Thank you to St. Martin's Press/ Minotuar books and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this book I truly do appreciate it.

Twenty Two years ago Claire Campbell's older sister Natalie goes missing. Few days later blood was found in a car and a man is arrested and the case is swiftly closed. In the years since, Claire has tried hard to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as a investigative journalist. That is until she gets an unexpected call from her father for her to come back home and help her mother.

With the entire summer still ahead. Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal position at Galloway Farm. A vineyard in Coastal South Carolina which is truly an escape. However as soon as Claire begins to settle in, she stumbles on an old diary written by the vineyard owner, and what seems like a story about young rebellion and love turns into something more sinister. It starts to begin more details about unsolved crimes. As the days go on Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary's contents as well as the lingering feelings that her sister's disappearance may have something to do with all of this. Galloway was supposed to be a place to escape but instead Claire finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.

This book did take me awhile to get through but I still enjoyed it none the less. We all read at different reading paces. I have always loved Stacy Willingham and her writing, I have read all of her books so far and have been loving all of them. I can't wait for this book to come out so everyone can read it. I would say that the majority of this book is a 3, but the twists in the book near the end is what made me want to move it up to a 4 star. This book was a little slow getting into everything, but it was still good and I still wanted to keep reading the story. Some words to describe this book, haunting, scary, dark, and twisty. I also got some cozy vibes from this book. I don't know if that was because of the farm scenery or if it was because it was summer in this book. Also the female main character was going through so much during this entire book, unemployment, still grieving her sister and trying to help her mom.

When you find a good book from one author you need to read all of the books that she has out. I have read all of her books, and so far have never been disappointed with her books or her writing. Also the covers of her books are always good, and beautiful they are darker covers but they are still so good. I know that this book isn't even out yet but I cannot wait for another book of her's to come out whenever she does release/ write another book.

I really enjoyed the parts of her reading the diary and getting glimpses of that I think that's what made the story really entertaining. There were a couple of quotes in this book that I liked. Also Forget Me Not's are such pretty flowers I might have to plant some soon. I love the blue colour that they have.

Get your copy when it comes out August 26th, 2025. I will be buying a physical copy of this book when it is released.

Happy Reading!!!!

Claire recently quit her job as an investigative journalist when she did get the promotion she was up for in favor of doing freelance work. While begrudgingly attending the party for her former coworker receiving the promotion she wanted, she gets a call from her Dad letting her know that her estranged Mom had an accident, broke some bones and could really use her help getting around for a few weeks. Since Claire‘s sister went missing years ago, Claire is all her Mom has left as she and Claire’s Dad divorced years ago, so she decides to head home. Unresolved issues still persist and lead Claire to leave again but she does not go far.

Claire finds a vineyard where her sister used to work where she can make some extra money and get free room and board while trying to sort through her life in peace or so she thought. What she uncovers will keep you reading until the end!

I love this author and this book was my favorite of hers so far! I read this book in 2 days and was surprised multiple times by the twists and turns that it took. I could not wait to figure out what had happened and once I thought I had it figured out, something else popped up that changed the course of this book. I highly recommend this captivating read with great characters and an atmospheric vibe!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I loved the first two books Stacy Willingham wrote so I couldn't wait to read her new one. Turns out, it's a page turner too and it's just as good! Claire hopes that taking a job as a journalist in new York City will help her forget the traumatic events of her past. Her sister disappeared over 20 years ago and the police closed the case but some things just don't add up. A phone call from her father forces her home to face it all again. Claire gets a job at the farm her sister worked on the last summer before her disappearance. Things get interesting when she stumbles upon a diary that could tie up all the loose ends. But can Claire gather all the evidence she needs before it's too late? Thanks to @NetGalley for the ARC of this book. It is amazing.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and MacMillan Audio for the digital copy of this book and audiobook; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Content warnings: gun violence, graphic violence, incest

There’s something about a cold case mystery that draws me in. There’s usually some psychological suspense involved and Forget Me Not delivers. It also features dual timelines, which is another favorite of mine. It is a bit darker than I like, but Forget Me Not is so well written that I didn’t mind.

Claire Campbell has faced trauma in her life. Her older sister, Natalie, disappeared 22 years ago while working at a place called Galloway Farm. Her body was never found, and Claire leaves home for college and avoids returning home. Her father convinces her to come home and help look after her mother, who has had surgery. While looking through her sister’s photos and journals, Claire decided to head to the farm to see if she can find some answers to her sister’s death.

Galloway Farm has a weird vibe. An older couple lives there with a farmhand. They offer Claire a job despite the fact that she has no experience working on a farm. Claire accepts the job even though the farm is secluded and there’s no cell service.

I do have to say that Claire makes some really questionable choices throughout the book that left me scratching my head. And a lot of questions she has during her stay at Galloway could have been answered if she had just had a long talk with her mother.

