An enjoyable start to an exciting new series and a new direction for historical romance.
A politician’s daughter finds love across the ocean.
It’s 1863, and the Luna sisters are on the run. Mexico is under attack by Napoleon III, and their prominent political family has sent them to England for safety. Though their father expects all three to be discreet while there, their uncle asks them instead to be visible and charming, hoping that enjoying the company of three “goodwill ambassadors” at ball after ball will inspire the queen’s government, presently neutral, to take Mexico's side against the French. This soon brings oldest sister Ana María into contact with an unusual Member of Parliament: Mr. Gideon Fox. The grandson of a woman who'd been enslaved in South Carolina before escaping to England on a packet ship, Gideon is focused on outlawing all remaining loopholes that allow British subjects to profit from the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Though they are immediately drawn to each other, the obeisant Ana María is already promised to one of her father’s political allies, so they try to maintain a professional distance. But as the season brings them together again and again, they finally give in to their attraction just before sudden danger necessitates what seems like a marriage of convenience (that both are secretly pleased to enter), though their well-planned futures may be overturned as a result. De la Rosa launches a thrillingly different series based on the historical fact that a number of Mexicans immigrated to England in the middle of the 19th century, centering two unusual perspectives on the overwhelmingly White world of Victorian London society. Because Ana María and Gideon have had to be more mature than most socialites, their emotional explorations are careful even when things get spicy. As a result, the story's conflict primarily derives from external events, but the couple's chemistry is undeniable—and makes for compelling reading. The other triumph of the story is the development of the sisterly love among the Luna women, who in the first chapter are at odds but by the last are very close to one another; readers will look forward to the next installments, focusing on Isabel and Gabriela.
An enjoyable start to an exciting new series and a new direction for historical romance.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9780593440889
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
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
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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