January 2026
This month has been snowy and cold, which definitely leads itself to a good reading month! I was able be cozy under blankets and read 4 books. This is a good start to my goal of reading 26 books this year. Also instead of new year resolutions, I have decided to do monthly goals. For January my monthly goals included reading at least 1 hour per month.
January Reads
She Didn’t See It Coming – Shari Lapena
Bryden, a wife and mother, disappears from her home while working remotely for the day. Where is she? How did she just vanish? On the surface she and her husband Sam have the perfect marriage and family, but is everything as it seems? Are they truly happy? Does. Bryden have her own secrets? When the story unravels you find that there are cracks under the surface and does this have any bearing on why she is missing?
There are multiple points of views told during the book. At times there were points I couldn’t remember who a character was because their point of view was not fold for a good number of chapters. There were also a bit of multiple storylines not just Bryden missing. Even though there was some character confusion, it was interesting to delve into each character and what makes them tick.
Rating: 4 Stars
The Five Year Lie – Sarina Bowen
Ariel receives a text message from a man who died 5 years ago, does this mean he is not really dead? The text message seems to be desperate and that there is trouble lurking, which leads Ariel to find out why the man she loved and lost disappeared from her life without a word. Was he who he really said he was? Was he a con man? Was their relationship even real? The story takes twits and turns to find out who Drew really was and who Ariel can really trust. Can she trust her co-worker Zain? Can she trust her uncle who was more of a father figure than her own father?
There is a dual timeline with multiple points of views. This does not cause confusion, but adds to the bit of intrigue as you try to piece together how it all is connected. Who is the real mastermind behind everything?
Rating: 4 Stars
The First Time I Saw Him – Laura Dave
This book starts off where The Last Thing He Told Me ends. There is nonstop action from the first chapter. We lear what happened in the last 5 years to Hannah, Bailey, Owen and Nicholas since Owen left and Hannah and Bailey learned the truth about his past. We find out that Owen has been working to get back to his family, but has he been working alone? And at what cost, because there is always a cost. Owen has worked to take down the organized crime family that force him to originally leave Texas and take on a new identity and life. Will Hannah and Bailey welcome Owen with open arms after all these years?
Rating: 4 Stars
Retreat – Krysten Ritter
Con woman Liz needs to get out of Chicago. She conned a wealthy woman out of a significant amount of money, and unpaid bills nipping at her feet. She receives a text message that may be the way out of Chicago. Liz flees to the warm weather of Mexico with a legit way to make money and maybe start for a way out of this life, but she falls into old habits. Liz takes on the identity of the wealthy owner of Casa Esmerelda while she is at the house. Liz then falls further into the con as time goes and, but is the con woman being conned?
Rating: 4 Stars
