Culture takes center stage in this confident friends-to-lovers romance.
Two friends team up to bring the musical of their dreams to life.
Zoe Tran is a self-made woman and proud of it. After successfully opening a plus-size lingerie boutique in Washington, D.C., she’s earned a reputation for helping women feel like the best version of themselves and doesn’t expect her life to change anytime soon. Then her old college friend Derek Bui walks back into her life, making her an offer she can’t refuse. When they were wide-eyed theater students, they dreamed of making their favorite Vietnamese fairy tale into a rock musical—and now, Derek’s here to turn that dream into reality, but he can’t do it without Zoe and her eye for fashion. With Derek directing the musical and Zoe designing the costumes, plus an all-Asian cast and creative team, the production has a great chance of success. Getting it off the ground means Zoe and Derek will be working together very closely, leading Derek to experience a resurgence of his longtime crush on Zoe and leading Zoe, who’s demisexual, to gain an all-new perception of her old friend. As if things couldn’t get more complicated, the theater’s artistic director is breathing down Derek’s neck, trying to pressure him into stripping the musical of its unapologetically Vietnamese identity. Amid creative clashes, new feelings, and a ticking clock to opening night, Zoe and Derek have to decide whether they’re going to stand up for the vision they’ve always believed in or let an outsider have the final say. Lam’s romance is refreshingly sex-positive and inclusive, focused on characters who don’t always get the spotlight in the genre. The book doesn’t hesitate to tackle the shortcomings of the theater world, either, exploring the question of whose narratives are often diminished or reduced to outdated stereotypes. There’s a deft balance between sweet moments and serious conversations, but not every element is paced as well as it could be.
Culture takes center stage in this confident friends-to-lovers romance.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063237384
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
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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