A slow-paced Regency romance that reflects on bodily diversity and inclusivity.
Two people living on the periphery of their families take center stage in each other’s life.
Continuing her Ravenswood series, Balogh puts the focus on Ben Ellis, the widowed, illegitimate older brother of the Earl of Stratton, and Lady Jennifer Arden, the mobility-impaired sister of the earl’s new brother-in-law, the Duke of Wilby. Introduced in the previous novels in the series, the protagonists have already been established as kind, family-oriented people who keep their dissatisfactions buried. Ben wants to provide a loving mother to his young daughter even as he hides his childhood grief over losing his own mother. Conscious of his outsider status, he has also accepted that his marital aspirations must be lower than those of his aristocratic family. When he notices Lady Jennifer Arden struggle to walk with crutches, he intends only to assist her in gaining more independence of movement. Yet their stilted acquaintance morphs into a deeper understanding of each other, and sexual desire starts to disturb the resignation they had both felt about their socially prescribed limitations. Their un-courtship progresses over passages of Lady Jennifer acquiring new mobility aids tailored to her body’s abilities, culminating in a moving dance scene. The incorporation of a differently abled protagonist into the love plot without a savior narrative or magical transformation makes for a welcome departure from the genre’s tradition of pairing romance with normative bodies. On the other hand, the narrative is bogged down by a great deal of detail about numerous minor characters and an uncharacteristically clumsy info dump about Ben’s past. Balogh's power in dramatizing the inner life, with meditations on the complexity of human emotions and connections, compensates for this weakness to some extent.
A slow-paced Regency romance that reflects on bodily diversity and inclusivity.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780593638385
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
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 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
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