A winning, feisty will-they-or-won’t-they romance.
In Michaels’ romance novel, a woman gets a second chance at a happily-ever-after.
Kate Fiore has just made it to Gull Island, North Carolina, her new home for the next few months. Her best friend CeCe Greenwood is beginning her maternity leave, and Kate will be filling in for her at the Gull Island Aquarium. Aquatic life may not be Kate’s forte, but she’s good at keeping things running smoothly and organizing events, which will come in handy when she has to help coordinate the donor dinner during the upcoming Founders Day celebration. This time away, keeping busy at the aquarium, is exactly what Kate needs—a reset after getting divorced and losing her job (adding insult to injury, she learns her ex has already impregnated his new girlfriend). But on her first day there, she manages to get locked out of her little bungalow and embarrasses herself in front of Luke McAllister, a very handsome (but very snarky) local. Gull Island isn’t especially big, and Kate soon realizes just how small it really is as she seems to run into the gruff Luke everywhere she goes. As time goes on, she realizes Luke has a kinder heart and a sweeter personality than their first few meetings led her to believe. But Kate is only supposed to be here for the summer…. In this sweet romance, the first in a series, the author creates a beautiful small-town setting in Gull Island and the surrounding areas (“A gentle breeze brushed against her cheek, carrying the briny perfume of the ocean and the scent of jasmine from a nearby garden”), with plenty of colorful side characters. Kate and Luke’s romance is definitely the highlight of the novel, with their squabbles and their “Turtle Team” (they comb the beach looking for turtle nests to protect) rules that they amend as they go. This is a romantic and chaste narrative (with nothing steamy happening on the page), sure to please anyone looking for a sweet and breezy beach read.
A winning, feisty will-they-or-won’t-they romance.Pub Date: July 17, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 367
Publisher: Cool Breeze Books
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2024
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
This slightly smutty monster romance feels more like a spectacle than a deliberately paced story.
A woman travels to Scotland to unravel her late father’s past and meets a grumpy Scotsman with his own secrets.
Keyanna MacKay was brought up by a single father who was always tight-lipped about his upbringing, so when he dies, she’s left with no family. Key decides that learning about his life before he left Scotland would be a good way of keeping his memory close and perhaps connecting with long-lost relatives. She discovers a grandmother and other extended family in Scotland, but they’re hardly welcoming. “I know who you are....And you shouldn’t have come,” are the first words her grandmother says to her. Lachlan Greer has little patience for the American he’s already written off as clueless. When he witnesses Key’s snubbing by her family members, his grumpy demeanor gives way to begrudging pity, and he starts helping her navigate the local community and try to build a bridge to her grandmother. At first, this book seems to be a contemporary romance with light magical undertones involving a family’s mysterious curse, but it quickly devolves into a monster romance heavy on shock value. While monster romance can be fun, it doesn’t work here. Key and Lachlan’s chemistry is bumpy, and the pace of their relationship as they go from disastrous first impressions to a happily ever after is all over the place. Ferguson tries to combine too many elements—including a grumpy-meets-sunshine pairing, a mystery with sensitive family dynamics, and the complicated logistics of falling in love with a cryptid—leaving several threads not fully resolved. The setting is the most positive element, with Scotland’s lush greenery providing the perfect whimsical background for hunting down long-buried family secrets.
This slightly smutty monster romance feels more like a spectacle than a deliberately paced story.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593816851
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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