Month: January 2026

Book

Surgeon’s House by Jody Cooksley

Gwendalyn’s Books

Hello Friends and Welcome To My Stop On The Blog For The Paperback Release Of The Surgeon’s House By Jody Cooksley

Title: The Surgeon’s House
Author: Jody Cooksley
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Format: Paperback (out 22 January 2026)

Thank you so much to Jody Cooksley and Allison & Busby for my fab book mail – returning to Evergreen House in this sequel was exactly the dark, gothic escape I was hoping for.

Click the photo above and it will take you to my Bookstagram 📖🕯️

Set in London, 1883, The Surgeon’s House picks up the threads from The Small Museum and tightens them into something even more ominous and emotionally charged. Evergreen House, now a refuge for “fallen” women and their children, is supposed to be a place of second chances – until the brutal murder of beloved cook Rose Parmiter shatters that fragile sense of safety.

From there, the story descends into a deeply unsettling Gothic mystery as Rebecca Harris, proprietor of Evergreen House, must confront not only the immediate threat but also the festering legacy of the Everley family, whose long-buried sins still seep from the walls. The unnerving sense that the house itself remembers—and resents—what has transpired within its rooms lends the entire novel a suffocating, haunted atmosphere that captures the Victorian Gothic mood with chilling precision.

Rebecca makes for a compelling, stubbornly hopeful heroine: caught between patriarchal scrutiny, moral hypocrisy, and a society obsessed with science and respectability, she is still determined to protect the women and children in her care. Her relationship with George, and the fragile community they have built at Evergreen, adds a thread of warmth that stops the book tipping into pure despair, even as the body count rises and the threats close in.

This is a harsh, unflinching read; scenes of cruelty and injustice lay bare the stark imbalances of power in Victorian society, especially for vulnerable women and children

The atmosphere is where the novel truly dazzles: shadow-drenched corridors, furtive conspiracies, so-called medical “advances” concealing quiet horrors, and an unshakeable awareness of how easily these women can be discarded. Yet running through all that darkness is a defiant thread of hope – the sense that solidarity, courage, and an unblinking commitment to the truth still have the power to change everything.

If you’re in the mood for a grim, gripping Victorian Gothic mystery with a fiercely determined heroine, a genuinely unsettling antagonist and a house steeped in blood and secrets, The Surgeon’s House is an excellent choice – and a hugely satisfying return to Evergreen House.

About the author

Jody Cooksley studied literature at Oxford Brookes University and holds a Masters in Victorian Poetry, which shows in the lush, period-evocative detail of her writing. Her earlier work includes The Glass House, a fictional account of pioneering Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, and How to Keep Well in Wartime, both published by Cinnamon Press. She went on to win the Caledonia Novel Award in 2023 with The Small Museum, a chilling Victorian gothic that paved the way for The Surgeon’s House and confirmed her talent for dark, atmospheric historical fiction.

Where to buy The Surgeon’s House

Book

Remember That Day

Gwendalyn’s Books

Hello And Welcome To My Stop For

Remember That Day By Mary Balogh

About the Book:

A soldier and a pacifist make the unlikeliest of pairs, but when passion sparks, there’s nothing that can prevent their love from igniting.

Winifred Cunningham, the adopted daughter of a portrait painter, hopes that her new close friend, Owen Ware, will soon ask for her hand in marriage. But when Owen introduces Winifred to his elder brother Nicholas, the late Earl of Stratton’s second son, the slow burn between them begins.

Nicholas is a cavalry colonel—a hardened soldier whom Winifred at first despises. She finds him intimidating and cruel-looking, while he finds her strange and startlingly forthright. During a summer at Ravenswood, however, Nicholas and Winifred are unwillingly thrown together on several occasions, until they realize the passion that drives their disagreements is not due to dislike—it is because of attraction.

Winifred still awaits Owen’s proposal, and Nicholas has made his intention to marry his commanding officer’s daughter quite clear. With allegiances to other marriage prospects and brotherly bonds at risk, not to mention the age difference between them, Nicholas and Winifred know it would be wholly improper to pursue a romance…

And yet, romance is irresistible. Perhaps even inevitable.

REVIEW

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a non spoiler review, because you as reader need to read this book. Also, I feel sometimes I have in the past gave away to much of the plot line. This has diminished the pleasure for would be readers

REMEMBER THAT DAY 

Mary Balogh 

Series: Ravenswood #5

Release Date: January 6, 2026

Berkley | Penguin Random House

Thank you so much @mary.balogh, @berkleypub & @penguinrandomhouse for the chance to return to Ravenswood with this story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

Mary Balogh once again proves why she’s one of the reigning queens of Regency romance.

Remember That Day, by Mary Balogh is the fifth installment in the Ravenswood series is everything I love about her work—graceful prose, emotional depth, and that slow, breathtaking build from conflict to connection that only Balogh can deliver.

Winifred Cunningham, with her honesty and impulsive spirit, meets her match in Colonel Nicholas Ware—a stoic, battle-worn soldier who embodies honor and restraint. From the very first meeting (which, true to Balogh form, goes terribly wrong), their story unfolds with all the tension, tenderness, and quiet longing that define the author’s best romances. There’s friction, misunderstanding, moral clashes, and—beneath it all—a current of mutual respect that blossoms into something far deeper than either expected.

Winnie completely won me over. She’s forthright and flawed in the most endearing way, while Nicholas stole my heart with his steadfastness and quiet vulnerability. The pairing of a warrior and a pacifist sounds impossible, but Balogh makes their journey feel utterly inevitable. Each conversation, each stolen look, feels infused with meaning. By the time love finally conquers duty and doubt, it’s impossible not to sigh in satisfaction.

I also adored seeing familiar names from the Westcott world appear alongside beloved Ravenswood characters—it felt like stepping into a grand Regency reunion. And while this can absolutely be read as a standalone, long-time readers will catch all the subtle emotional echoes woven in from earlier books.

Balogh’s writing here is rich, introspective, and deeply romantic, with a satisfying balance of tenderness and restraint. It’s not just about falling in love—it’s about earning it, learning from it, and finding the courage to choose it.


Lush, tender, and quietly powerful—Remember That Day is classic Mary Balogh at her best. A soulful, mature love story that lingers long after the last page.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

About the Author:


Mary Balogh grew up in Wales and now lives with her husband, Robert, in Saskatchewan, Canada. She has written more than one hundred historical novels and novellas, more than forty of which have been New York Times bestsellers. They include the Bedwyn saga, the Simply quartet, the Huxtable quintet, the seven-part Survivors’ Club series, and the Westcott series.