If you want a familiar romance recipe presented in an Indian khichdi style.
Fake dating turns real for a pair of 20-somethings in Bangalore.
Rich girl Harsha Godbole is trying to make it as a photographer in India’s Silicon Valley without her wealthy parents’ help. But when her movie-industry-raised cousin announces her wedding, Harsha lies about her newly single status to save face. Her solution is to pay her local barista to pretend to be her boyfriend for the festivities. Veer Kannan has put his dreams of being an actor on hold so he can support his family with a regular paycheck. Initially taken aback by Harsha’s offer, he accepts so he’ll be able to fund his brother’s MBA degree. Hegde places both aspiring artists in an economically elite section of Indian society—people who drink cappuccinos, eat charcuterie, wear designer brands, fly across the country and abroad, and drop bucketloads of money on lavish weddings. While Veer is less privileged, he has enough to be culturally fluent in Harsha’s circles. Setting the story in this milieu appears to be an attempt to make an Indian romance legible to an American audience. The fake-dating plot doesn’t make much sense, since demanding that an unmarried woman have a boyfriend is the opposite of what an Indian family would do, even today. If one overlooks the weakness of the premise, the hurried nods to anticaste and queer politics, and choices like giving a South Indian protagonist the Punjabi name “Veer,” some scenes of the couple’s growing connections are pleasant to read.
If you want a familiar romance recipe presented in an Indian khichdi style.Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593722930
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dell
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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: Feb. 15, 2025
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