A creative paranormal love story for fantasy fans.
After the death of a close friend, a young woman embarks on a journey that leads her to transcendental love in Hawkinson’s fantasy romance.
Thirty-two-year-old travel agent Jenna Hickson’s life unravels with a single phone call on a frigid January day in New York City. She finds out that her best friend, Padma Kumar, has been struck and killed by a car while crossing the street. Jenna retrieves Padma’s things, which include a flash drive containing Padma’s magnum opus: a novel set in 14th-century Scotland that features a young princess who begins a fantastical adventure. Padma died before she could finish it, so a grieving Jenna vows to do so on her behalf. However, the moment Jenna begins to write, she begins to question her own reality: She finds brand-new edits and markings in Padma’s text that she didn’t make herself, including strikethroughs and a small “P” symbol on various pages; soon it becomes clear that they may have a supernatural origin. Jenna’s days are filled with thoughts of her friend, and her dreams are filled with strange enigmas, including an old castle, a handsome gentleman, and a threatening storm. As Jenna immerses herself in that fantasy world and in Padma’s fictional world, she finds herself driven to visit the real-life Dunnottar Castle—the place that inspired it all. These three plotlines—Padma’s novel, Jenna’s dreams, and Jenna’s trip to Scotland—come together to form a complex romance novel with a touch of the paranormal and plenty of historical lore. Each storyline is thoughtfully plotted and well-paced, and they blend seamlessly without abrupt shifts that might take readers out of the story. There are areas that might have benefited from some revision, such as the excessive amount of detail regarding Jenna’s cat, Jenna’s many emails, and some of Jenna’s day-to-day activities, but she remains a sympathetic protagonist with a clear goal. The sweeping descriptions of Scotland (“The gently undulating sea beckoned….Come closer. Come and touch, feel, and smell me, it seemed to say”) provide an exciting backdrop.
A creative paranormal love story for fantasy fans.Pub Date: June 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1732017559
Page Count: 561
Publisher: Bowker Identifier Services
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
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