THE LOVERS

The universe gives a tarot card reader and a wedding planner a second chance at love.

Inspired by her parents, Kit Larson has been pursuing the “Ideal Rom-Com Life Path,” searching for the perfect man even though she secretly desires women as well. Then she learns her mom is leaving her dad to be with a woman, which unmoors her. Kit is an influencer working in the realm of spiritual entertainment, and escaping L.A. for Joshua Tree to provide tarot readings at a high-profile wedding seems like just what she needs. The multiday extravaganza is Julia Kelley’s last gig before she starts her own wedding-planner business, and she needs everything to go perfectly. But when Julia sees Kit, this trip becomes the emotionally fraught reunion neither of the childhood best friends expected. It’s been more than 10 years since they became each other’s first loves, just before Kit broke Julia’s heart and left for college. Now they have the opportunity to rekindle their relationship, if only they can be open and honest about their true selves. Kit’s complicated coming-out journey and Julia’s struggle to be her authentic self after a toxic relationship with a manipulative ex may resonate with readers, but there’s a shallowness to the characters and their conflicts that prevents them from feeling fully believable. It doesn’t help that the alternating first-person narratives are often indistinguishable. The vibrant California setting comes alive through lush descriptions, but some scenes feel like filler, giving the story a plodding pace.

A debut that doesn’t live up to its potential.