Robin’s Rave Reviews 2026
If TOURIST SEASON by Brenda Novak isn’t on your summer TBR list yet, it is now! You’ll love the romance tied to a mystery, creating suspense throughout.
Contemporary Romance – Mystery – Romantic Suspense-
Family Drama/Secrets – Beach Read – Forbidden Love
Book Summary
This summer, the path Ismay has been on may unexpectedly take a major turn.
In a big city away from family, two young adults form a long-term romantic relationship that always comes second to building their careers. The question emerges—Will their relationship ever come first? This is the situation Ismay is in with her fiancé, Remy.
Remy has invited her to use his family’s beachfront house on Cape Cod that’s sitting unused. At his suggestion, Ismay plans to relax on her own for a few weeks until Remy can join her. She isn’t expecting to ride out a hurricane in the large, unfamiliar house alone. While searching for matches or a lighter to go with the candles she found, Ismay makes a disturbing discovery in her fiancé’s childhood closet.
Due to the hurricane, Bo, the property caretaker, checks in on Ismay and gets the generator running. After the hurricane damages the caretaker’s house, Ismay invites Bo to shelter temporarily in the main house with her. Bastian, her fiancé’s twin, shows up unexpectedly, and the mood in the house shifts dramatically. With Bastian’s innuendos and condescension, Bo returns to his damaged home. Bastian’s words and actions toward Ismay make her feel unsettled in the house alone with him. Her stress is also increased because she doesn’t know if Remy or Bastian is connected to the discovery in the closet. Ismay turns to the security of Bo’s quiet strength. Her growing feelings for Bo make her question if she’s made the right choices in her love life, and if she truly wants to marry Remy. But Bo is also keeping secrets about his past that might make her question if she can trust him.
TOURIST SEASON by Brenda Novak touches on themes of love and trust. Ismay must re-evaluate if what she thought she wanted is still what she wants, or if she’s staying with the wrong guy just because they have history. Does she really know the person she loves? Is this the man she wants to spend her life with?
My Thoughts
It’s a story set-up that’s been done before—young adults fixating on building their careers rather than their romantic relationships, but I enjoyed the unique twists and turns that came out of it.
The (physical and emotional) distance between Remy and Ismay, as well as the discovery in the closet, cause Ismay to question her relationship with him. When she is most vulnerable, Bo’s kindness gives her reassurance of safety. Ismay and Bo’s relationship is a classic example of forbidden love and creates a love triangle with dangerous ramifications. She’s engaged to the son of the homeowner, and he works for the family. For her, her choices risk her planned marriage, and for him, he risks his job and anonymity. I loved the suspense of whether they would get together or if Ismay and Remy would solve their problems.
The uncertainty of the love triangle and the suspicious items in the closet kept me reading. Remy’s family’s secrets kept me guessing as to who might be dangerous, or at least in need of a cover-up. Add to it that Bo has secrets of his own that could blow up the best thing that’s ever happened to him, and I needed to keep turning the pages.
Even though I’m not a big mystery reader, (TOURIST SEASON is as heavy on the mystery/suspense as the romance), it was the romance and the author’s reputation that drew me to this book. I read for the romance, but I enjoyed the psychological twists and light creep factor that gave depth to the story. I don’t like anything horror, so be assured, this book doesn’t step near that genre. The mystery adds interest and suspense, not scares.
Here comes the honest part, based on my personal tastes, that explains giving TOURIST SEASON a 4 instead of a 5-star rating. First, it took me a bit to get used to the unusual character names (Ismay, Remy and Bastian). Next, it really irks me when a title doesn’t match the story. It’s misleading. The “tourist season” on Cape Cod has little to do with the story. (To be fair, this isn’t the author’s fault. The author rarely has much say in the final title of a book that is traditionally published.) I also would have liked more scenes that involved the beach or being in a beach town. Last, I found it unrealistic that Bo repairs the hurricane damage to the caretaker’s house with no mention of insurance or insurance adjusters. He just takes it upon himself to fix it. Overall, these are small things, but details can snap a reader out of the magic of being lost in a story.
