An entertaining and offbeat romance that balances magic, humor, and heart.
A driven lawyer finds herself stuck in a magical town—and has to find love to get back home.
Campbell Andrews only cares about one thing: work. She’s a partner in her family’s law firm and she has zero time for love, though she keeps getting roped into blind dates set up by her controlling grandmother. On a date with pediatric surgeon Ben Loving, she can’t even muster up the energy to have a conversation when there are work emails to be answered. But the morning after her nonstarter of a date with Ben, she wakes up somewhere completely unfamiliar: a town called Heart Springs, where she’s always perfectly coiffed, her makeup is perpetually flawless, and her closet is full of adorable dresses that are very much not her style. Weirdest of all, Ben is her next-door neighbor. Cam soon discovers she’s been sent to this Hallmark hell to complete three tasks: find a career she "really, truly care[s] about," become part of the community, and find true love. It’s only when she completes all three that she can return home. Gross! Mimi, the owner of the town coffee shop who also apparently controls the magical logic that rules its citizens, sets these ground rules for Cam and ensures that she goes out on dates with several men who are absolutely not right for her as she begins trying out new, Hallmark movie–worthy careers as a bookseller, wedding planner, and baker. But as Cam resists this divine intervention, she starts getting closer to Ben. She thinks she may have written him off too quickly, but he’s not one of the picture-perfect men Mimi demands she fall for. Cam is a spiky, deliberately hard-to-love character at first, and it’s both fun and satisfying to see her realize that human connections and meaningful work can be even more important than chasing someone else’s definition of success. Ballard creates a delightful world in Heart Springs and an ideal romance hero in Ben.
An entertaining and offbeat romance that balances magic, humor, and heart.Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593712924
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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
SEEN & HEARD
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