Nicolena Reads

Read May 3-7, 2026

May was actually a great month for reading. Maybe not for me picking up all of the right books (more on that in a minute), but I definitely got in a groove with checking out epubs and reading them in the evenings. Fresh off of the last suspenseful pick, I decided to go with a Jewell novel… mostly due to name recognition. The summary seemed interesting enough, so I dug right in.

What is it about? 

Nina is recently widowed after her husband Paddy dies unexpectedly. About a year after his death, she gets a condolence card from Nick, a friend of Paddy’s, and they start talking. Nick is charming, successful, thoughtful, handsome… basically the entire “too good to be true” package. Her daughter may be grieving the loss of her father still, but she picks up on some inconsistencies with Nick and struggles to find a way to tell her mom without sounding paranoid or bitter.

Martha is married to Alistair, a seemingly devoted husband who is constantly disappearing for work. Martha starts questioning where he’s actually going and why he seems to have so many secrets. Alistair believes he has pretty convincing reasons to support his disappearances, but truly, what person, or rather what man with a wife and infant at home!!!, goes on a work trip for multiple days without checking in on his family? Martha is on to him, he’s on to the fact that she’s on to him, and the reader is over here saying “Is this guy for real?” at every excuse he tells.

What does it have?

• Girl, RUN! Those red flags are not leading you to a carnival
• Amateur Detective Hour
• Is He For Real?
• Is She Really That Stupid?!

Listen, if the purpose of this book was to have the reader saying “WHAT?” and “OH, COME ONNNN!!” out loud, enticing anyone in earshot to question what they’re reading, then I think it did a fantastic job. I really just don’t think that’s what was happening here, and I could not suspend my disbelief enough to imagine a situation where a woman would let so much fly over her head. We may just be girls but one thing’s for certain, we’re investigative pros and nothing passes us.

Is it worth reading?

No. Full stop.