Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #565: Everyone in the Group Chat Dies by L.M. Chilton

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: From the breakout author of Swiped comes a compulsively readable, surprisingly funny, and genuinely thrilling pageturner about a TikTok true crime investigator, a ’90s serial killer that may not be as dead as everyone would like, a text thread from hell, and long buried secrets that just won’t stay in the grave where they belong.

Kirby Cornell needs a break from everything:

- Her crumbling apartment in the sleepy town of Crowhurst (famous for its bucolic countryside and a second-rate serial killer from the ’90s).
- Her dead-end job.
- Her sleazy landlord
- Her messy roommates.
- And, most of all, the terrible thing they all did.

Luckily, that hasn’t caught up with her just yet. Until a new message on their old group chat pops up: Everyone in the group chat dies.

It’s the first text her ex-roommate Esme has sent for ages, but that’s not the really weird thing.

The really weird thing is, Esme died twelve months ago…

Everyone in the Group Chat Dies by L.M. Chilton is expected out December 9th, 2025 from Gallery/Scout Press.

Why am I waiting on this book? It promises a blend of humor and thriller. I enjoy humor in other genres. I'm not sure if I've read this particular kind of mashup before. Generally speaking though, if you can laugh as well as feel the thrills and chills, it makes for a good book.

What book are you waiting on? Share it and a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by. Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday:The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs

 

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR! You can also just share what you are currently reading. We make it very easy to play along, it is as easy as 1, 2, 3! Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Ambrosia at the Purple Booker.

1: Grab your current read 2: Open to a random page 3: Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

"Hitmen were coming for them. From India! On Saturday. Yep. He was gonna end up one of those missing middle managers he'd read about on the internet. He hoped to God he wouldn't be hung naked from some bridge."

--page 118

I know it's more than 2 sentences, but it all fit so nicely together I had to share it that way. 

Why not drop a line in the comments and share with us what you're reading? 

Book Review: The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

 

From the publisher: 

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.

In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.

Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved.

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was released July 15, 2025 by Del Rey.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. Told in 3 timelines, three women have experiences with witches that are different from what we typically read. They overlap a little bit throughout the book. Even though there are 3 timelines, in the end they are successfully tied together. 

My favorite character was Minerva. I also had a lot of respect for Nana Alba. I felt that they were the most well written. The book was kind of gross at times - some of the occurrences of witchcraft were both frightening and kind of disgusting. This did not in any way take away from the story. It just was a part of it.

The pace of the novel went well. Towards the end, Minerva's story really had me flipping pages and refusing to talk to people until I finished it. There were other similar points in the other stories too, but Minerva's was the strongest.

I gave The Bewitching 5 stars out of 5. It's very well-written. It has good characters and good pacing. If you are a fan of horror, or gothic literature, or Silvia Moreno-Garcia, this is not a book to be missed.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion nor my review.

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #564: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: There are two kinds of people no one ever expects to be murderers: little girls and old ladies. Meet Mad Mabel.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old. She's lived on her idyllic street, Kenny Lane, for sixty years--longer than anyone else. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else's business, few would suspect that Elsie has a past that she has worked exceedingly hard at concealing. Because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, once a little girl and now an old lady, has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end.

When a new little girl (talkative, curious, nosy) moves into the neighborhood and stops at nothing to befriend Elsie, her carefully-constructed life threatens to come crashing down as the secrets in Elsie's past start coming to light. Who was "Mad Mabel" fifty years ago? Who is Elsie Fitzpatrick today? And if the past has a habit of repeating itself, who has the most to lose?

Told with Sally Hepworth's twists, humor, charm, and heart, MAD MABEL is novel that weaves past and present together--through the power of justice and redemption, and all the way to its stunning conclusion.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth is expected out April 21, 2026 from St. Martin's Press.

Why am I waiting on this book? I like interesting mysteries with humor. This promises to be just that. I want to know why she was called Mad Mabel and how she reverted to Elsie. I'm interested in what will happen to her and what has happened already which is good since it is told as a dual timeline story.

What book are you waiting on? Share it and a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by. Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent

 

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR! You can also just share what you are currently reading. We make it very easy to play along, it is as easy as 1, 2, 3! Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Ambrosia at the Purple Booker.

1: Grab your current read 2: Open to a random page 3: Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

I’m immediately dubious as Maisie’s idea of an ‘emergency’ doesn’t always tally with the rest of mankind’s. There was the time she got stuck in a dress in Comptoir des Cotonniers, for example, and refused to call a sales girl in.

Page 37

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent was published April 11, 2023 by Harper Collins. It's the first book in the Kitty Collins series. Book two, I Bet You'd Look Good in a Coffin, was released earlier this year. 

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #563: Lit by Tim Sandlin

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: Tim Sandlin is back with a deliciously subversive take on a “cozy” mystery that deftly, shrewdly and humorously reflects our turbulent times.

In a small town in the woods of northwest Wyoming, Kasey Cobb lives alone in a cabin, runs a drive-through coffee kiosk, and hangs out at the library, reading the classics. He’s the least-likely guy to become the center of a culture clash… and death. Yet that’s what happens when he strays past a book-bonfire, ignited by a pastor and his hapless followers, and inadvertently rescues a self-important (drunk) author from being burned with his obscure novel.

From that moment on, Kasey’s life becomes a whirlwind that sweeps up a laconic lawman, a pissed off grizzly bear, a relentless podcaster, a sensuous librarian obsessed with death, a fierce female rancher and, most troublesome of all, a devious murderer. And yet, amidst the chaos, Kasey chases another shot at a lasting love, even if it might kill him.

"Tim Sandlin writes about falling down, screwing up, and climbing back to grace with more wit and heart than anyone writing today." Wally Lamb

Lit by Tim Sandlin is expected out December 2, 2025 from Brash Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? I like cozy mysteries. I think it's an interesting idea to have a subversive take on the genre. And I like that this author incorporates humor into his works.

What book are you waiting on? Share it and a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by. Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #562: An Unlikely Coven by AM Kvita

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: The outcast daughter of a powerful family of witches returns home to New York City and is immediately embroiled in a supernatural power struggle in this wickedly funny fantasy debut from AM Kvita.

 
After seven long years Joan Greenwood is finally returning home. Unfortunately, her family totally forgot about it.

Joan's homecoming is lukewarm at best, but soon turns disastrous when news hits that someone has created a spell that can turn an ordinary human into a powerful witch, threatening the balance of the magical world and the Greenwood’s place at the top of it.

When her best friend confesses that he has secretly, accidentally, saved this human-turned-witch from an uncertain fate, Joan is thrust headfirst into a desperate race to undo the spell before it does permanent damage to its unwilling host.
 
Soon, Joan finds herself drawn deeper into the heart of the city’s magic, into an uncertain alliance with a (very attractive) family rival, and far beyond the limits of everything she thought her own magic capable of.
 
Welcome home Joan Greenwood.

An Unlikely Coven by AM Kvita is expected out October 28th, 2025 from Orbit Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? I like witchy books. And I like that this one says it's funny too. It sounds like it will be a perfect read for the release date.

What book are you waiting on? Share it and a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by. Happy Reading!