Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

A BIG thank you to #NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for sending me this ARC to read in exchange for my honest review.

About the book: Over 20 years ago Claire Campbell’s older sister went missing when she was 18 years old. A few days later her blood was found in a mans car that was believed to be who she had been sneaking around seeing. The man was quickly arrested and the case was closed.
Claire was very traumatized by the event and in an attempt to escape her past she flees to the city. There she becomes an investigative reporter, until one day she received a call from her father letting her know that her mom had an accident and could use some help at home.
When Claire arrives at her moms, she quickly feels very unwelcomed and it’s clear that her mom doesn’t want her help. She can’t return to her apartment because she is subletting it for the summer. So rather than leave town, she takes a seasonal job at Galloway Farms working at the vineyard. This also happens to be the same place her sister worked before she went missing. It feels like the perfect place for Claire to pass the time and make extra money along the way.
While getting settled into her guest house, Claire discovers a hidden diary written by one of the vineyard owners. At first it seems harmless, about teenage rebellion and love, but it quickly turns into something more troubling. It gives details of various unsolved crimes. Claire finds herself more and more engrossed in the diary.
Claire feels like her sister’s own disappearance may somehow be tied to it. Will she discover the truth before it’s too late?

What I thought? This one was slow burn for me. It honestly took me a bit to get into it. It does pick up more towards about the middle, but nothing truly exciting/suspenseful ever really happens. There are a couple twists in there that did get me. All in all I’d give this book 3.5 stars.

This kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish! I’ve really enjoyed all of Stacy Willingham’s books, but this one might be my favorite. It was absolutely riveting with so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming!

Another amazing book by Stacy Willingham, this is why she is on my list of author's whose books I will automatically read without even looking at the description. Forget Me Not was filled with suspense and tension, the ending had some great plot twists. I'm not surprised I read it in two days, I could not put it down. I loved that it had the diary entries that flashed us back in time, and gave us glimpses of what happened before. Cannot recommend this book enough.

I devoured all of Stacy Willingham’s book last summer so I knew I had to read this new one! It was amazing from the start. It starts out with a younger sister returning home to an ailed mother that she hasn’t seen in years. Her parents divorce and her sister’s disappearance as the main reason for the distance. But as Claire returns home, she is haunted by the memories of her sister and her disappearance. Staying a town over working on a vineyard and vegetable farm, Claire began discovering secrets about her sister’s disappearance as well as many other cold case disappearances. As a struggling journalist who recently quit her job, Claire found a mysterious diary while working at the farm which lead her to the most incredible story of her career. Told from Claire’s perspective as well as the perspective of the journal’s author, Claire pieces together a story that changed her life. Must read if you are a fan of mysteries and thrillers!!

Stacy Willingham is an instant read for me. I have loved her last books and this is no exception, It wasn't as much of a thriller as it was a mystery. There are multiple timelines but it was done really well. Read IT!

I was given an ARC for an honest review of Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham.

This one is great from the first page. It was a very well written twisty book with a little bit of a mystery and a tad bit of a thriller (not too much) all wrapped into the pages. Sometimes I struggle with multiple timelines but this one was not confusing when dealing with that. About halfway through was when I got to the can't put it down point and had to finish. Very well written, great story, great character!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. This is the first book I’ve read by Stacy Willingham and I really liked it a lot. I enjoyed her writing style and how she described settings and characters. It was a great story with some twists I did not see coming! The only reason I knocked off one star was because it did seem a little slow in the middle…but the ending was great! Highly recommend this one and definitely plan on looking for more of her books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on August 26th.

To see other reviews I’ve left, check out my Instagram and Goodreads pages:
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808
*Goodreads - Cherihy808

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for providing me with a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts! I was very excited when I received the email inviting me to read it, as Stacy has always been one of my top thriller authors!

Forget me Not had me hooked from the beginning! Twisty, emotional, and just the right amount of creepy, which is everything I love in a good thriller. A fast-paced and gripping Southern thriller, this novel delivers an addictive blend of suspense, mystery, and atmospheric tension—perfect for fans of Stacy Willingham’s work.

I enjoyed this book, but it's not a thriller. More of a mystery domestic story in a sense. It took a direction I didn't expect after the initial pages and was written well. Claire is an interesting if distant kind of character. Overall a good story, but not full of thrills, more of a convoluted family saga with some mystery thrown in.

