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THE LOVE PLOT

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

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JUST FOR THE SUMMER

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

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THE LAST LETTER

A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.

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A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.

Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.

A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.

Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Entangled: Amara

Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019

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