A heartwarming romp of love and self-discovery.
A woman questions what she really wants when the trip to her wedding takes a detour.
Maya Mirza, a 28-year-old Pakistani Canadian teacher, has had such a history of bad luck that she thinks she must be cursed, and she's come up with a series of laws to try to cope with it, beginning with "Maya's Law #1: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." She's always had particularly bad luck in love, but things may be changing now that she's headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome doctor named Imtiaz, whom she's known for only a few months. Unfortunately, though, Maya's curse seems to be following her: When she gets on the plane, she finds herself seated next to the jerk who bumped into her in the airport, making her drop her travel documents, and kept walking without even a hint of apology. When the flight ends up grounded in Switzerland due to a storm, with no help from the airline and only a week to go until her wedding, Maya decides to team up with the only person she knows—the jerk, whose name is Sarfaraz—to try to make it to Pakistan on time. As they travel, though, Maya begins to wonder if the wedding she’s headed to is what she really wants. The story of Maya and Sarfaraz is a refreshing spin on the endearing sunshine-and-grump trope. Maya means well but always ends up in scrapes; Sarfaraz is reluctant but finds himself opening up to Maya. The fear at the roots of both their personalities makes them seem real, and their Pakistani Muslim milieu is evoked in great depth. The reader is pulled along through each stop on Maya and Sarfaraz's long and ridiculous journey, rooting for not only the happy ending that is clearly coming but also the catharsis that will come with it. Khawaja has written a gem of a first novel.
A heartwarming romp of love and self-discovery.Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780778305248
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Slow and plodding.
A young woman with a magical ability to harness light discovers she is royalty.
Talasyn is a foot soldier for her homeland of Sardovia, which has been under attack for the past decade by the powerful and evil Night Empire, a conflict known as the Hurricane Wars. Talasyn is an orphan with no knowledge of her family, but she assumes they might be the source of her rare, magical Lightweaving talent. During a battle with the forces of the Night Empire, Talasyn spars with Prince Alaric, a fierce warrior who is the son and heir to the Night Emperor. Talasyn is sent on a covert mission into Nenavar, a nearby matriarchy that has remained neutral during the Hurricane Wars, to try to access a Light Sever which could hone and refine her magic. Instead, she discovers she is the heir to their royal throne; she and her mother, now presumed dead, disappeared under mysterious circumstances when she was a year old. Alaric follows her into Nenavar, and they discover his magical ability to cast darkness and shadows produces shocking results when mixed with her Lightweaving. A few weeks later, the Night Empire defeats Sardovia and ends the Hurricane Wars, and the novel transitions to a tedious, slow-moving story of court intrigue and diplomacy. A group of Sardovian soldiers and refugees seek asylum in Nenavar, but Talasyn’s grandmother agrees to protect them only if Talasyn agrees to join the royal court and marry Alaric. The politics surrounding the impending wedding is the primary plot for the rest of the novel, and it’s a slog. The glacially slow pacing only serves to highlight the confusing world building and underdeveloped characters. It’s unclear why Alaric and Talasyn are attracted to each other, and their tentative romance is just as stuck in a rut as the plot.
Slow and plodding.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780063277274
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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