A steamy, emotional, and charming romance about defining success on your own terms.
A driven interior designer finds herself in new territory when she unexpectedly falls for a carpenter.
After breaking things off with her perfect-on-paper fiance, Astrid Parker throws herself into her work as an interior designer. Astrid might seem uptight to her loud and lovable group of friends, but she knows she just holds herself to a high standard—one set years ago by her overbearing, critical mother. But one thing Astrid never counted on was carpenter Jordan Everwood, whom she runs into—literally—before realizing the two of them will have to work together on Astrid’s latest renovation, the Everwood Inn. Astrid is tasked with redesigning the inn for an HGTV show called Innside America, and she’s hoping the job will help revitalize her career. But Jordan isn’t just the carpenter on the job—she’s also the granddaughter of the inn’s owner, and her sentimentality makes Astrid’s job harder. Astrid wants to make every room sleek and modern, while Jordan wants to keep the inn quirky and dark. But their on-camera clashes lead to an off-camera attraction, and eventually Astrid begins to realize that her carefully laid plans might not be what she wants after all. In the second book in her Bright Falls series, following Delilah Green Doesn’t Care (2022), Blake tenderly explores Astrid’s journey to becoming more herself—which involves interrogating her career dreams and realizing that she’s bisexual. Astrid and Jordan are both appealing characters, and Astrid’s boisterous and endearing group of queer friends will make Bright Falls a town readers won’t want to leave.
A steamy, emotional, and charming romance about defining success on your own terms.Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-33642-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Deeply moving and emotional.
A hockey player falls in love with his tutor.
Matt “Freddy” Fredderic is the life of the party at Waterfell University. He’s a starter on the hockey team and can have any girl on campus—but he’s also in danger of failing out if he can’t improve his grades in math and biology. His ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia make him eligible for university tutoring services, and Ro Shariff is his newly assigned tutor. Ro had a crush on Freddy freshman year but convinced herself that she’s over it now, in her senior year. She’s been in an on-again, off-again relationship with a guy named Tyler for the past two years, but he’s manipulative, borderline abusive, and probably cheating on her. Ro is desperate for love and affection and still suffers from bouts of intense homesickness. She and Freddy develop a tentative friendship even though they couldn’t be more different on the surface—he’s a popular, gregarious athlete to her quiet, introverted academic. Ro sees beyond Freddy’s persona as a dumb jock, while he recognizes that she feels lonely and like an outsider. When Freddy swoops in to rescue Ro after an ugly disagreement with Tyler, the two admit that their feelings for each other are more romantic than friendly. Corinne’s second novel is an emotional powerhouse. Ro and Freddy share everything with each other: fears of not being good enough for their friends, details of their harmful previous romantic relationships, and the deep feelings of grief related to illness and loss of parents. They have to learn to trust themselves and each other in the midst of the pressures that come with transitioning from college to adulthood. Their evolution from friends to lovers is a classic slow burn, and it makes for an angsty and deeply affecting read.
Deeply moving and emotional.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781668068489
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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