I enjoyed this book. Character development was excellent with the main character. Twists I did not expect and definitely had me at the edge of my seat. Thank you!

Claire, a journalist living in NYC is going back home for the first time since she was 18. 22 years earlier her sister Natalie was murdered in her small town in South Carolina. The crime is solved and someone is serving time for it but her sister's body was never found.
While visiting home Claire decides to go visit Galloway Farm, a vineyard her sister was working at the summer she died. The vineyard has an opening position for the summer. A feeling Claire has makes her take the jobs and live on the farm for a month. On her first day Claire finds a journal from Marcia the wife of the owner of the farm and from there she gets caught up in finding out what drew not only Claire but her sister to this place all those years earlier.

This story was fast paced and engaging. Although the story is not at all what I expected going into it I could not put it down. I needed to figure out what was going on on this farm and what really happened to Natalie. The suspense had my heart racing at times not sure if Claire would make it off the farm herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First, I want to say thank you to St Martin’s and Net Galley for the Arc of this phenomenal book.

I have read two other Stacy Willingham books. I enjoyed them but they didn’t wow me. This book did. This book is brilliant. This book is everything and more. This book is chef’s kiss. Now don’t get me wrong, it starts out slow and I was concerned I wasn’t going to like it but then something magical happened. I was hit with my first ‘what’ moment then there were several more. My jaw dropped repeatedly as the book built into a well told thriller. All the twists fit and didn’t seem off the wall. I was anxious. I was shocked. I was satisfied with how everything wrapped up. When I read the last sentence, I almost teared up because this was everything I wanted and then some.

I’m going to stop gushing now and just say, read this book…five (plus) stars!

Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. The story mostly kept my attention but there were a few parts that got muffled up with too much info and too many characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to get my hands on this ARC.

Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Descriptors: Alternating timelines (now vs the diary) Unsolved crimes, disappearance, lies/secrets, unease.
Spice? No
Standalone? Yes
Would I recommend? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The plot flows seamlessly throughout the book intertwining characters from the past and present by diary entries from the past. The storyline is a mystery thriller with a psychological mind twisting element set in the South about a missing girl. If you love unsolved cases, crime, and thrillers, this book is a must read. The reading pace is fast and I couldn't put it down!

#NetGalley #MyHonestReview

I was SO excited when I got the email that I was approved to read Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham, early - since I loved A Flicker in the Dark! I have to say that it did not disappoint. This was an enjoyable, fast-paced thriller set in coastal South Carolina.

When Claire was 11, her older sister, Natalie disappeared, presumed dead shortly after she turned 18. Since then, Claire left for NYC as soon as she could and didn't look back, until she receives a call that lands her back home in South Carolina for the summer. As a journalist with nothing but time on her hands, she starts to find clues to her sister's disappearance that she just can't let go. The Galloway Farm is an escape that she needs but she finds more and more that immerses her in the dark and dangerous past of her family. I think that initially, it was a little slow in the set up, but Stacy Willingham knows how to grab your attention. I have to say the twists and turns were great and I didn't see all of them coming, which of course, we know I love. We have a great combination of family drama, suspense, unsolved mystery and murder and chapter by chapter unravelling and dual timelines!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Stacy Willingham for the eARC of Forget Me Not in exchange for an honest review. Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham is set for publication on 26 August 2025. Rated up for 4.5 Stars.

3.5 ⭐️

I dove into this pulse-pounding thriller with the kind of enthusiasm I reserve for an iced tea on a sweltering summer day, and let me tell you, it was a ride… bumpy in spots, but gosh, did it have me clutching my imaginary pearls! This book is like a Lowcountry breeze: sultry, mysterious, and just a tad unsettling. It’s not a perfect bloom, but it’s got enough twists to keep you flipping pages past bedtime.

We follow Claire Campbell, an investigative journalist who’s been running from her past faster than I flee from a spider in the bathtub. Twenty-two years ago, her older sister, Natalie, vanished, leaving behind a trail of blood in a car and a closed case that haunts Claire like a ghost in a Gothic novel. When a call from her dad drags her back to her childhood home in South Carolina, Claire’s forced to face the trauma she’s buried deeper than my attempts to hide my snack stash. With a summer looming in her estranged mother’s house (yikes), Claire impulsively takes a seasonal gig at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard that sounds like it should come with a charcuterie board and a sunset view. But this ain’t no Hallmark movie. Galloway’s idyllic vibes hide dark secrets, and Claire’s digging unearths truths that make her question everything. It’s a slow-burn mystery with shocks that hit like a plot twist in a soap opera.

The coastal South Carolina backdrop is so vivid I could practically smell the marsh and hear the cicadas. It’s the kind of place I’d love to visit with a glass of sweet tea, minus the creepy secrets. The twists? Juicier than a Georgia peach in July! One reveal had me gasping louder than when I found out my favorite coffee shop discontinued my go-to latte. Willingham knows how to keep you guessing, and I was living for it. Claire’s inner monologue is sharp and relatable, with just enough wit to make me chuckle—like when she muses about her life falling apart faster than a cheap beach chair.


Here’s where I get a smidge snarky. The pacing drags in the middle, like waiting for my ancient laptop to load a webpage. I get it—slow burns need time to simmer—but I was ready for the pot to boil sooner. Some plot points felt predictable, like spotting a rom-com’s happy ending from a mile away.

Willingham’s ability to blend psychological suspense with Southern charm is like pairing a bold red wine with a spicy gumbo—it shouldn’t work, but it does. This book isn’t as shiny as A Flicker in the Dark (still her crown jewel, in my opinion), but it’s a solid addition to her thriller lineup. It’s readable, human, and perfect for anyone who loves a mystery with a side of sass.

