A sizzling and smart rivals-to-lovers romance with a half-baked setting.
Two record-setting trivia nerds combine forces to dethrone a game-show champion.
Although Maxine Hart dropped out of high school in Brooklyn, she has a lust for information that she chalks up to ADHD. Knowing a little about a lot is what earns her a spot on the trivia game show Answers!, where she beats stuffy Theodore Ferguson III, a Princeton professor and holder of the show’s record for longest winning streak. Maxine isn’t sure whether Teddy was dazzled by her natural genius or distracted by the fact that they’d shared a steamy kiss the night before the taping. Regardless, both players are eager to face one another again, and their only hope is to make it onto the Answers! tournament of champions. Once there, though, they’re both up against the undefeated Hercules McKnight, who Maxine thinks is a “fake-tanned douchebag.” Neither she nor Teddy wants to see Hercules win, so they vow to help each other strengthen their weak categories. Through clandestine meetings ripe with sexual tension, Maxine and Teddy hone their skills. The quiz show setting makes a compelling pressure-cooker of an environment; unfortunately, it overstays its welcome, beginning to feel like a gimmick for increasing Maxine and Teddy’s forced proximity. The characters’ opposite natures are what keep the momentum of their romance going. They play well off one another, slinging cutting barbs and sexy flirtations faster than their speed on the buzzer. Teddy, buttoned up and Oxford educated, often clashes against Maxine’s bold, brash, and affable nature. Her goal for being on Answers! is to show that intelligence isn’t tied to degrees and that one’s desire to learn can be cultivated in a more personal way. This is a romance for readers who love “smart is sexy” main characters or prefer banter as part of their foreplay.
A sizzling and smart rivals-to-lovers romance with a half-baked setting.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9781662516443
Page Count: 351
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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: Feb. 15, 2025
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