This gripping tale of faraway lands sears with passion, magic, and allure.
Greed and prejudice put the love between a human and a shape-shifting dragon to the test in this erotic fantasy.
Princess Ophelia keeps her regular rendezvouses with Arik a secret. As a drac, Arik can easily shift between human and dragon forms. He’s also the dragon chieftain’s son. But the real problem with their union is that dracs have long hidden themselves from humans, who once hunted dragons. So every new moon—when a flying dragon is less likely to be spotted—Arik and Ophelia meet for unbridled sex. Then one day, the kingdom of Penyasegat, which neighbors Ophelia’s Devantdemar, mercilessly kills and dismembers a dragon. Penyasegat’s king, Niklau, sanctions the slaughter of other winged creatures so his people can reap the dragons’ magic. This secretly horrifies Ophelia (“I want to know how they’re harvesting magic from dragons and how they could kill these majestic beings”). But a spying Arik mistakes her smiling public persona as consent and, therefore, betrayal. As he essentially severs the couple’s relationship, Ophelia has no way of communicating with him. So how will she warn him when Niklau, rather than merely capturing dragons, aggressively seeks more of their magic to harvest? Landon’s novella, which bounces back and forth between Ophelia’s and Arik’s first-person narrations, sizzles with erotica. The couple’s brazen scenes subvert innuendo, with Arik taking a rough, dominant role, and their saucy, dirty talk will make most readers blush. While there’s little in the way of a conventional romance, the two unquestionably have a bond that seems unbreakable. The author proves a commendable fantasy writer as well, particularly in describing eye-catching sights like the dragons’ polychromatic scales and the humans’ lavish attire. The engaging cast includes Ophelia’s royal father, who’s apparently keen on harvesting magic in the same way as his neighbors, diminishing the chances that he’ll approve of the princess’ choice of a mate. This series opener further hints at an intriguing backstory that the sequel can explore.
This gripping tale of faraway lands sears with passion, magic, and allure.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2023
ISBN: 979-8987228968
Page Count: 117
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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