by Alyssa Day ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 30, 2021
Larger plots percolate while new characters shine in this fantasy series entry.
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A newly turned vampire finds romance, family, and danger in this fantasy sequel.
In Savannah, Georgia, firefighter Hunter Evans died saving a child’s life. Bane, leader of the Vampire Motorcycle Club, then bit his friend, inviting him to the land of the undead. Three weeks later, Hunter struggles against drinking blood from a living victim rather than a blood bag. After fellow vamp Luke Calhoun helps him curb his thirst, Hunter bumps into the enchanting Alice Darlington, who runs the Little Darlings Rescue shelter. Though her specialty is animals, Alice can also sense and communicate with the dead. She assumes Hunter is a ghost and offers him an appointment. Later, at Bane’s mansion, Hunter waxes poetic about Alice to his supernatural family, including the wealthy Meara Delacourt. To encourage his pursuit, she donates $100,000 to Alice’s shelter. Meara delivers Alice the check, then accompanies Hunter and his potential love to a restaurant to get to know her better. Alice still isn’t fully convinced her new friends are vampires until a ghost appears. The spectral flapper tells Alice: “They want you to die.” A deeper entanglement soon reaches out from her past. Dr. Hanford Kurchausen, head of an institute for “mentally disturbed individuals” where Alice spent eight years, wants her powers to serve him again. In her sequel, Day sips long on the warmth and camaraderie found in seminal genre series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight. For the first third of the novel, the adventure focuses on Hunter and Alice as they find their places among the growing supernatural cast, which includes dragon-in-disguise Charlie, posing as a golden retriever. Hunter and Alice are well matched, he being the classic “nice guy” and she recovering from an old trauma. Yet his vampire lust runs hot in lines like “Every inch of his new body wanted to jump on her and take and take and take. Her mouth, her body, her blood.” Behind Kurchausen is the broader villainy of Lord Alastair Neville, ruler of the warlocks of the Chamber, to be addressed in the next installment.
Larger plots percolate while new characters shine in this fantasy series entry.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64937-091-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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BOOK REVIEW
by Alyssa Day
by Colleen Hoover ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 2022
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
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New York Times Bestseller
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
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2019
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
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A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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