With all that said, I was invested in both the story and the characters, and I’m glad I read it. It was worth my time. TOURIST SEASON is a comfort read even though it has a bit of creepiness in it. I also like the theme of trusting your heart and having the courage to take a different path in life than you expected. Mira Books released TOURIST SEASON by Brenda Novak in 2024, and it’s available in bookstores and libraries near you.
Consider ordering it through this link to Bookshop.org to help support independent bookstores around the country. As always, I am not an affiliate of Bookshop.org and do not receive anything from your order. I simply like helping independent bookstores!
About the Author
Brenda never expected she’d become a writer, and yet she now has nearly fifty books to her credit.
“When I first go the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda admits. “I learned how to write by reading what others have written. The best advice for any would-be author: read, read, read….”
Many of her novels have won or placed in contests such as the Rita, the National Reader’s Choice, and the Bookseller’s Best, and runs a 17,000-member book group on Facebook.
Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are proud parents of five children. When she’s not spending time with family or writing, Brenda helps others like her youngest son by raising money for diabetes research.
If You Like…
If you like the description of TOURIST SEASON by Brenda Novak, I’d like to point you to other books like it that I’ve reviewed. Unfortunately, I don’t have many books that are similar. Here are a couple of my past reviews that are as close as I can get: The Summer of You and Me by Denise Hunter is a romance that involves the female protagonist seeing a man that looks like her deceased husband and the mystery of who it is. Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews takes place at a Carolina resort. The book has juicy secrets, family discord, shady deals, murder, past indiscretions, and misplaced trust with a side of romance.
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Book Summary
Katherine Quinn, a fantasy romance author and poet, lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and three children. Ever since she read her first fantasy series, Katherine wanted to be a dagger-wielding heroine. Instead, she became a writer of adventures with strong heroines.
THE BOOK WITCH by Meg Shaffer is a mix of cozy mystery, detective noir, and fantasy. Rainy March (and yes, she knows she sounds like a weather report) is a book witch. With her magic umbrella and cat familiar, she jumps into stories to protect them from the burners. Burners are those who try to destroy the book from the inside by wiping away pages until the story is gone forever.
Meg Shaffer is the author of THE LOST STORY and THE WISHING GAME, my personal favorite, which was a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, a Book-of-the-Month Book of the Year finalist, a Barnes and Noble bestseller, a Reader’s Digest Best Book of the year and a USA Today bestseller. Meg holds an MFA in TV and Screenwriting and lives in Kentucky with her husband and two cats. THE BOOK WITCH is Meg Shaffer’s third book.
Eight-year-old Alfie discovers he has a special gift. He can redo any moment he’s personally part of. As he tries out his gift, he uses it to undo awkward situations, correct mistakes, and risk his life knowing he can get a redo. He can go back minutes, months, or even years, but then he must relive events from that moment forward. The catch? There are several: First, he has to live with the consequences of the second time around, good or bad. Next, he can’t change when someone will die. Last, he can’t make a person fall in love with him a second time. (His grandmother warns him to be careful with love.)
Kitty Karr Tate, a huge star in the Golden Age of Hollywood, is mixed-race but has skin light enough to pass as White. She hides her background her entire adult life. Then, upon her death, she leaves millions to the St. John sisters, wealthy Blacks who live next door, prompting the question of why.
About the Author
Ethel Gathers lives in Occupied Germany on an American Army base in the 1950s. She struggles with the emotional pain of infertility and loneliness as a military wife in a foreign country. When she gets lost walking around the city, she stumbles upon a local orphanage. The children here are babies of German women and Black American GI’s. German society shunned these single mothers due to their bi-racial children, and the women cannot financially care for them. Ethel’s purpose in life becomes finding these children loving homes in America, and her “Brown Babies Program” is born.
From Sadeqa Johnson’s website: Sadeqa is the author of six novels. The House of Eve was an instant New York Times Best Seller, Reese’s Book Club selection, Target Book Club pick, nominated for a NAACP Image Award and a 2023 Goodreads Choice award finalist.
Liz Davies also writes as Lilac Mills and Etti Summers. Under her Liz Davies pen name, her cozy romance books are light-hearted, feel-good stories with a bit of humor.
