Just like the main couple, this book is great for a quick fling, but don't expect any staying power.
Opposites attract when a flighty gig worker and a gruff veterinarian fake a relationship.
Star Shine Meadows is the daughter of "self-proclaimed hippies" and takes odd jobs to keep her bills paid, from dressing up as a mascot to holding someone's place in line for a new smartphone. Star first meets Rafe Whitman while playing Princess Merida from Pixar's Brave at his niece's birthday party. She's drawn to his stoic demeaner, poking and prodding to get him to crack a smile, but she soon learns that the only soft spot Rafe has is for his furry (and sometimes feathered or scaled) patients. While Rafe takes great pleasure in his job as a veterinarian, his temperament often comes up short when it comes to people, especially the nosy, meddling family members who can't stop hounding him about settling down. He doesn't anticipate running into the extroverted Merida from his niece's party again, but when he does, he makes her an offer he doesn't think she'll refuse. Rafe will pay Star to pose as his girlfriend just to get his family off his back for a little while. Since Rafe's pay far exceeds what Star frequently cobbles together from her litany of jobs and freelancing, she accepts. Young's contemporary romances are often overloaded with sexual attraction; Star starts fantasizing about Rafe the second she sees him. While Star and Rafe's romance is chock-full of sex and silliness (an honorable mention to Rafe's vet practice full of animals with large personalities), that sometimes feels like a barrier to reaching anything deeper. Buying into a forever kind of love with Star and Rafe is a big ask since their chemistry seems more suited to a friends-with-benefits arrangement until someone more fitting for each of them comes along.
Just like the main couple, this book is great for a quick fling, but don't expect any staying power.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9780593438633
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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 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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