I enjoyed this book. Not my favorite Stacy willingham book but I enjoyed it. I liked the characters. The plot was different and kept me entertained and a few plot twists I did not see coming.

I always look forward to Stacy's books. To me this one was more of a mystery with a little bit of a thriller at the end. I found it to be predictable a times but still an enjoyable story overall. The last third of the book bumped it up a star for me.

Claire Campbell's older sister Natalie went missing twenty-two years ago and Claire's family fell apart. She has attempted to forget the past, moved from South Carolina to New York City and started a new life there as an investigative journalist. But after missing out on the promotion she wanted, she is feeling stuck. When her father calls and asks her to come home to keep an eye on her mom out after an injury, she decides to face the past head on and returns to South Carolina. She can't stay in the house that is locked in time, so she accepts a seasonal job, which includes room and board, at Galloway Farm less than an hour from where she grew up. The isolated farm on a small island feels perfect to pass the time in a beautiful place and connect with the memory of Natalie since she also once worked there. As Claire starts to settle into the guest house, she finds an old journal written by one of the vineyard's owners. Claire finds herself drawn into the story of young love, rebellion, and sinister crime as she reads more of the story. The days on the farm stretch on and Claire becomes more secluded and paranoid as she obsesses over the writing and the connections that start to form between it and her sister's disappearance. Her peaceful summer has just taken a dark and dangerous turn.

Love this book! If you like twisted thrillers that keep you hooked and guessing, add this to your TBR right now! I didn't want to stop reading and felt like Claire with the journal, hooked and reading late into the night. The story is told in two timeline POV - Claire current day and 1980's with Marcia's writing. It was fast paced and built-up suspense and tension that made you hold your breath while reading. The tangled web in this one was a ride!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for the e-book for review.

Forget Me Not
by Stacy Willingham
Pub Date: August 26, 2025
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
While I enjoyed the last two Stacy Willingham books that I read, this book was just too frustrating for me to enjoy as much as I enjoyed the other books. The mystery sounds very intriguing and and there are thrilling aspects to the story, but the main character made me want to stomp my feet and throw my Kindle at her.
Willingham keeps the reader on their toes consistently. There were so many fantastic twists and turns along the way, many of which I did not see coming. When it is over, you can look back and see the breadcrumbs missed; everything making sense when all is said and done. If I have just one small criticism, it is that the pacing was slightly wonky, with a few chapters feeling much slower than others. That said, I was able to quickly push past that issue because of how engaged I was with the overarching story.

Of note, there is one aspect of the writing itself that I am still incredibly confused about. The journal Claire finds and reads is told entirely in the 3rd person, not 1st. I have never seen that before, and I am still questioning the decision to do so.
Read if you like:
▪️domestic suspense
▪️true crime vibes
▪️family dramas
▪️southern thrillers
▪️isolated settings
▪️binge-worthy books

Absolutely love me a good thriller! And this cover is perfect. I love a good, quick read in the summer time that keeps me on the edge of my seat!

Investigative journalist Claire has recently left her job at the NY Journal after being passed over for a promotion that should have been hers. As she is trying to get her career back on track as a freelance writer, one phone call from her father puts her career plans on hold.

Reluctantly returning to her hometown after 20 years to help her injured Mom, immediately begins to plunge her back into her past. To the time in her life when where her older sister Natalie mysteriously disappeared, only to have the case closed quickly after a shirt turned up a few days later covered in Natalie’s blood.

Being back in her old home immediately begins to dredge up all of the emotions and guilt that Claire felt during that dark and difficult time. After stumbling upon the last picture that was taken of Natalie where she looks truly happy, Claire decides to revisit Galloway Farm, the backdrop to this photo.

When a chance encounter on this farm seems to offer Claire an impromptu job opportunity, she seizes the opportunity to take a break from her writing career and immerse herself into the last place that her sister seemed truly happy…a chance to escape all her current struggle and maybe even connect with something that brought her sister joy, what could go wrong? The answer…everything.

