I love Stacy Willingham’s books. They’re smart, they’re fast-paced, and they always keep me guessing.

With this one, you know, you can just tell right away, something is not right with the place Claire finds herself in. The vibes are off, the feeling is eerie, everything is unsettled. Claire thinks she’s walking into a great gig that is exactly what she needs for the summer. The reader can feel it’s not — at least this reader could, even if I didn’t know have the genre to clue me in. The writing really sets the tone.

Despite all that, I didn’t know what the “off” part would be. I would think I had something figured out, and maybe I did, but then another layer would come in that I did not expect followed by more that I didn’t see coming. I think this is Stacy Willingham’s best yet.

I had the audiobook and ebook. The audio is great. Karissa Vacker is one of my favorite narrators and she delivered another fantastic performance here. Helen Laser is a new-to-me narrator and I really enjoyed her parts as well. Highly recommend the audiobook if it’s your preferred format.

Thank you Minotaur and Macmillan Audio for the eARC and ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have listened to all of Stacy Willingham’s audiobooks and this one may be my new favorite!

From the very first chapter, it was gripping and suspenseful, pulling me into a whirlwind of long kept secrets. The pacing was perfect, keeping me on edge and eager to uncover the next shocking revelation. I finished in 24 hours!

This story kept my attention until the very last page, and I was completely invested in the characters. The narrators are perfect, great tone, pace and inflection. A must-read for thriller fans who love a book they can't put down!

Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this ARC!!

Stacy Willingham delivers another taut thriller along the lines of “you can never come home again.” First person POV is Claire Campbell who has escaped rural South Carolina for journalism in Manhattan, only to be enticed back by her divorced father who thinks her estranged mother needs help after a catastrophic accident that broke her leg in three places.

Claire finds out quickly that mom doesn’t want her home or her assistance, but not before Claire searches the room of her sister Natalie, presumed murdered 22 years ago. An old photo leads Claire to Galloway Farms where Natalie worked part time during her last summer. A visit to the farm on her way back to New York leads to a lucrative temp job offer picking muscadine grapes for a month, and soon snoopy Claire finds an old 40 year old diary that belonged to the teenage version of the mute owner’s wife (Marcia). And as Claire reads it, she sees parallels to her sister’s last days and sinister connections to other missing women.

The storyline builds suspense as we follow Claire’s increased snooping and excerpts from Marcia’s diary. The audiobook is a two person cast with Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker giving life to and brilliantly portraying Claire and Marcia. The twists are guessable , I was entranced until the end. 4.5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): POSSIBLY: Natalie had eyes like sea glass and Bethany has hazel eyes
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO We do learn about muscadines and scuppernongs.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for advanced copies!

The dynamic duo of Stacy Willingham and Karissa Vacker strike again in this suspenseful novel.

Claire Campbell is dealing with a lot right now as there is a story in the news, a young woman possibly killed by her boyfriend, that is hitting a bit too close to home as when she was younger, Claire's sister vanished and it was determined that her boyfriend was responsible. Now, Claire finds herself out a job and heading home to take care of her injured mother. However, while home in SC, Claire finds a hidden journal that gets her thinking about other missing young women and has her wondering if there is more to her sister's story than they originally assumed.

This read a bit different for me than Willingham's other novels with the back and forth between journal entries and the present. In fact, I would say the whole book had a different vibe, but the wonderful narration of Vacker was enough to keep me engaged throughout.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audio copy.

The audio for this story was fantastic and it was great to have Stacy back with another killer. This story brought the same excitement as All the dangerous things & A flicker in the dark and is filled with layers of buried trauma, family secrets, and culty passion.

I found myself hooked immediately. The pacing of this story was perfect with Stacy continually feeding us just enough to be surprised but still wanting more. Absolutely loved the narrator!

I always look forward to Stacy Willingham’s new novels, even though Mystery/Thriller titles are not usually my favorite genre. I read them mainly to recommend to patrons or consider for book discussions. With "Forget Me Not", I had a hard time connecting to the main character, Claire, and almost DNF'd.