The audiobook is narrated by Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker, and they do a great job with the material. Overall, this book is more mystery than thriller, and now that I’ve read the book, I noticed things on the cover art that pertain to the secrets in the story, so an excellent job there.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

I have very conflicting feelings about this book. I loved the overall story, but I had some pretty big issues with it at points. I'm hoping some of these things will be fixed in the final published version.

The decision to write the diary entries in 3rd person and everything else in first person was a really weird choice.

The main character was generally likable, but she made some huge leaps while investigating and sometimes she made me feel very frustrated with her incompetence.

I didn't see the big twist coming, but I also don't really get what the point of it was other than shock factor. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Some things also felt like they were only happening for plot convenience and the prose felt a little purple at times.

Aside from all of those things - which I think are all fixable with one last edit- I did really enjoy the basic mystery of the book and most of the writing was good, so I'm really hoping that the pulished version if this will be a 5 star read for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book early!
Another wonderfully mysterious book by Stacy Willingham. I had a lot of fun reading it and I already have it on preorder! I will read anything Stacy Willingham writes! The writing style and vibes are just perfect.

Claire goes back to her small town home to visit her mother after not having been there in years. Going back stirs memories of her sister Natalie who went missing at age 18. Going through some old pictures, she finds one of a farm Natalie used to work at. Claire goes to the farm and ends up getting a job because she can’t go back home to her mom, and she can’t go back to her apartment in the city. Claire finds an old diary of the owner, Marcia, hidden in an air vent of the guesthouse. Reading it out of curiosity, and researching on her own, she finds Marcia’s situation is a little familiar. Claire wants to get to the bottom of this and maybe save Marcia like she couldn’t save Natalie. This book is so twisty, you probably won’t be able to put it down after you’ve started!

I really enjoyed the multiple points of view in this book. There is the present of the main character, Claire, and Claire’s past looking back to when her sister went missing. There is also the point of view of Marcia’s diary. Usually with many different POV, I tend to favor one in particular, but I felt like all of them came together perfectly.
I did not guess the ending! I was so surprised how it all came together in the end. The entire book was so well written and I felt like all of the characters were well done.

I love Willinghams books so far, so I was excited for this one. It did not disappoint. I could sense the twists approaching but I did not have the slightest clue what was coming for me. Stacy pulls off some of the best twists that don’t feel like complete curveballs. There are enough hints and red herrings to keep things interesting along the way. Our main character is interesting within herself, regardless of the missing sister adventure. Her relationship with her mother intrigued me from the start and I loved how it all unfolded at the end. The setting is perfectly isolating and unsettling. The Family had me chomping at the bit for more information. I typically don’t love “found journal” stories because the entire time I am thinking JUST SIT DIWN AND READ THE WHOLE THING but the way this one was done helped bridge that mental gap for me.

This book started off fairly slow for me. I didn’t find myself truly intrigued or interested until about 45% of the way through the book. Once I rounded that corner though I did find the book interesting and full of twists I did not see. Over all I did enjoy reading Forget-Me-Not and would recommend. Thanks to Net Galley and Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Claire Campbell comes back to her hometown after 10 years of being away to help her mom who has broken her leg. But their stilted relationship caused by the disappearance and then untimely death of her sister has Claire leaving less then 24 hours later. She leaves with a shoebox filled with old pics of her sister’s last summer as well as an undeveloped film. After dropping the film off, she somehow finds herself at the doorstep of the last place her sister worked before her disappearance, Galloway Farms a vineyard on a remote island. She thinks this is exactly what she needs to rejuvenate her stagnant life. But the more she learns about the farm and the people on it the more things aren’t adding up. Plus add in a hidden diary and the journalist in her can’t seem to let go and needs to get the bottom of what’s going on.

Okay, listen. Stacy Willingham could write a grocery list and I’d probably read it with a flashlight under my blanket. Forget Me Not was a slower burn than her usual firecrackers, but once it gets going? Oh, it goes.

Claire returns home to untangle the mess of her sister’s long-ago murder—and ends up falling headfirst into a twisted vineyard rabbit hole with diary entries, family secrets, and enough Southern tension to make you sweat. Yes, the pacing starts like sweet tea on a hot day—slow—but trust Stacy, she knows exactly when to turn up the heat.

It took me a minute to get into it, but by the end I was flipping pages like I was chasing answers myself. Dark, twisty, and dripping in atmosphere—Willingham still reigns. And yep, I’m already reaching for the next one.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
I feel so lucky Minotaur Books sent me this eARC! Stacy Willingham is hands down one of my top thriller authors. I’ve read all of her books and they always end up being some of my favorites every year. Her writing is so sharp and her endings are always so satisfying! Forget Me Not was right up there with the rest of her thrillers. I loved the cultish vibes in this one and couldn’t get enough of the story. The atmosphere, the emotional depth, the complex characters…everything just pulled me in. I seriously couldn’t put it down until the mystery was solved. There were so many twists I didn’t see coming and I loved how the clues were all there for us to piece it together. The diary entries were such a great touch and the family drama added an extra layer of fun. Also, there was a character named Liam and even though it usually weirds me out when my son’s name pops up in a book I’m reading, I actually didn’t mind it in this one. This one is easily in my top two thrillers of the year, maybe even my favorite. Make sure to grab it when it comes out in August!

