Saturdays at the Café is a weekly feature hosted here to talk about and discuss the books I’ve discovered during the past week, added to my shelf and am excited about reading. They may be new/scheduled releases I’ve seen on NetGalley, at the library, or from publishers or they may be older titles my friends have reviewed and shared on Goodreads or blogs.
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers.
Theo visits the local coffeehouse, where ninety-two pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits of the people of Golden done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their “rightful owners.” With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered.
A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another.
Narrated by multiple Emmy and Tony award nominee David Morse, with a brand new afterword about the writing of THEO OF GOLDEN, narrated by the author himself.
Thanks to Louis @ Book Me a Read for his lovely review. I accepted this for audio review.
Two people haunted by their exes find that love isn’t dead in this heartfelt romance from the beloved authors of The Roughest Draft.
Morgan is being ghosted by her ex. No, really. It’s sad Zach died and became a ghost. But Morgan and Zach only ever went on the one date, and now she’s being haunted by him. Zach has no desire to spend eternity with Morgan, but he can’t recall his past and doesn’t know how to move on.
At a support group for humans and their haunters, Morgan and Zach run into Sawyer, whose fiancée-turned-ghost has started to fade. Unlike Morgan, Sawyer isn’t ready to part ways with his ghost. Although they face opposite issues, Morgan and Sawyer decide to work together to solve their problems.
As Morgan and Sawyer try to solve their paranormal conundrums together, they find something even more surprising—a tender, growing affection between them that threatens any unfinished business they’re seeking to close. The ghosts of their past might be there in spirit, but the connection between Morgan and Sawyer is as alive as anything they’ve ever felt.
I learned of this from a Goodreads friend’s great review. It’s a library audiobook hopeful.
From the bestselling author of The Last Love Note and Pictures of You comes an epic story of two soulmates who have to start over before they’ve really begun.When Audrey and Fraser tumble into a love story for the ages, theirs is an epic, unbreakable romance—until one tragic moment upends everything. Facing the unimaginable, wrestling with guilt, they’re left haunted by “what ifs.”
Would their lives still have imploded if they’d done one little thing differently? Where would they be if events had unfolded the other way around?
This powerful, emotional, sliding-doors novel about love, loss, grief, and hope asks if our stories are already written. Are we able to change fate? And is it ever too late to start again?
I stumbled across this while on Instagram and am so excited! Loved her previous two books and this is scheduled for release in April. It’s an audio review hopeful (edition not yet available).
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Say You’ll Remember Me comes abeautiful, compelling novel that revels in laughter, friendship, and the messy choices life can throw our way.
In everyone’s life, there’s a split-second decision that can change everything…
For Larissa, it came when choosing which guy to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she’d met the perfect man. She and Chris are great together, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread (pumpernickel for the win!). For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy.
But Chris isn’t the one who drove Larissa home all those months ago—Chris is her boyfriend’s best friend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else. And he’s just not that guy.
Woo hoo! Stumbled upon info about this upcoming March release while on Instagram and it’s a sequel to Say You’ll Remember Me. It’s an audio review hopeful.
A political assassination draws an investigative reporter into a far-reaching conspiracy in a riveting thriller by Chad Zunker, Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Wife You Know and Family Money.The death of reporter Dean Dawson’s estranged father in a boating accident leaves Dean and his brothers with mixed emotions. After all, the man abandoned his family and lived a life of inexplicable lies and broken promises. But four months after that fatal night cruise, their father is becoming a greater mystery than they imagined.
When a presidential candidate is assassinated in Austin, Dean is contacted by April North, his former girlfriend and an associate of Dean’s father at a powerhouse law firm. She’s stumbled upon a shocker. A cryptic text she wasn’t supposed to see on her boss’s phone not only implicates the firm in the assassination but also suggests that Dean’s father may still be very much alive.
As the brothers are pulled into a dark conspiracy, Dean and April are on the run as the next targets of a mysterious assassin—and one kill shot away from discovering the truth and a father’s dangerous secrets.
I quickly accepted this for audio review!
In this claustrophobic psychological suspense from USA Today bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto, the line between victim and villain blurs with every chapter. Because in the end, everyone has their own version of the truth—but only one will make it onto the page.
Fern’s dream of becoming a published author is finally coming true. After years of rejection, her debut novel has sold, and she’s ready to join the supportive online community of fellow debuts. But when she discovers her high school bully, Haven, has landed a major book deal and will be debuting alongside her, old wounds reopen.
As the pandemic forces everyone online, tensions escalate in their writing community. While Haven seems to succeed effortlessly, Fern watches her own career crumble. Yet beneath their polished personas lies a darker truth about their shared past—one involving a lost friend, Dani, and secrets neither wants revealed.
Fern isn’t the same person Haven bullied all those years ago. She’s learned that the best revenge stories aren’t written—they’re lived. And she’s been plotting this one for years.
What begins as online rivalry escalates into dangerous obsession. Because neither woman is telling the whole truth about what really happened to Dani…or about who’s the real victim in this story.
I accepted this for audio review.
An ancient legend reborn. A killer recreating dark rituals. And a detective racing to break the circle before it’s complete.When the body of a teenage girl is found posed in the Merry Maidens stone circle, her face coated in clay and ochre, DS Liam Kilshaw is drawn into a case where near-forgotten fictions bleed into brutal fact.
With echoes of an old folktale of dancers turned to stone, the scene is more about staging than superstition. And when two skeletons are unearthed beneath a nearby stone, Kilshaw realises the past is far from dead and buried.
As he hunts for a missing farmhand linked to the girl, more victims surface, each placed with ritual precision in remote ancient sites. With the noose tightening, Kilshaw must decipher centuries-old secrets to break the circle. Because in this deadly game of ancient rites and cold-blooded murder, the killer is saving the most important sacrifice for last.
A haunting crime thriller where medieval legends collide with modern murder, perfect for fans of LJ Ross and Peter James.
This is the third book in the DS Liam Kilshaw series. Scheduled for release in April, it’s an audio review hopeful.
From award-winning author Toni Anderson comes her latest explosive Romantic Thriller, COLD SPITE, where FBI agents are pitted against a former Navy SEAL gone rogue.
When FBI Agent Delilah Quinn survives an attempt on her life, she pretends to be dead in order to outwit her attacker. There is only one person she can turn to for help—a man she never wanted to see again…a man who abandoned her five years ago and left her heartbroken. A man definitely on the killer’s hit list.
FBI Hostage Rescue Operator Cas Demarco lives with the burning regret of choosing to join HRT and leaving Delilah behind. News of her death devastates him. Then she calls him out of the blue and he can’t help but seize this one last chance to make things right.
With both Delilah and Cas targeted for death, a task force is set up to catch their would-be killer, who they believe is a disgraced former Navy SEAL they helped convict of drug trafficking. Out of prison and on a ruthless quest for retribution, the former SEAL is eliminating everyone who wronged him—without leaving a shred of evidence behind.
Can Delilah and Cas prove who’s responsible for the attempts on their lives and have a second chance at a future together? Or will the rogue ex-SEAL double-down on his promise to destroy them both?
Blue Mood Café 
Fab haul Jo, hope you get the new Abby Jimenez!
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Thanks, Nicki💜
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These all sound wonderful. Of course The Night We Met is on my list of books for 2026 I’m most looking forward to.
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I did a happy dance when I saw the news💜
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