whistle at night again.

The novel unfolds in a past/present structure through Henry’s point of view. Readers see him at the height of his happiness, on the cusp of achieving his dreams; we then witness the tragic accident that changed his life forever, confining him to a wheelchair, and his struggle to adapt to this new reality. The timeline shifts — from the horrifying prologue set in the infamous Cadow house, where young Jacqueline’s careless whistle unleashed something monstrous, to Henry’s current struggles, and then back again — may feel disorienting at first. But as connections between the legend of the Cadow house and Henry’s fate emerge, the pieces begin to lock into place. Medina uses superstition and myth not just as atmosphere, but as the framework for the story itself.

To avoid spoilers, I’ll just say that Medina has crafted an emotional, tightly woven tale blending Native lore with a compelling plot and unforgettable, three-dimensional characters. His skill lies in making legends feel alive — not just terrifying, but deeply personal to those caught in their grip.

Readers of Medina’s Indian Burial Ground will find an added layer of richness here. While The Whistler focuses on different characters and mysteries, it picks up threads from that novel — including the fate of Roddy — making it feel like a loose sequel. That said, prior knowledge isn’t required; this book stands firmly on its own.

The Whistler is unsettling and atmospheric, exploring themes of fate, acceptance, reckoning with the past, and the devastating price of ignoring warnings. Medina handles Henry’s life as a paraplegic with nuance, portraying both the physical and emotional toll on him and his family. Once again, he shines in weaving Native legends with the modern struggles of Indigenous communities living on reservations. That said, I found this book leaned more heavily into outright horror than Medina’s earlier work. The abundance of shocking, gory detail sometimes overshadowed the cultural elements I hoped would take center stage. But horror fans who crave visceral scares and don’t mind blood-soaked imagery will find this utterly engrossing. Ultimately, The Whistler is a dark, gripping tale that fuses legend, fear, and tragedy into a story you won’t soon forget. Highly recommended for fans of horror and supernatural thrillers.

About the Book

For fear of summoning spirits, Native superstition says you should never, ever whistle at night.

 

Twenty-four year old Henry Hotard was on the verge of getting everything he’d ever wanted, on the cusp of fame for his eerie ghost-hunting videos and building a life with his girlfriend, Jade. Then a terrible accident brings his upwards trajectory to a screeching halt. Now, he’s learning to navigate life in a wheelchair, back on the reservation where he grew up, and relying on his grandparents’ care while he recovers.

 

And he’s being haunted.

 

As the specter haunting him creeps closer each night, Henry battles to find a way to endure his new reality and excise the horror stalking him. But to expel the spirit, Henry will have to confront a past even more horrifying. Riddled with fear and guilt, Henry will have to relive the events that led to his injury. It all started when he whistled at night…

 

About the Author

Nick Medina is a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, and he drew on personal and family experiences, along with research into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) epidemic, as inspiration for his debut novel, Sisters of the Lost Nation. He has degrees in organizational and multicultural communication and has worked as a college instructor. He also enjoys playing guitar, listening to classic rock, and exploring haunted cemeteries and all sorts of spooky stuff.

The Witches Orchard Review

Author: Archer Sullivan

Narrator: Emily Pike Steward

Publisher: Minotaur Books & MacMillan Audio

Release Date: Aug. 12, 2025

Special thanks to Minotaur Books & MacMillan Audio for complimentary arcs of this title for review. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Review first published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

A ninth generation Appalachian herself, Archer Sullivan brings the mountains of North Carolina to life in The Witch’s Orchard , a wonderfully atmospheric novel that introduces private investigator Annie Gore.

Review:

Author Archer Sullivan’s debut novel, The Witch’s Orchard, is a highly atmospheric, bewitching novel rich in the cultural traditions and folklore passed down through generations in the small, off-the-beaten-path towns deep in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Within a few pages, I was mesmerized by the picturesque narrative, with visions of early misty mornings, the sun peeking over majestic mountaintops, foggy holler bottoms, and old apple orchards with the cry of crows echoing throughout the mountains. Sullivan awakens readers’ five senses in this gripping, melodic, heartfelt mystery, with authentic scenes and characters that make The Witch’s Orchard not only impossible to put down but also unforgettable.

Former Air Force investigator Annie Gore accepts a plea to investigate the decade-old disappearance of three young girls in a small Appalachian town much like the one she escaped by joining the Air Force after graduating from high school. Annie, now working as a private investigator, is hired by Max, the brother of one of the missing girls, to find out what happened to his sister. In each kidnapping case, a young girl vanished into thin air, with an old apple-head doll left at the scene. When Annie arrives in the small, tight-knit town, the feeling of déjà vu is overwhelming—the town’s resemblance to the one she fled is undeniable. She knows how guarded mountain people can be—wary of strangers and fiercely protective of their privacy. Her job won’t be easy, and as she feared, Annie’s attempts to question locals stir up a hornet’s nest. Soon, accusations and gossip—fed by mountain superstitions and folktales—intertwine with personal recollections and conflicting versions of what may have happened to the girls, including the chilling rumor that they were taken by the “Witch of Quartz Creek.”

When another young girl suddenly disappears, the town shatters under the weight of fear, accusations, and finger-pointing. Annie must find the girls and uncover the truth behind these strange occurrences before another child is taken. Of one thing she is certain: this small Appalachian town is hiding ugly secrets, and someone is desperate to keep them buried. Driven by her own need to know—and haunted by the deafening cries of the crows—Annie’s search unearths decades-old secrets as the past threatens to repeat itself. Time is running out.

Debut author Archer Sullivan has crafted a chilling, culturally rich, immersive mystery that will have readers burning the midnight oil. The tone she maintains throughout is electric, alive with malice and a creeping sense of unease that builds page by page until the frenzied climax. The characters are authentic and well-developed, with deep, believable connections to the land, and Annie Gore is a protagonist I hope readers will see more of in the future. Sullivan brilliantly weaves the folklore and superstitions of the region into the plot in a way that engages the senses without overwhelming the central mystery—no doubt drawing on her own ninth-generation Appalachian heritage.

The Witch’s Orchard is an intense, emotionally charged, beautifully written mystery with heart. It’s a story of mountain lore, dark secrets, resilience, hope, and letting go. I highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by Emily Pike Stewart, whose performance brings the heart of these people and this region to life. Fans of thrillers and atmospheric mysteries will devour this one! 

Synopsis:

Former Air Force Special Investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught home life of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up.

Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old—it might be a fool’s errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can’t turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past.

In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track the truth, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. But while the case may have been buried, echoes of the past linger. And Annie’s arrival stirs someone into action.