This dark and atmospheric book is less thriller and more mystery. Filled with decades of disappearing girls, strong cult vibes and a deeply disturbing knowledge of herbology, this story will take you on many twists and turns all culminating in a conclusion you are not likely to see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoy Stacy’s writing! She always keeps me on my toes. I couldn’t put this down. The ending felt dragged out and so much of it had me scratching my head because there’s just no way someone’s survival instincts are that low. I did not see some of the twists coming. Overall I enjoyed this book and I’m grateful for the arc.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the chance to get my hands on the latest Stacy Willingham book, Forget Me Not!
The story opens with the main character, Claire, being summoned back home to care for an injured parent, however she hasn't returned home in a long time due to the trauma of her sister's disappearance/suspected murder. Once returning home, she locates some clues which lead her to Galloway Farm where she hopes to uncover more details regarding her sister's disappearance. Will she find answers or find herself in a dangerous situation of her own attempting to dig up past secrets?
I enjoyed the suspense of the interweaving stories as both present and past were connected.
This seemed to be a slower read for me compared to her past novels however it could have just been related to life and not due to the story itself.
4 ⭐️ and I definitely recommend you reading this if you like a twisty, suspenseful novel!
Thanks again to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for this digital advance copy!

Stacy Willingham’s new novel FORGET ME NOT is unfortunately pretty forgettable for this reader.

Claire recently quit her job as a journalist in NYC and became a freelancer, and she realizes that’s not working out at the same time she gets a call from her dad that her mom fell and needs help for a few weeks. Claire gets a person to sublease her place in, like, a day and then goes to her family home in the low country.

Once there, it’s obvious her mother doesn’t want/need her and it brings back memories of her older sister Natalie, who disappeared when Claire was 11 years old. After checking out Natalie’s bedroom, Claire gets inspiration to find where Natalie used to work at Galloway Farm 22 years ago. After only a day with her mother, Claire leaves and finds Galloway Farm. Guess what? They’re hiring, and she can live there for free and get paid to pick grapes by hand. (Insert eye roll.) Then she commences a job where she doesn’t even work and plays Nancy Drew all day. Mitchell and Marcia, the vineyard owners, spend a lot of time sipping tea on the porch. Liam is the only worker, and he doesn’t get out much because he’s seemingly doing the work of 4 people. Claire thinks this vineyard is the link to what happened to her sister. (I was confused because the novel implied Jeffrey was arrested and in jail for the murder, so why would she still be looking into it?)

Aside from the very coincidental plot, I thought this author was trying to go for more purple prose but got stuck behind awkward-sounding similes and metaphors. The style just didn’t work for this type of book (mystery). This was written in first-person (usually my favorite!), but the reader was held at arm’s reach. Once Claire found a diary from the past, I was excited that the writing style might change. But the author chose to not actually write the diary, but instead narrate those scenes from the close third-person perspective, which had the SAME writing style as Claire’s perspective. If a character finds a diary, I look forward to reading the entries and not a narration from the moment itself with awkward metaphors.

I found this novel so frustrating, and it gets a little zany at the end. It plodded along like it was a mystery for so long, and then - bang - let’s be a thriller.

I’ve read Willingham’s first two books and rated them both 4 ⭐️. This one was a disappointment in comparison.
Edit Review

ARC review- 08/26/2025 pub date

When Claire returns to her hometown for the summer to visit her mom, she finds herself working at a farm where her sister worked 22 years ago before she disappeared. The story is a combination of current events in Claire's life and the past- via a diary she finds from a girl named Marcia.

This was a little slow for me right off the bat, but the second half definitely picked up and I couldn't stop reading. Going back and forth from past to present can sometimes throw off the storyline for me, but this all tied together so perfectly and I loved it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my advanced copy to review!

ARC Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

Stacy WIllingham has done it again. A page turner from start to finish, with all the twists and turns I’ve come to love from her books Forget Me Not is another 5-star for me. I absolutely love the way Stacy puts you into the head of her main characters so that you are seeing the world and the reveals truly from their eyes. This story which took place over decades in South Carolina felt like a true crime docuseries as each piece of the puzzle was put into place.
If you haven’t read a book by Stacy Willingham yet, I highly recommend you do so. Each and everyone I have thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you @netgalley for the chance to read this advanced copy.
#thriller #stacywillingham #southcarolina #forgetmenot #cult #familyloss #sisters

Great book! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think it is her best one yet! I read this in one sitting because i could not put it down.

As a huge Stacy Willingham fan, I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of Forget Me Not from @netgalley. I love Stacy Willingham’s style of writing and the stories she weaves. In Forget Me Not, Claire decides to spend the summer on a farm where her missing sister used to work in an attempt to feel closer to her. She quickly realizes that she has stumbled upon more than she bargained for. This novel is fast-paced and will keep you guessing!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/ Minotaur Books for granting me access to the book in exchange for an honest review.