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
🔪Psychological thriller
🔎Cold case mysteries
🫖Cultish vibes
⏩Page turning
🤐Secrets and lies
🔀Twists and turns
📔Diary entries
🔄Dual timelines
📝Atmospheric writing
🏠Southern setting

🍇𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🍇
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E: “𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉, 𝑔𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒."

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Stacy Willingham for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💕

✨I do love a good Southern thriller, especially when set in the dog days of summer. This one was eerie and atmospheric and set the scene nicely for all the twists and turns to come.

✨I savored the slow burn suspense and the tension that quietly heightened with each page turned. This book is perfect for a quick summer thrill, and I enjoyed the read.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Southern fiction
✨North Carolina settings
✨True crime vibes
✨Isolated settings
✨Family drama
✨Atmospheric moods
✨Dual timelines and points of view

I absolutely love a mystery/ suspense book that is an unputdownable page turner; and this was absolutely that! There was a lot to the story and the writing made me feel like I was at the farm with her. Some twists were shocking and some I had figured out. I enjoyed that mix of knowing more than the MC but also searching for more clues. There was one twist that wasn’t really believable to me but still a solid 4.5 star read!

I was disappointed in this one.

From start to the middle the story felt very disjointed. I thought it was going to be a domestic thriller about a journalist finding out more details on her sisters murder.

Instead or became about a cult? But focused on another characters diary. I felt no connection to the characters or how this was relevant to her sisters death.

Disappointing

This book pulled me in immediately! Since the main character, Claire, is a reporter, I seemed to be drawn to trying to figure out the twists and turns. Usually I just go along for the ride, but this time I tried to figure it out with Claire. Let me tell you what… I was wrong just about every time! This story was so intricately spun and I really enjoyed it!! What a fabulous psychological thriller!

3.25 stars. I am a huge fan of Stacy Willingham and her first novel blew me away. This one, sadly, did not. A sister returns home after 22 years and decides she wants to go back to try and understand her older sister, Natalie's, disappearance. Sounds intriguing, right? Premise is great. But the execution on this one I just didn't buy. There was a lot of 'are you kidding me?" moments. Also, I'm not a fan of "you look exactly like . . . . " when it is 20+ years and I'm sorry but no one looks exactly like after that many years past. Too many impossibilities in this story for me to love it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Stacy Willingham and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Usually, I prefer nailbiting thrillers, and this one was much more of a slowburn than I am used to. I still enjoyed it!

Stacy Willingham consistently writes books that I enjoy and this is no exception! I recently moved to the Charleston, SC area, where Stacy also resides and her stories reflect her surroundings. Having this exposure to the setting helped make this book feel SO real for me, and I was enjoying the unfolding of the plot. I did not expect the twists and appreciated how layered it was.

Jeffery was Natalies secret, older boyfriend, ten years her senior. Claire is Staying in Natalie, the dead sister’s room while her mom is recovering from a fall.
While going through her late sister’s drawer Claire finds an undeveloped roll of film.
Claire stops by an old vineyard and in turn is offered a summer job. She meets the owners, a cute older couple. While getting settled she stumbles across an old diary. She realizes this diary is over 40 years old and it belongs to one of the owners, Marcia. As Claire begins to read the diary she finds herself intrigued by what it’s about, especially, the part where an older Mitchell meets the young neieve Marcia. Marcia jumps at the chance to run away with Mitchell to “meet the others” she feels like something is off but she also feels like she belongs to this newfound family. The way my jaw dropped at that ending!

SO GOOD. The plot. The character development. The tangled web of secrets 😱 The way this book comes together is fantastic and keeps you guessing until the very end

A haunting tale of girls making one wrong move, Forget Me Not takes the reader into a southern style story of a family. Not all families stay connected and not all families have happy memories, and Stacy makes sure the reader stays for the winding story of relationships that should have never been.
Being a huge supporter of Willingham’s books, I was so happy to be a part of another advanced copy. The way she writes mysteries helps keep the readers connected without showing all her cards. I did enjoy the story of Galloway Farms, and the weaving of this harrowing tale, but I didn’t feel the pacing could have been set differently. Most of the action or heavier plot scenes happen after 65% of the story. If I wasn’t as involved in her work, I don’t know if it would have held my interest.
Otherwise, I would recommend this story as a slow but effective mystery of girls that need to be careful when knowing who to trust.