January 2026 reads
My reading year got off to a good start in January.
I read four novels to start off 2026 – and three of the four were five-star reads that I highly recommend.
My reading month started off in France, where a heartbroken English woman moves from rural France to a cheap house share in Versailles, hoping to kick start her life. Next I journeyed back to 1950s Maine, following a young woman in college, struggling to charter a path for herself in the male-dominated field of economics. A summer with her roommate at a trendy Maine lake leads her to work at Elizabeth Arden’s Maine spa and a fascinating cast of characters.
Following that, I jetted off to Britain to take part in a television reality show/game show that ends in murder, and finally, I put down roots on the (fictional) Irish Isle of Siskin, enjoying the slower pace of life and busybody neighbors in this small community. I enjoyed following along with Blue, whose bruised heart has survived three financés backing out of marrying her and uncertain if she’s able to brave another chance at love.
Three of the novels were contemporary, one historical. All were ARCs I received from NetGalley, so these are all novels that have recently been released or are soon to be released – so be on the lookout for them.
You Belong With Me was my favorite, followed closely by Last Summer at Maine Chance.
Find my full book reviews below.
The French House Share
Gillian Harvey
This was a fun, feel-good story about second chances.
Bella’s life imploded when her mum dies while she was in school. Soon after, she gives up on her dreams of attending university, taking on work as a sales clerk at Boots. She continues to relive that one perfect week in school she spent on a class trip to France. When she meets Pete and they fall in love, she convinces him to move with her to France and to run a Bed & Breakfast.
Years later, when Pete walks out on Bella, she’s desperate, broke, and entirely without job prospects. Fudging her cv, she lands a job at a hotel and pretends to be a student to obtain a cheap house share. A job she’s underqualified for and a house share for which she’s far too old keep her busy juggling her lies, while simultaneously providing her the unexpected opportunity to learn who she really is.
I enjoyed this (late) coming of age story, set mostly in Versailles and Paris, following Bella’s story of accidental reinvention.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy – all thoughts are my own.
Last Summer at Maine Chance
Jessica Everett
This was a fabulous novel set in Maine in the summer of 1954, and told through the points of view of three very different women.
Cynthia comes from a modest working class family and feels out of place at her prestigious Maine private college. Most of the wealthy young coeds are there to earn their MRS. degrees, and even Cynthia’s own mother is hopeful her daughter emerges with a ring, but Cynthia is determined to carve a niche for herself within the male-dominated major of economics. When her roommate invites Cynthia to her sprawling lakeside “cottage” for the summer, Cynthia joins her in hopes of finding a well-paying summer job, eventually finding work at Elizabeth Arden’s Maine Chance Spa.
There she meets head housekeeper Iris, a hardworking and sensible woman who meets the daily stresses of the job while working to maintain her home and her mother, who is struggling with dementia. Wealthy, elderly local artist Geraldine decamps her family home to escape her deceased husband’s obnoxious family and sets up a studio at the spa.
The story unfolds through the alternating perspectives of these three women. All three characters were well developed, realistic for their time, and I enjoyed how their relationship and interactions developed naturally and kept me turning the pages. I also enjoyed learning about Elizabeth Arden’s Maine spa, which I first read about in Gill Paul’s excellent “A Beautiful Rival”. An excellent read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy – all thoughts are my own.
Tag You’re It
Kerry Wilkinson
Jessie is one of twenty contestants vying to win a large cash prize on a British TV game show. The contestants are housed on a large, country estate and taught not to trust anyone. During the day, they undertake challenges to augment the prize pot, and the person tasked with being “It” each day must tag another, lest he or she be eliminated entirely from the show.
As the numbers of contestants dwindle and the prize pot grows, the atmosphere on the estate shifts. Is winning the game enough to kill for?
The premise was original and the novel started off strong for me. I enjoyed how the story was told through the perspectives of Jessie, the production crew, and a later police investigation. The ending was also interesting and provided an excellent twist. For me, the middle of the novel was flat. The days were repetitive and the characters (so many of them it was hard to keep them straight) were not well-developed enough for me to care about them. I was reading to get to the ending, which did close the novel out nicely.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy – all thoughts are my own.
You Belong With Me
Beth Moran
This was fun, romantic women’s fiction, set on an island in the Irish Sea and populated with colorful characters.
Bluebell “Blue” Beddoes is a young woman and thrice scorned fiancée. The problem with life on the tiny (fictional) Isle of Siskin is that Blue can never escape the attention of her fellow islanders, who are quick to judge Blue’s uncanny ability to scare men off. But Blue is heavily invested in island life, living with her mum, helping with their successful sunflower farm and producing her own podcast “Only on Siskin”, which demystifies quaint island customs.
Things start to get messy when mainland investors plan on buying up the neighboring farm, planning to raze it to build a mega-resort, complete with fun park. They are stunned that the islanders aren’t on board with such “progress”. A conservationist is brought to the island to ensure building efforts won’t endanger local fauna – and Blue finds herself drawn to these conservation efforts, and the handsome expert leading them.
A past timeline follows a young woman who rescues that same neighboring farm years earlier, and whose past may weigh in on its present.
This was a fast, fun and highly recommended read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy – all thoughts are my own.