If you’re a thriller fan with a soft spot for Southern vibes and jaw-dropping twists, grab this book, a cozy blanket, and maybe a glass of muscadine wine.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine, served with a wink and a smile.

Set in a small town in the Carolina’s, Forget Me Not was a captivating and riveting thriller. The story follows Claire Campbell, a journalist who becomes disillusioned by her job and life in NYC and unexpectedly returns to her small hometown for the first time more than a decade after her sister was murdered. We follow Claire’s journey at Galloway Farms after finding an old diary that completely upends everything she knew about her sister’s murder and her own family.

While this book was a bit slow at points, this was a solid thriller for me. I enjoyed the plot and pacing of the book, including the many twists and turns. I had wished we got to know more about some of the characters and how they connected with the overall mystery of the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc!

Review Script

Stacy Willingham does it again with another phenomenal thriller. This book had so many twists and turns I thought I was on a rollercoaster. Claire’s sister went missing over two decades ago. She has spent that entire time running from her past. An unexpected call brings her home and leads her to accepting the same summer job her sister had when she disappeared. She then finds herself wandering down the same path that led to her sister’s demise.
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4.5 STARS!

If there's anything I know about Ms. Willingham, is that she is going to write a fabulous twisty mystery set in the Deep South! As a southerner myself, I always appreciate her accurate descriptions about scenery and life in the south.

This was such a unique and captivating story! I was hooked almost immediately and stayed up WAYY past my bedtime to find out the ending (that's when you know). It is in the same vein of THE NIGHT SWIM and a little bit creepier than her previous work. This is why for me, she is an auto-buy thriller author. I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review.

so grateful I got to read an early copy of this book!

This is now my second favorite Stacy Willingham (behind a flicker in the dark)!

The main character Claire was a little insufferable, her “forgetting” crucial things in crucial moments multiple times was so infuriating, which had my yelling at my kindle, but that also means I was invested.

It was a little slow until about 30%, and then you couldn’t pry my kindle out of my hands.

But the plot twist…. I did NOT see it coming! It takes a lot for the book to shock me, and it shocked me twice. Some of the “twists” I guess, but some of them truly came out of left field for me!

I loved Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham. Thank you NetGalley for the arc! Main female character quits her big city job and heads back home to rural SC. What starts in an attempt to feel closer to her dead sister turns in a decades long, complicated suspenseful investigation. I was really hooked and loved the way it ended! 4.5 stars but couldn’t do a half star on here.

This riveting southern thriller keeps you engaged from the first page to the last. It pulls you in with family drama and then the atmospheric setting filled with mystery and suspense.

Claire went to New York to start a new life and thought she had left all the trauma behind of what happened to her sister. Now Claire quit her job as an investigative reporter and is going home to take care of her estranged mother. Even years later she is still haunted by what happened to her sister-Natalie. Now, she goes to the last place she remembers her sister being happy Galloway farms. She accepts a job as a seasonal worker as she feels Natalie’s presence and feels like this is where she is meant to be.

She discovers a diary of Marcia and begins reading it. The diary is so detailed that she feels she gets to really know the mysterious owner. The further she reads the closer she feels she is getting to what happened to Natalie and that there may be others crimes that happened here.

Read this if you like family drama, domestic suspense, unsolved mysteries, isolated settings, and second chances.

Now this was a truly enjoyable suspense thriller. I love the Southern setting because it always makes the books so atmospheric. Claire has never gotten over the disappearance of her sister many years ago, and after traveling back to her hometown, she uncovers secrets, lies, and lots of deception that lead her down a path she never expected and get her closer to the truth of what really happened. It did move a bit slow at times, but not enough to truly take me out of the story. If you enjoy true crime, mystery journals, lots of secrets, lowcountry settings, and dual timelines, I highly recommend this one!

A haunting story that will leave you on the edge of your seat as you read. Another true crime from Willingham that centers around family drama and is full of twists and turns. Highly recommend picking this one up!

I love this author and her newest book did not disappoint! Lots of twists and turns that keep you guessing. Loved the character development, the setting, the descriptions. Definitely recommend you add this to your TBR for this year!!

Thank you #netgalley and #stmartinspress #minotaurbooks for the eARC.

This was my favorite Stacy Willingham yet! Claire, having rage quit her job as a journalist, is broke and without anything to do except open the old wound of her old sister Natalie’s murder 22 years ago. She ends up going home to see her mom and eventually getting a job on the same vineyard that her sister worked on all those years ago. Claire, a journalist by trade, can’t stop herself from digging into the vineyard and the family running it, and discovers more stories of mysterious disappearances associated with it. Some things I predicted but the end surprised me. Not to mention the character growth was very well written. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, publishing August 26, 2025.

Claire was just turned down for a promotion at work and isn't in a good place. A recent news article has her reminded of her sister who disappeared twenty-two years earlier. Her sister's disappearance left her family fractured and Claire hasn't been back to her home state in fifteen years. A recent call from her dad sees her back home and more curious than ever about her sisters disappearance. Claire goes on an adventure to try to become closer to her sister, but what she finds is far more sinister. Throughout the story I enjoyed the dual perspective of Claire and Marcia--providing necessary exposition for the setting at hand. The characters were relatable and likeable--even the ones you weren't sure if you were supposed to like. The story kept you guessing and I was quite surprised by the ending! Another great book from Stacy Willingham! Anyone who loves a good mystery needs to read this book!

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham is a haunting, beautifully written thriller that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The characters are richly developed, and the story weaves suspense, emotion, and psychological tension with expert precision. Just when you think you have it figured out, the plot takes another unexpected turn.