What kept me going was the introduction of a second storyline involving a found diary, which immediately piqued my interest. At first, the the narration was interwoven with both Karissa Vacker and Helen Laser in a way that added intrigue and variety. However, as the story progressed, the diary sections began to be told in the third person rather than as actual journal entries, which made them feel less personal and immersive.

Despite that, the mystery was engaging and the pacing improved over time. I would still recommend this to fans of Willingham or anyone looking for a suspenseful, well-performed thriller.

Thank you to Stacy Willingham, Karissa Vacker, Helen Laser, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for sending me the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a gripping thriller, which I was sucked right into. I was lucky enough to get both the ebook and the audiobook and do an immersive read. The narrators did an amazing job and kept me interested throughout the whole book. Recently, thrillers have been a hit or miss for me, and this was quite the hit. Make sure to get a copy on release day. Thank you to the publiser and NerGalley for the opportunity to read.
4 star

Another incredible thriller from Stacy Willingham!! I honestly thought I knew where this story was going and then I was completely wrong…there are so many amazing layers to this mystery and I was hooked from the very beginning! I loved the atmosphere of the isolated farm near the marsh in South Carolina, and the flashbacks to the past were so cleverly done! As always, Karissa Vacker’s narration was amazing, perfectly complimenting Stacy’s style of writing.

This book had me hooked from the first page to the last. It is layered with mystery. The plot is emotionally gripping. I thought I knew exactly where it was going & while I was partly correct, the final twist got me. The writing style, the pacing, the suspense, the atmosphere, and the ending were all perfect! The narration on the audio is fantastic.

This book is my favorite from this author to date. I highly recommend to anyone who loves emotionally charged thrillers with a powerful payoff!

Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

A Slow-Burn Mystery with a Haunting Southern Atmosphere!

Tense, atmospheric, and layered with long-buried secrets, this slow-paced mystery offers just enough intrigue to keep you guessing until the final chapter.

When Claire reluctantly returns to her South Carolina hometown to care for her estranged mother, she’s also forced to confront the unresolved trauma of her sister’s disappearance 22 years earlier. Choosing to stay at a local winery—coincidentally her sister’s last known workplace—Claire begins to quietly investigate, gradually unraveling a web of secrets that could finally bring answers… but not without putting her own life in jeopardy.

Stacey Willingham blends themes of family dysfunction, cult-like undertones, and a moody, small-town setting to create an eerie and immersive experience. The hidden diary element added a compelling true-crime feel, though I personally would’ve preferred those sections in first person for more emotional impact. Still, the story unfolded in a satisfying way, tying up the various subplots—some of which briefly bogged down the pacing—in a twisty, well-executed conclusion.

While a few characters felt underdeveloped, that seemed like an intentional choice to preserve the mystery. The prose is lyrical at times, and the tone is steeped in melancholy, capturing the grief and unresolved guilt that haunt the characters. It’s a story that explores how evil can hide in plain sight—and how mourning doesn’t fade with time, just changes shape.

Although it may not leave a lasting imprint like All the Dangerous Things, Willingham’s writing has a way of pulling you in and keeping you there. Ultimately, this was a compelling, well-crafted mystery with an unsettling ambiance and a satisfying payoff.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – A gripping, slow-burn thriller that balances emotional depth with suspense. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook!

I've now read all four of Stacy's books and I can say ALL of them have been fun to read, but this may have been the MOST FUN reading experience! I read it all in a 24-hour period and never wanted to put it down!

The plot was so unique, but the characters really stole the show for me. Some of them were mysterious, some of them were just downright creepy, but they all had me dying to know more about them! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!

I loved the diary entries and they helped move the story along so well! Just when I thought I knew where things were going, I was thrown for another loop!

I hope Stacy keeps writing books for a LONG time!

When it comes to the narration- absolutely perfect! You can't get better than Karissa Vacker and Helen Laser!

