An offbeat romance that will leave readers guessing until the very end.
A new series installment about a love affair that follows the terms of a literal contract.
Years ago, football player Shane Smith broke an engagement to be with Carice Charles, mistakenly thinking that she was the one for him. Now, years later, he thinks that he’s learned the error of his ways. Bryn Charles, he now believes, is everything he wants and needs in a partner, but Carice is still in his life as the mother of his child. However, Bryn has a plan, thinking that if Carice can come up with an arrangement to keep Shane in line, then so can she. So Bryn presents Shane with a contract detailing what needs to happen for them to stay together—and if he follows it, line by line, there are some particularly juicy guarantees that he can look forward to at the end of its term. But not everything goes according to Bryn’s plan; Carice, and the vagaries of life itself, find ways to make things go sideways. This third and final installment of Williams’ Sidelined series, following The Draft (2017) and The Penalty (2018), is part romance and part inspirational women’s fiction. The book takes off like a shot with Shane narrating the story from prison, and it doesn’t stop or give the reader any breaks; instead, it moves from one hit to another at a brisk pace. Although it can be read as a stand-alone work, readers would do well to tackle the previous installments first. Those who are new to the series will find the characters to be instantly likable, but they may find it difficult to figure out the various relationships without a more thorough grounding in the story. This novel may not provide the ending that some readers may hope for, but the journey to get there is still uplifting and exhilarating.
An offbeat romance that will leave readers guessing until the very end.Pub Date: Dec. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9985146-4-2
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Bianca Williams Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2020
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
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: today
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