Provides all the genre pleasures that romance fans demand with some fantasy flair.
This first installment of a romance series introduces an angelic, otherworldly hero.
Desperate to escape a life bound to a man she doesn’t want, Trinity travels through a portal from her world to Earth. Temporarily blind, almost naked, and with no memory of who she is or where she’s from, she lands in the middle of a street in a Minnesota town. The stranger who rescues her turns out to be a young artist named Jayden. After bringing Trinity to the studio that also serves as his apartment, he does his best to care for this young woman, who is as much a mystery to herself as she is to him—and she’s quite a mystery. Cars, cellphones, french fries, almost everything, it seems, is new to her (“This thing Jayden called a shower was the most amazing contraption ever”). She wears a gold bracelet that she cannot explain. She burns her hand because she doesn’t know that she shouldn’t touch a hot saucepan, but her blisters heal almost instantly. She speaks English, but she doesn’t understand slang or metaphorical speech—nor does she know the meaning of the word girlfriend. She does know that Jayden makes her feel things she’s never experienced before. And when she finally kisses him, wings unfurl from her shoulder blades. Jayden feels the same intense connection that Trinity does, and only a moment passes before his shock turns into delight. They will learn more about who Trinity is and where she’s from, but this knowledge will only come as danger gets closer to her. It appears that the would-be mate she fled wants her back—and that she’s not the only person from her world to travel to Earth. The resulting drama is fast-paced and enjoyable, and the ending is emotionally satisfying. But there are a few weak points in Rush’s vibrant story. Jayden has a girlfriend who is cartoonishly nasty and inconsistently portrayed. She is fiercely jealous and determined to hang onto her man but also easily dispatched. And there doesn’t seem to be any logic to which earthly phenomena are familiar to Trinity and which aren’t. For example, she’s never seen a refrigerator before, but she knows what to do with a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Provides all the genre pleasures that romance fans demand with some fantasy flair.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 230
Publisher: FHL Press
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A charming dual-timeline romance about learning from past mistakes.
In Yarros’ latest romance novel, a young woman hires a handsome but infuriating writer to complete her late great-grandmother’s half-finished book.
After her marriage to a Hollywood producer ends in high-profile divorce, 28-year-old Georgia Stanton returns to her childhood home in Colorado. When she arrives at the house where she was raised by her great-grandma—the famous romance author Scarlett Stanton—she finds her mother, Ava, lying in wait. Georgia is in possession of the only unfinished manuscript that her deceased relative left behind, and her own mom wants her to sell the rights so they can get some cash. Georgia succumbs to the pressure and enters a deal in which another author will finish the book’s second half. The manuscript tells Scarlett’s life story, including how she found, and lost, her one true love. Georgia feels strongly that the finished novel must reflect the true events of Scarlett’s life, as difficult as they may have been. Unfortunately, the publishers hire Noah Harrison, a stubborn writer at the height of his career, who has his own fictional vision for the novel’s ending. As Noah and Georgia butt heads, each of them researches Scarlett’s history in England during World War II. As they learn more about Scarlett and Jameson Stanton, the fighter pilot she loved, Georgia and Noah must navigate their own increasingly complicated relationship. With two equally engrossing storylines, this book will draw in even seasoned romance readers. As the story jumps between past and present, the author also alternates present-day perspectives between Georgia and Noah, moving deftly between her characters’ distinct voices. The relationships are well developed, and the love that Scarlett felt for Jameson is especially palpable. Along with the sweetly romantic themes, the book explores several heftier topics, including personal ambition, grief, family discord, and self-esteem. The story has a few digressions that do little to advance the plot, but the main characters are sufficiently engrossing that readers will want to stick with them to the end.
A charming dual-timeline romance about learning from past mistakes.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68281-566-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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