I loved this book but it also irked me. As I was reading this there were times I definitely thought I had a 5 star read on my hands. So , how do we end up with 3 stars? Loose ends that don't get tired up would be the biggest reason. And honestly, you can put a little of the blame for that on my shoulders. It is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when things don't add up( a moment of silence for my ex's).. Why were we drugging a woman that was in on the whole thing again? I wish there was more reasoning to why the cop was involved and I wish the diary gave more facts about Mitchell in the early years.. The reason I'm coming down harder on this book is because I actually really really liked it. It's something I will still recommend people to read.. it was given super hard Mansion Family vibes. This book got my heart racing a few times and it was hard to put down.

This book had me hooked. Claire`s older sister disappeared 22 years ago and her body was never found. While a man was arrested, Claire is still haunted by it. Then a call leads her home and then she takes a job Galloway Farms. There she finds a diary and her investigative journalism comes into play. There were twists I did not see coming at all! I liked Claire even though she put herself in some dangerous situations. You can feel how isolating the farm is and there is a creepy vibe about one of the characters. I enjoyed the diary entries scattered throughout the story and it made the book different which I enjoyed. This was a twisty thriller I really liked!

3.5 stars

Claire, the protagonist of Willingham's most recent effort, is working through her personal demons professionally. When that opportunity fizzles and a family obligation crops up, she become even more ensconsed in excavating the mysteries of her past and creating some new terrors in her present.

Though Claire's relationship with her parents is strained, she heads home almost immediately when she learns her mother needs her. The tension between Claire and her parents started long ago with the disappearance and later assumed murder of her older sister, Natalie. It's no surprise that the relationship and dynamics are complicated here.

When she returns home, Claire can't help but think of Natalie. A highlight of this novel is how effectively Willingham transports readers into a completely different world. Some of the details that might be more challenging to buy make absolute sense once Claire goes home and ESPECIALLY when she takes on a new job on a remote island. Willingham successfully depicts the otherworldly elements of this place, as well as its remarkably isolated feel, through description but more importantly through some nicely articulated infusions from the past. While I wanted more in the realm of suspense and thrills (frankly, what I came for, so a big deal in this case), some of that disappointment was mitigated by these inclusions.

I enjoy Willingham's writing: this one included. While it isn't my favorite of her works so far, it's still one I recommend for a pretty efficient and appealing read. I'm looking forward to what Willingham offers us next.

Claire hasn’t been home in over two decades, since the disappearance and likely death of her sister. Now she’s returned home to take a seasonal job in a vineyard where she discovers an old diary that details mysteries long forgotten, although some are closer to Claire, her sister, and her past

Forget Me Not is a thrilling story of a woman learning about the secrets and lies kept from her by her family. As the story unravels it is like more and more things start to become messy

I enjoyed the way that the story played out even if I had an inkling of the direction it was going. The journey was what mattered in this story. Everything wrapped up neatly and I don’t think there were any loose ends to be tied. Claire learns the truth, but it could have ended up real badly for her.

The audiobook was well done and the narrator really helped the story come alive. The voice and delivery were suitable for this.

I’m so glad I got to finally listen to this! I’ve read two other books by Stacy and each has been very solid.

4.5 ⭐️

Claire's trip back home sets into motion a series of events that she never could have predicted. She's been avoiding her hometown ever since her sister went missing and was presumed dead. However, she discovers some items amongst her things, and she sets off to learn what happened. I went into this one totally blind, and I'm glad I did. It was a fun story, though the pacing was slightly off at times. I enjoyed how it all came together in the end. The audio adaptation was very well done!

This was supposed to be a thriller but for me it was just a mystery that I half figured it out in the middle of the book. It didn't make my adrenaline rush nor it made me on the edge of my seat. It's interesting just enough to complete it. The audiobook narration may notch the rating up by half a star or something I love the female narrator so much it's unhealthy

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I need a palate cleanser from romances and this thriller would be perfect. Thank you so much Netgalley and St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio for the early copies 💙💙