This engrossing tale skillfully shows two lovers sanding off each other’s rough edges.
Circumstances throw together two broken souls in a torturous romance in this novel.
Decker introduces readers to Justin Abernathy, a man being smothered by grief, most recently losing his beloved mother, and Norah Carpenter, who gets dismissed from her teaching job. Norah’s vengeful ex-boyfriend posted nude photos of her on social media. Unemployment doesn’t work well for Norah, so she takes a temporary job with the Hand to Heart program, visiting and helping shut-ins. At the prodding of his best friend, Davis, the homebound Justin signs up for the program, and he meets Norah. Initially, they annoy each other, but still there is a strong pull of lust between them. Their relationship grows closer when Justin tells Norah the secret that usually kills his relationships: The firefighter-turned–digital marketing strategist is agoraphobic. He developed the condition after the tragic death of his 14-month-old son, Jaxson. Norah wonders if she can be with a man who may never leave his house again. Once she decides she wants to remain with Justin, she creates a plan to overcome his phobia, including outings to challenge his anxiety triggers. But the climactic event in Justin’s recovery is a misunderstanding that occurs when a former lover returns, leading to a rift with Norah. The message that Decker deftly delivers is that you can never be sure what’s happening inside someone’s head. Justin is self-confident and sexy, yet loss is crushing him to the point that he can’t leave his home (“The fact is, some things can break you. I mean, shatter your soul and cast it into the wind in a billion tiny pieces”). The last thing the rebounding Norah needs is to be fixing a troubled man. Yet each is just what the other needs, as they slowly discover. The author alternates between Justin’s and Norah’s takes on their romance, an inspired choice that allows readers to see both lovers’ perspectives. The fact that physical attraction is a bedrock of their relationship also comes through clearly in this edgy, engaging story. Readers will find it refreshing that Justin and Norah manage to recognize that they are soul mates after such a rocky start.
This engrossing tale skillfully shows two lovers sanding off each other’s rough edges.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73296-450-1
Page Count: 271
Publisher: Camden Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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