I don't know about you, but I love curling up with a thriller or mystery in the fall. Sometimes, I even step outside my comfort zone and read a horror novel. I'm starting off light this fall with two books to get me ready for spooky season.
Free Falling by Lyla Sage
Pages: 288
Genre: Romance
Pub. Date: September 22, 2026
Publisher: Dial Press
Source: Publisher for review
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Leith Wilkes has spent his life
preparing to take over his family's farm. Well, he’s actually spent most
of his life flirting, but now he’s ready to buckle down, which has
nothing to do with an oddly specific clause that his dad left in his
inheritance. Leith is pretty sure he’s the only one who knows about
it…until Clarke drunkenly spills that she knows, too, along with a bunch
of other Wilkes family secrets.
Leith starts to wonder if
there’s more to Clarke than she lets on…and if his dad has something to
do with it. And if she is keeping secrets of her own, maybe she won’t
mind helping him with his."
Clarke Cartwright is running her mother's antique store in the sleepy town of Sweetwater Peak. She is living a relatively normal life except she can communicate with ghosts, and lately, that's all she has been hanging out with since her sister is off traveling and her best friend moved away. Leith Wilkes has always known he is going to inherit his family's farm, except things aren't as simple as they appear. There is an inheritance clause, and thanks to ghosts, Clarke knows about this clause and warns him about a few things. In order to save Leith's farm, they come up with a plan to fake date, and the rest is history. Fans of paranormal stories as well as spicy romances like the author's Rebel Blue Ranch series will appreciate Free Falling by Lyla Sage the most.
I love a good paranormal romance, and while they often seem far-fetched, Free Falling is one truly worked for me. I appreciated that Clarke could communicate with ghosts, and this ability significantly impacted her daily life, making it feel believable. The paranormal elements were cozy rather than eerie, which suited me perfectly. The entire novel was a delightful cozy fall romance. If you’re looking for a slightly paranormal read with romance, Free Falling is a great choice. I also enjoyed the romance between Clarke and Leith, their childhood connection, and how their relationship developed. Although I haven't read the first book in the Sweetwater Peak series, I don't think it's necessary to enjoy Free Falling.
Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier
Genre: Audiobook/Adult Fiction
Pub. Date: August 25, 2026
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Source: Personal Copy
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Barb,
Nicolette, and Lorelei were best friends - then they met "Sam" at
Wonderland, the local amusement park. After hanging out with him there,
and accompanying him to the drive-in movie, where the twenty-something
handsome drifter made out with Lorelei in the backseat. That night was
the last time Lorelei was seen alive, her murdered body surfacing a
couple of days later in a local cranberry bog.
Barb's dreams of
leaving Seaside and becoming a successful writer never materialized and
she is a freelancer for the local newspaper and, secretly, writes
anonymously about reality tv stars for a hugely successful gossip
web-site called Reality Bitch. Specifically, she writes savagely about a
long-running show set in Canada called Trophy Wives.
Nicolette
left town shortly after Lorelei's body surfaced, never to return.
Ultimately, she married a very rich man, moved to Toronto and rebranded
herself as Cole Lennox, one of the stars of Trophy Wives.
With
the amusement park about to reopen, revitalizing the dying town of
Seaside, the Carnival Killer recants his confession about killing
Lorelei, the dead body of young woman washes ashore, and the truth about
what happened that night twenty-five years ago - and what is happening
now - threatens not only the carefully constructed lives of Barb and
Nicolette, but the very fabric of Seaside itself."
Many years ago in Seaside, Washington, three teenage girls spent the evening at Wonderland, a seaside amusement park. While there, an older man, Sam, starts hanging out with them, and one of the girls, Lorelei, shows an interest in him despite the age difference. Days later, Lorelei ends up dead, much to the girls' shock. The other girls, Barb and Nicolette, try to move on with their lives after this awful event, which they come to find Lorelei was killed by a serial killer named the Carnival Killer, who is also responsible for other women's deaths. As the years go by, Barb stays in Seaside working as a local reporter, and Nicolette moves away to the big city, finding herself on reality TV. On the night that Wonderland is set to reopen, another body is washed ashore. To top it off, there is a documentary being done on the Carnival Killer, and he recants his story; he says that he didn't kill Lorelei! Barb and Nicolette have some secrets about that night, and everything is threatening to unravel before their very eyes. Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier is an edge-of-your-seat audiobook that kept me turning the pages.
I love a good thriller in the fall, and Heart of Glass is one was particularly chilling, especially as an audiobook. The different narrators did a great job bringing the story to life, and the special touches enhanced the overall listening experience. I had a feeling about where the plot was heading, but Hillier effectively incorporated many twists. My only issue with the book was that it felt overly long; it went off on several tangents that I felt didn’t really contribute to the plot. Other than that, I found it to be a solid thriller to start off the spooky season.
Have you read either book? Are you a fan of paranormal romances or thrillers? Let me know in the comments below.
