The Book:
The Storm by Rachel Hawkins
Published January 6, 2026 by St. Martin’s Press
Date read: January 15, 2026
Find more January 2026 releases here.
The Storm spoilers can be found below, but they’re hidden under a spoiler tag so you’re safe to keep scrolling if you’d just like to read my review.
The Characters:
Geneva
Lo and August
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The Plot (from Goodreads):
St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.
When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.
As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive—and as deadly—as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…
The Storm Spoilers
The Reveal:
Geneva was Landon’s child, as was August. Awkward–they had kissed!
Geneva’s mother Ellen was best friends with Lo as a child, as well as a third girl named Frida (later revealed to be Edie, Geneva’s employee). Before Lo and Landon started hooking up, he had also met and was sort of courting Ellen. At some point they slept together, allegedly just once, and conceived Geneva.
The night of Landon’s death, Lo had found out about Ellen’s baby. She went to confront Landon, but found him threatening Ellen on the porch of the inn. Ellen hit him on the head with an anchor in self defense, and Lo hit him again to finish the job (unclear who actually killed him, but it was a group effort). Edie had been watching from a distance, and she was the one who dragged the body away from the inn.
The Ending:
In present day, Lo finally told August and Geneva the whole story in the middle of a big storm. August had been the one who hurt Edie. The three argued, and I think August died by accident. I know he died, I can’t remember if Lo or Geneva killed him in self defense or if it really was an accident. Either way, it was covered up as an unfortunate product of the storm.
Lo, Edie, and Geneva all remained friends.
I hope these The Storm spoilers were helpful.
The Review:
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for a gifted ALC! I listened to this one in just a couple days, and despite the slow burn, I was hooked. Our main character owns an inn in St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama, and both the MC and the inn have weathered many storms. This is certainly an atmospheric one, and I loved the setting. Geneva was trapped with an assumed murderer and town pariah during a hurricane, while also realizing that the big town scandal has more to do with her than she thought.
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