Stacey Willingham always draws the reader in starting with setting a scene in the most descriptive way, you feel as though you are right in it, her character/or characters then developed so well we devour the story as we go along with them in these thrilling journeys.
This book stays true to all of that, it's set mostly in a small remote vineyard in SC with Claire who becomes obsessed with finding out what exactly goes on there now and how it connects to her sisters disappearance so many years ago. We sit at the edge as Claire reads a diary she found on property and starts to discover all she wanted to know and so much more.
Book releases in late August, add this now to your summer TBR pile.
Thank you NetGalley,Stacy Willingham, St Martin's Press and Minotaur books for the ARC for an honest review, I absolutely loved reading this

If you like books that keep you on the edge of your seat this is the book for you. This book kept me guessing on every character. You have to figure out who is trustworthy and who is telling the truth.
Very good book., would recommend.

thanks for the opportunity to read in advance.

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham
Genre: thriller
Format: ebook (eARC)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Swipe for the synopsis (but I enjoyed going into this one knowing nothing about it!!).

My thriller reviews tend to be short because I don’t want to give too much away. But if you’re looking for a thriller you can read in a couple days because you don’t want to put it down - pick this one up! I stayed up past my bedtime because I HAD TO KNOW what happened. It wasn’t perfect, but I was hooked. I ate up the dual timelines, setting, and overall creepy vibe.

Stacy Willingham can be hit or miss for me - I loved A Flicker in the Dark but felt meh about her other books. However, this one is a good one. It intrigued me just as much as her debut.

🏞️Atmospheric settings
⏰Dual timelines
🕵️‍♂️Cold cases
🏃‍♀️Quick read
😨Suspenseful

Thank you to Minotaur Books for my eARC! All thoughts are my own. Forget Me Not is out 8/26!

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

Stacy Willingham is back and it did not disappoint. In the beginning I felt it was a bit slower but the pace picked up. After the first 1/3, I could not put it down! There was no HUGE twist but there were a few small ones. I can’t wait to read her next book already!!

I am an a Stacy Willingham stan and this book was no exception. It was everything you need in a thriller. There were times it has your brain thinking but it is definitely a must read.

Forget Me Not was a twisty thriller that kept me engaged and guessing.

Clair’s sister went missing 20 years ago and ever since, she’s buried herself in her work as an investigative journalist. A call from her dad draws her home where she begins retracing some of her sisters steps from that last summer and unfolding details that make her question everything.

I really enjoyed this book and the voice and perspective of the main character/narrator. The way the flashbacks were presented was interesting, while and providing nuance and additional perspective. I found this book to be gripping and struggled to put it down - 4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Stacy Willingham for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Like this one but the premise feels somewhat similar to others I’ve read. Couldn’t stay engaged because it felt like I knew the plot?

This book just got better and better with each page turn. It has been a while since I've had a book where I just dove into the whole storyline. It is well- written and easy to follow, even with the time jump forward and back. A spectacular ending that answered nearly every question.

Claire returns to her hometown twenty years after her sister, Natalie, goes missing and is presumed dead. In an effort to try and connect with her sister, Claire begins work on the farm where her sister worked before she went missing. There, she meets reclusive owners Mitchell and Marcia where she can’t quite put her finger on why she doesn’t trust them. The synopsis does a great job of hiding the twist (and therefore, one of the major plots of the book), so I don’t want to spoil it, BUT I liked the ambiguity in what the true intentions of Mitchell was. Needless to say, this book did NOT disappoint.

Another successful thriller from Stacy Willingham!
this book stressed me out in the best way possilible and had a very satisfying ending.

claire Campbell returns home to be with her mother and starts on a journey to uncovering the mystery behind her sister’s murder.

This book was entertaining from start to finish.
fans of thrillers and murder mysteries will devour this novel; an instant hit.

22 years ago my sister disappeared her boyfriend was sentenced to life in prison and I was only 11.
Present day I’m a journalist in NYC and I just quit my job, when my father calls to let me know Mom had a fall and could use some help just don’t tell her I called to tell you.
After overhearing Mom complain that I’m here I decide to pick up and go. I end up finding a job that includes room and board at the Vineyard my sister worked at just prior to when she was taken. I’m staying until I figure out what happened.

It's a great suspenseful story that I just could not put down!