What a haunting, evocative, and atmospheric slow-burning mystery with a constant sense of unease simmering just beneath the surface!! The Southern setting is lush and immersive, the tension unrelenting, and the story utterly twisted and unique. It's a tale of memory, family, and the price of digging up the past. Though the pace is slower at first, once the mystery deepens, it's impossible to put down. The ending is stunning and shocking! You'll think about it long after the final page! 💜💜💜💜

What if the answers you've spent decades trying to forget are hidden in the very place you were trying to escape??

Twenty-two years after her sister Natalie vanished, Claire Campbell is called back to her coastal South Carolina hometown. With summer stretching ahead and nowhere to hide from old ghosts, she takes a seasonal job at Galloway Farm.

At first, it seems like the perfect escape. But when Claire discovers a long forgotten diary tucked away on the property, everything begins to unravel. Who wrote it and why does it detail eerily familiar crimes that were never solved? And more chillingly, could this be the key to understanding what really happened to Natalie?

As Claire delves deeper into the diary's secrets, she begins to wonder if she has found the truth or is the truth finding her? She is haunted by what she is reading, but also by the nagging feeling that someone else may be watching, waiting, and remembering.

This novel makes you asks: How far would you go to uncover the truth? And what happens when the place you sought for healing becomes the key to everything you were trying to forget?

In conclusion, I highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves stories steeped in atmosphere, emotion, and slow-burning suspense. While it's not an edge of your seat thriller, it's a deeply immersive mystery that quietly builds tension on every page. Days after finishing, I still find myself thinking about this story-how haunting, thoughtful, and beautifully unsettling it was. It lingers in the best way, quietly echoing long after the final page.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5 ⭐

Claire's sister disappears and her case is quickly closed. However, Claire thinks there is more to it and with time on her hands, she heads back to her hometown and the last place she thinks her sister was last seen. As soon as she settles in she finds a journal that holds all the secrets to the past.

I did like the journal and finding out the different secrets each character had. I did think that some parts were slow, and the ending was so fast with all the shocking surprises.

There are few things less enjoyable than a phone call from your father asking you to spend the summer with your estranged mother, who is otherwise laid up due to a fall. Claire returns to her childhood home, where two decades ago, her sister went missing. A promising summer quickly turns into something much different, as Claire realizes that she is following in her older sister’s footsteps far too quickly.

My girl Stacy has done it again. Everything I have read by her has just enough thrill & suspense, with all the polishing.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

Publication Date: August 26, 2025

This is the third book from Dtacy Willingham and I really enjoy her books and will read more.

Forget Me Not was a great read as far as what will happen at the end? Claire returns home to a small town in South Carolina to help her mother, which goes unexpected and rather than Claire return home she accepts a job at an old vineyard where her sister used to work over 20 years ago the summer before she disappeared. Claire discovers a diary in the guest house and this opens up many secrets to what has went on at this farm. This story becomes very twisty and keeps us guessing and reading to find out the truth till the very end.

Thank you Netgalley and ST Martin press for the ARC copy of this book.

Another great book by Stacy Willingham! Ever since reading A Flicker in the Dark (which I have recommended to many people) her books have been an instant read for me. This fast-paced novel follows Claire Campbell, an investigative journalist who is forced to confront her traumatic past when her older sister's disappearance twenty-two years ago resurfaces. Claire ends up working at Galloway Farm, the local vineyard, where she stumbles upon an old diary that reveals details of the farm's past she never would have imagined. I really loved the parts about the past and was constantly coming up with different scenarios that linked Claire's sister to the farm. This book is a must read for fans of psychological thrillers!

**Even though I have given every book by this author 4 stars, I would say this one is actually my favorite! I really enjoyed the atmosphere. Very dark and brooding.

** I really enjoyed Claire as our protagonist, although I do think she made quite a few stupid decisions along the way.

**I also guessed almost all of the twists, which was fine. It didn’t take away from my enjoyment.

**overall, I really loved this one and am excited for the next book by Stacy Willingham!

I’ve just started reading Stacey Wimingham books and she should definitely be more popular. This book was everything a thriller should be. Once you read this book you’ll want to read all of hers.