A romance full of heart and second chances.
When a beleaguered lawyer books a trip to visit her best friend, her three-week vacation turns into a trial run for their romance in Lee’s friends-to-lovers novel.
At 30 years old, Elizabeth Chung can’t help but feel the waning thrill of living a high-stakes, career-oriented life in the big city. As a senior counsel at top Los Angeles law firm Nelson Peters, Lizzy has a workaholic lifestyle that's placed her well on the path to becoming a partner. Although her choice of profession keeps her strict mother appeased, “conflict-averse” Lizzy can’t help but feel burned out despite her success. Lately, she only finds solace in two things: the nearby Hideaway Bookstore and the company of her best friend, Jack Park, a bookkeeper at his parents’ brewery. Little does Lizzy know that Jack has harbored a powerful, two-decades-long crush on her, but he would never risk their friendship by acting on his feelings. When Lizzy suffers a panic attack while reciting the opening statement at her first trial as lead counsel, she finds herself craving nothing more than Jack’s calming presence. She opts to take a three-week vacation and visit him in his hometown of Weldon, California, where they volunteer to revamp the quaint Sparrow Bookstore together. With Lizzy in town, Jack finds it even harder to conceal his infatuation, but could it be that his feelings are not as unrequited as he thinks? Lee’s third novel is delightfully mature; her lead characters communicate with ease and gratifyingly go for what they want regardless of the consequences for them. Her writing is the perfect combination of funny and joyful, with lines like “His eyes crinkled at the corners as his lips spread into a crooked grin, and an answering smile blossomed in her heart and spread across her face,” and “Jack with tools makes Lizzy a very horny girl.” Lee seamlessly spins a tale that offers her readers laugh-out-loud moments, with touching pages of raw honesty and heartfelt passion.
A romance full of heart and second chances.Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-2506-2114-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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 thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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