Uneven but ultimately successful feminist historical romance.
Two Regency-era secret agents open up to another person for the first time.
Josephine Brown has secrets. She wears a mask to perform as Blade, the incognito woman at the center of the daring knife-throwing act in Farnham’s Fantastical Female Fayre. And she’s spent most of her life in hiding, assisting her father with his cloak-and-dagger missions for the Crown and never staying in one place for long. She’s grown used to solitude, but since making real friends at the circus after her father’s death, she’s begun to wonder if she should stay put for once. Plus, she hasn’t stopped thinking about Elliot Wingate since they were briefly lovers on a rescue mission in France last year, and staying where she is provides glimpses of him. Elliot hasn’t stopped thinking about Jo, either, even though he knows he should focus on his job for the Home Office and look for a proper lady to marry, as his grandmother desires. Spying on each other and finding excuses to keep in touch, both remain sure of their feelings, but keeping secrets and suppressing desires are hard habits for either to renounce, and some of those secrets may mean it’s safer for them to stay apart. Fans of the first two Wicked Women of Whitechapel volumes will be delighted to see Blade get her time in the spotlight with this story. Unfortunately, because it overlaps significantly with the plot of the second volume, they may also feel a certain amount of déjà vu in this book's first half. It’s easy to overlook in the face of the undeniable attraction and steamy scenes between Jo and Elliot. Because they are so clearly enamored so early in the story, the narrative tension mostly derives from the suspense in a predictable but enjoyable subplot. Newcomers to the series will be fine starting with this one, which can be read as a stand-alone.
Uneven but ultimately successful feminist historical romance.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781496738134
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 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
Deeply moving and emotional.
A hockey player falls in love with his tutor.
Matt “Freddy” Fredderic is the life of the party at Waterfell University. He’s a starter on the hockey team and can have any girl on campus—but he’s also in danger of failing out if he can’t improve his grades in math and biology. His ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia make him eligible for university tutoring services, and Ro Shariff is his newly assigned tutor. Ro had a crush on Freddy freshman year but convinced herself that she’s over it now, in her senior year. She’s been in an on-again, off-again relationship with a guy named Tyler for the past two years, but he’s manipulative, borderline abusive, and probably cheating on her. Ro is desperate for love and affection and still suffers from bouts of intense homesickness. She and Freddy develop a tentative friendship even though they couldn’t be more different on the surface—he’s a popular, gregarious athlete to her quiet, introverted academic. Ro sees beyond Freddy’s persona as a dumb jock, while he recognizes that she feels lonely and like an outsider. When Freddy swoops in to rescue Ro after an ugly disagreement with Tyler, the two admit that their feelings for each other are more romantic than friendly. Corinne’s second novel is an emotional powerhouse. Ro and Freddy share everything with each other: fears of not being good enough for their friends, details of their harmful previous romantic relationships, and the deep feelings of grief related to illness and loss of parents. They have to learn to trust themselves and each other in the midst of the pressures that come with transitioning from college to adulthood. Their evolution from friends to lovers is a classic slow burn, and it makes for an angsty and deeply affecting read.
Deeply moving and emotional.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781668068489
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: tomorrow
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