We Live and Breathe Books: Five Star Friday

Five Star Friday is my version of the monthly wrap-up. On the first Friday of each month, I will share my five-star reads from the previous month. Fingers crossed, I have lots of books to tell you about.

This past month, I was able to read 27 books, and I had 4 five-star reads.

Holiday Ever After by Hannah Grace
Published by Atria Books on September 30, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: five-stars

Goodreads

Clara Davenport wants to solve Fraser Falls’s biggest problem. According to Jack Kelly, Clara is Fraser Falls’s biggest problem. All Clara Davenport has ever wanted to do is climb the ladder at Davenport Innovation Creative, her family’s toy business. Everything was going according to plan, until the company was accused of stealing a doll design from an independent toy maker, creating a flurry of bad publicity. With a promotion dangled in front of her like a carrot to a reindeer, Clara is tasked with charming the locals of the small town to solve the PR nightmare, by any means necessary.

Jack Kelly would be happy to never hear the name Davenport ever again. Less than a year after a guy in a fancy suit appeared on his doorstep with a sleigh-full of promises, the company that once falsely claimed they wanted to sign him to their small business program has copied his design. So when Clara prances into town hoping to convince Fraser Falls that her company is not the enemy, Jack is determined not to be fooled by Davenport twice.

But Clara has a plan to win over the community only to realize that beneath Jack’s frosty demeanor lies the key to the town’s heart—and maybe her own.

This was holiday perfection. It was like a spicy Hallmark movies, and I loved every second of it. I was here for the romance and save the town plot, but I also loved seeing Clara grow so much and the way Fraser Fall's welcomed her in. Bottom-line: fun and feel-good.

[review]

Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen
Published by St. Martin's Press on December 2, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Rating: five-stars

Goodreads

A funny, heartfelt, late coming-of-age story that examines the role of memory in holding us back—and in moving us forward—for fans of The Collected Regrets of Clover and Maame.

Call it inertia. Call it a quarter-life crisis. Whatever you call it, Cricket Campbell is stuck. Despite working at a zeitgeisty wellness company, the 26-year-old feels anything but well. Still adrift after a tragedy that upended her world a decade ago, she has entered early adulthood under the weight of a new her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

When Cricket’s older sister Nina announces it is time to move Arthur from his beloved Adirondack lake house into a memory-care facility, Cricket has a better idea. In returning home to become her father’s caretaker, she hopes to repair their strained relationship and shake herself out of her perma-funk. But even deeply familiar places can hold surprises.

As Cricket settles back into the family house at Catwood Pond—a place she once loved, but hasn’t visited since she was a teenager—she discovers that her father possesses a rare as he loses his grasp of the past, he is increasingly able to predict the future. Before long, Arthur cements his reputation as an unlikely oracle, but for Cricket, believing in her father’s prophecies might also mean facing the most painful parts of her history. As she begins to remember who she once was, she uncovers a vital the path forward often starts by going back.

With laugh-out-loud humor and profound grace, Before I Forget explores the nuances of family, the complexities of memory, and how sometimes, the people we know the best are the ones who surprise us the most.

This was super emotional but also had a good dose of humor. It was an interesting healing journey for Cricket as she returned to a place tied to a painful part of her history while also watching her father slowly fade. Books like these are always good reminders to cherish each day you have with your loved ones and that it's never too late to make changes or to make amends. A lovely, heartfelt, and hopeful story.

[review]

Where It All Began by Lucy Score
Published by Bloom Books on December 16, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: five-stars

Goodreads

"This would be a lot easier if you had a sense of humor."

"This would be a lot easier if you were a man."

Author's Note: Do NOT read this book until you've read at least Blue Moon #3, or even better #4. I'm protecting your reader experience here. I promise. Trust me there are things that happen that I don't want to blindside you with and murder all your feelings before you've even read the first few books in the series. So go ahead, buy it now. But do NOT read Where It All Began until at least after The Last Second Chance.

John has plans for these two hundred rundown acres. He sees a farm, a family, a future here. He's not about to drag someone in on the ground floor, not before he's put in the work to turn rubble into home. But his nosy neighbors have other ideas. Now, he's saddled with a grad student who's supposed to lend a hand. Hell, she was also supposed to be a he, not an opinionated, smart-mouthed woman who does nothing but question his every move.

She's ruining his nice, quiet life. And if she doesn't finish her thesis and get out of his guest room soon, he's going to have to scare her off.

Phoebe desperately needs this degree and the money it will bring. What she doesn't need is this stubborn farmer's attitude and his pathological need to avoid her. She's trapped in this tiny hippie town, trying every trick in the book to get the stalwart John to open up. Her future is on the line. Her family needs her. And no farmer is going to stand in her way.

I went into this one blind but am so glad I gave this series a chance. I absolutely fell in love with Blue Moon and all its inhabitants. Seriously, pack me up and move me there because I love the community and found family vibes. I also have a thing for farms, so it was fun being out there with John and Phoebe watching their love story unfold.

[review]

The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman
Published by Random House on July 2, 2013
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Rating: five-stars

Goodreads

In this utterly charming debut — one woman sets out to complete her old list of childhood goals, and finds that her lifelong dreams lead her down a path she never expects.

1. Go to Paris
2. Perform live, on a super big stage
3. Have a baby, maybe two
4. Fall in love

Brett Bohlinger has forgotten all about the list of life goals she’d written as a naïve teenager. In fact, at thirty-four, Brett seems to have it all—a plum job at her family’s multimillion-dollar company and a spacious loft with her irresistibly handsome boyfriend. But when her beloved mother, Elizabeth, dies, Brett’s world is turned upside down. Rather than simply naming her daughter the new CEO of Bohlinger Cosmetics, Elizabeth’s will comes with one big stipulation: Brett must fulfill the list of childhood dreams she made so long ago.

Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother’s decision. Some of her old hopes seem impossible. How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago? Other dreams (Be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future. For each goal attempted, her mother has left behind a bittersweet letter, offering words of wisdom, warmth, and—just when Brett needs it—tough love.

As Brett struggles to complete her abandoned life list, one thing becomes clear: Sometimes life’s sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places.

Great up-lit with a few surprises that delighted me. I will admit, I thought her mother was a bit unfair at times, but I couldn't contest the outcome. A lovely personal journey!