A small-town Christmas romance that focuses more on the community than on the holiday season.
An exonerated Wall Streeter returns to his Louisiana hometown for a second chance at life and the possibility of romance with a newly divorced cafe owner.
Vaughn Miller is trying to get his career back on track after a wrongful conviction left him serving two years in jail for a white-collar crime he didn't commit. Going back to his hometown of Catalina Cove is the first step in trying to start his life over, but encountering beautiful divorcée Sierra Crane upends his world in a way he never could have expected. As far as a romantic relationship is concerned, however, Sierra is feeling particularly reluctant to venture into anything serious after her ex-husband's lies and infidelity shattered her trust. Trying to keep the situation with Vaughn casual proves to be harder than Sierra though, though, and she can't resist her attraction to him, let alone ignore his persistence in trying to prove that he's worthy of her heart. Meanwhile, Sierra's ex has a plan of his own to get her back, and it could prove threatening to not only her burgeoning romance, but the newest member of her family: her goddaughter. The small-town setting of Jackson's Catalina Cove series provides a soothing backdrop here for a storyline that fluctuates in drama and intensity. Although the book takes place around Christmas, the seasonal element frequently feels like an afterthought—and the titular wish seems like window dressing grafted onto a story already stacked high with characters and side plots. The low-angst romance will be a comfort to readers in search of an easy read this fall even if the final twist is fairly predictable.
A small-town Christmas romance that focuses more on the community than on the holiday season.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-335-20198-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.
A collegiate diver and swimmer secretly pursue kink together, and risk falling in love along the way.
Scarlett Vandermeer is struggling. Despite a successful recovery from the injury that almost ended her Stanford diving career, she hasn’t been able to get her head together, and it’s affecting her performance. Plus, she’s trying to stay focused on getting into medical school. A relationship would be out of the question. By comparison, Lukas Blomqvist is a swimming idol, a record-breaker who wins medals as easily as breathing, and Scarlett has long been convinced he would never look in her direction—until one fateful night when a mutual friend lets slip that they have something unexpected in common: Scarlett likes to be submissive in the bedroom, while Lukas prefers to take a dominant approach. Now, they both know a big secret about each other, and it’s something neither of them can stop thinking about. It’s Lukas who suggests they have a fling—purely physical, just to take the edge off, so Scarlett can get out of her own head and stop overthinking her dives. Initially, their arrangement is easy to stick to, but the more time they spend together, the more Scarlett starts to realize that what she feels for Lukas is more than physical attraction. Complicating the situation is the fact that Scarlett’s friend Penelope Ross used to go out with Lukas, and the longer Scarlett keeps mum about her true feelings for him, the more difficult it is to keep the situation hidden from another person she really cares about. While Scarlett and Lukas’ relationship does begin as a physical one, their deeper psychological connection takes a little too long to emerge amid all the other storylines, resulting in a somewhat rushed resolution. However, Hazelwood’s latest is proof of the depth and maturity that has emerged in her writing over the years, and it highlights her embrace of sexier, more emotional elements than were present in her original STEMinist rom-coms.
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593641057
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
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
SEEN & HEARD
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