Published by St. Martin's Press on December 2, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Rating:
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.
Cricket loved her summers at Catwood pond until that one tragic summer which drove her away from the lakeside town and her father. Ten years later, she finds herself called to step in as her father's caregiver. While her father loses his memories, Cricket is forced to face her past memories in a journey that leads her back to her father, this beloved camp, and herself.
This book was really moving. I won't lie, I found myself in tears several times. The thing is, I can read a sad story if the author balances it with levity and humor. I can read a heavy tale if the author leaves me with hope. In Before I Forget, Tory Henwood Hoen accomplished both these tasks beautifully.
Cricket was twenty-six and adrift. In reality, Cricket had been floundering since that fateful summer ten years ago. She wasn't sure what her next steps were, but she knew she wanted out of her current professional and personal situations. Caring for her father would be a challenge she wasn't sure she could handle, but she was willing to try.
My heart broke for Cricket, over and over again. Alzheimer’s robs a person of their memories, but it also takes them from their loved ones. Her father not recognizing her was tough, but Cricket was also back in a place where she suffered a heartbreaking loss from which she carried a lot of guilt. You know what? I was proud of the way she handled herself and her situation. She faced her demons, rediscovered parts of herself she thought were gone forever, and gained clarity regarding her future.
One of the things I really loved about this story was the way it highlighted the power of connection and forgiveness. This themes were presented in multiple ways throughout the story. I especially adored the small circle of friends Cricket assembled at Catwood Pond. They were an interesting group of people who really embraced her and were there for her when she needed support. Be it sitting with her father, listening to her, or leading her in a dance, they cared for the caregiver which is so necessary for people in that role.
Overall, this was a quiet and beautiful story of family, connection, and forgiveness which really touched my heart. I experienced some big emotions but was left with a lot of hope for Cricket.
Published by Bloom Books on December 16, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:
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 am going to start by apologizing to Lucy Score because this is my first Blue Moon book, and she warned me not to read this until I read previous books in the series. This by no means hampered my experience. I loved taking this trip back in time with Phoebe and learning about how her life in Blue Moon began.
It began with an internship with a farmer named John who she fell in love with. John was a beautiful soul, a little rough around the edges, but he and Phoebe fit perfectly together. I delighted in their verbal sparring as they tried to resist their mutual attraction, but there was also a lot of mutual admiration. I was a full-on fan of this romance, and it was such a treat getting to see bits of their life through the years, but what I really adored was Blue Moon.
Blue Moon is a magical place filled with wild and wacky inhabitants who were the best kind of people. I fell in love with this town and all the meddling neighbors because they embodied everything you could want in your life. They were loyal and always there for each other. They opened their hearts, homes, and arms welcoming Phoebe when she really needed support. I love found family so much, and it was wonderful to bask in all the love and affection these people had for each other.
I read Maggie Moves On, so I knew I would enjoy reading more from Score, but this book really surprised me. It was so moving. I laughed, I cried, I smiled, I swooned. My heart broke and burst. To me, these are indicators of a stupendous story. One that made me feel, and I am eager to make a return trip to Blue Moon soon.
*ARCS PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
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