Finding a rare, priceless book in her great aunt’s attic turned Mirren Sutherland’s ordinary London life into an adventure. A year later the book now resides in the British Museum with a plaque, giving Mirren credit for finding it. There, in the museum, she is approached by a Scottish man, Jaimie McPherson. He is looking for help finding a book, located somewhere in his home. Mirren agrees to help. When she boards the train for the highlands, she discovers Theo Palliser, an antique book hunting rival and past fling, is also along for the ride.
Jenny Colgan lives in Scotland with her family. She is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling novelist, selling more than 15 million copies of her books worldwide.
She has won the Canadian Book Club Award for best romance twice, for TEN RULES FOR FAKING IT and HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. Her day job is teaching, and she spends spare time with her family watching reruns of Friends. Besides her Sophie Sullivan books, she writes cozy mysteries and romances under her alter ego’s name, Jody Holford.
THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN by Lynda Cohen Loigman is a charming book with wide audience appeal. The author paints a nostalgic picture of Brownsville, a small neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, in the 1920s. Augusta grows up there knowing all the locals who visit her father’s pharmacy. Dual timelines switch back and forth from Augusta’s childhood in 1920s Brooklyn to her moving into a Florida senior community in the 1980s. This book doesn’t feel like historical fiction, but through the eyes of young Augusta, we experience a different NYC than we know today, and we see women struggling with the expectations of 1920s society. I strongly recommend you check out THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN by Lynda Cohen Loigman.
Lynda Cohen Loigman grew up in Longmeadow, MA. She earned degrees from Harvard College and Columbia Law School. Her debut novel, THE TWO-FAMILY HOUSE, was a USA Today bestseller and a nominee for the Goodreads 2016 Choice Awards in Historical Fiction. She has also written THE WARTIME SISTERS and THE MATCHMAKER’S GIFT. THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN is her fourth novel.
Charlotte Sitterly has been going through life’s normal routines until she is blindsided by her husband’s arrest for securities fraud. She finds herself without a home, without access to their bank accounts, and without a job. How will she support herself and her teenage daughter Ivy?
Kristy Woodson Harvey is a New York Times Bestselling author. She is also a co-founder and co-anchor on the Friends and Fiction weekly podcast with Mary Kay Andrews, Patti Callahan Henry, and Kristin Harmel.
As the town passes judgement on the situation, both families are suffering. The victim’s husband struggles with the loss of his wife while his son struggles with the loss of his mother. When the son learns a secret about his mother, it creates conflict between him and his dad.
Author Susan Poole expertly dives into the lives of both the teen driver’s and the victim’s families showing how trauma has the ability to tear families apart or bring them closer together, as well as lead people to reevaluate their lives and what’s truly important. The author explores the husband/wife dynamic, the parent/child bond, and the after-math effects of trauma on children. 
Marcellus is bright and exceptionally perceptive, as we see in his POV chapters. He has been at the aquarium most of his life and is keenly aware he is approaching the life expectancy of a giant Pacific octopus.
Shelby was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, the setting of REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES. Now she lives in Chicago with her family and cats.
Book Summary
Kristin Harmel spent her childhood near Boston, Massachusetts, and in Worthington, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida. After earning her journalism degree from the University of Florida, she lived in Paris and Los Angeles, but she now calls Orlando, Florida, home with her husband and son. She is a
This spring I read 
Carley Fortune is an award-winning journalist, having worked as an editor at some of Canada’s top publications. Now, she’s a #1 New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author, as well.
About the Author
Kerry Winfrey revives the 90s romcom movie format in this novel, including some of the cheesy, yet lovable elements, cliches that just fit, and a predictable yet charming storyline. If you loved those 90s movies and secretly wanted a Tom Hanks-type romance for yourself, you’ll love this book!
My Thoughts
Kerry Winfrey, author of romantic comedies, including WAITING FOR TOM HANKS, NOT LIKE THE MOVIES, VERY SINCERELY YOURS, and JUST ANOTHER LOVE SONG, lives in Columbus, Ohio.
THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE by RaeAnne Thayne focuses on three generations of Harper women. This small-town family story is intertwined with a second-chance romance and includes family drama, secrets, misunderstandings, guilt, and forgiveness. RaeAnne smoothly leads us along a family’s path through life with all its messiness, and she lands on a satisfying ending.
RaeAnne Thayne is gifted at writing characters with strained, complicated relationships while still creating a loving, feel-good story. The novel seamlessly flows through each of the Harper girl’s perspectives. The multiple POV helps readers understand their relationships through their innermost thoughts and feelings. Each one hides a secret and needs healing from the past.
Summary
This book is just fabulous! I love it so much that I did a thing. I wrote to the author directly! Although I write a lot of reviews, I seldom write to the author personally. Even after decades of writing, Mary Kay Andrews just keeps getting better and better! She makes something so difficult (writing a book that hooks the reader) look so easy.
At first I was concerned about the large cast of characters and keeping them straight. Silly me. 
Publishers usually label books with characters of this age as YA, but the sex and violence bump it into the adult category. I hope parents are aware of the sex, the violence, and the F-bombs before deciding on FOURTH WING’s appropriateness for their teens. For adults, if you can get past those issues, I highly recommend this book. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to ponder if I want to read it again before I start the sequel, IRON FLAME.
Yes. I admit it. I was one of those people that loved reading THE GREAT GATSBY, so I was excited to hear about 
Hulu has done a mini-series based on Little Fires Everywhere starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. Unfortunately, I haven’s see it yet, so I can’t do a comparison. I look forward to watching it in the future. Have you read the book and watched the show? What’s your take on the two?
Taking place mainly over a weekend, This Close to Okay is told through alternating chapters from Tallie’s and Emmett’s perspectives. They spend the time helping each other heal — from what brought Emmett to the bridge that night, and for Tallie, from problems she hasn’t addressed surrounding her divorce and problems with infertility. Tallie believes she’s helping Emmett, but his presence is cathartic for her as well. Even therapists need help to work through trauma. Everyone needs someone willing to catch us when we stumble or get overwhelmed.
Are you one of those armchair archeologists, a wanna-be like me? Get your fix with What the River Knows by Isabel 
19th century Buenos Aires – Inez’s parents have left her behind six month out of every year for as long as she can remember. Since her parents are actively involved in the archeological digs they fund in Egypt, Inez has grown up living with her aunt and two cousins. Now nineteen-years-old, Inez receives news that her parents are missing and presumed dead. She devises a plan to go to Egypt to get answers from her uncle.
Camp Holly Springs has a special place in the hearts of these three women since they first met there at age six. They continued attending every year, even becoming camp counselors in their teens. Now in their thirties, they learn the camp is floundering after Covid. The girls kick into high gear to help save it. Otherwise, Daphne’s Aunt June will have no choice but to sell out to a developer. While the three friends devise and carry out plans to save the camp, the story is complicated by their personal lives.
Summary
T. I. Lowe is a best-selling Southern author and has written at least 18 novels. Check out the other books by her that I’ve reviewed: 
FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN is about love, friendship, family (by blood and by choice), destiny, and the choices we make. It’s a story with heart and soul. Be prepared. You’ll want to book a trip to Michigan after you read it!
Interesting fact
The first book, 
The second installment, 
Emerson, the youngest daughter, gets center stage in 
The last installment in the series, 
You can read my reviews of some of Kristy’s other books: 
Edward Bloom, always wanting to be a big fish in a big pond, is largely absent in his son’s life. When he’s home, he is full of dad jokes and unbelievable stories, based in fact but embellished into legendary tales. Now an adult, his son William is frustrated. While his father is alive, William wants to understand him: fill in the blanks of his dad’s life and understand his goals and dreams, as well as his failures and successes. Edward never gives a straight answer to William’s questions. Each one is responded to with a fantastical story, some light, some dark. These hard-to-believe tales, used to evade the truth, end up telling William exactly who his father is.
You may have seen my excitement opening my book mail when The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry arrived. If you missed it, check it out on 
