A lively and enjoyable installment of a supernatural Regency series with a charismatic cast.
In this romance, sparks fly between a sultry English lord and a feisty American heiress.
This third installment of Sumner’s League of Lords series, following The Rake Is Taken (2020), continues the story of a collection of Regency era characters united by the fact that each of them possesses some kind of supernatural power. In this volume, the lord in question is Sebastian Tremont, the Duke of Ashcroft, whose nickname, “Fireball,” notes his ability to start blazes at will. He intends to marry another member of the league, but when he encounters American heiress Delaney Temple, neither can deny the attraction between them, though in tried-and-true Regency romance fashion, they both fight that magnetism for a large chunk of the narrative. The tale is filled with layers and twists that are expertly paced but will certainly reward reading this book only after the two preceding volumes. Delaney and her twin brother are hiding secrets that will catch up to them in the course of the narrative, with the author skillfully revealing their story in a series of carefully timed, exciting disclosures. Sumner also deftly explores the book’s deeper themes about dealing with being different, a fleshing out of how society’s outcasts can find connections with other outsiders. The addition of Delaney to the saga allows the author to work in quite a bit of culture-clash moments since the novel’s tempestuous American has little reverence for ancient British traditions. The tale is filled with snappy dialogue and well-developed characters, although Sumner can sometimes fall back on the overheated prose that is often found in the genre: “Sebastian scratched at the dense stubble on his jaw and studied her, this intriguing creature. Here he was, making outrageously lewd comments, ones he’d never make to a woman of his station, and Delaney wasn’t running from the room.” Regency fans will take that in stride and savor the romantic fireworks.
A lively and enjoyable installment of a supernatural Regency series with a charismatic cast.Pub Date: March 10, 2021
ISBN: 979-8-71-712051-7
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.
A collegiate diver and swimmer secretly pursue kink together, and risk falling in love along the way.
Scarlett Vandermeer is struggling. Despite a successful recovery from the injury that almost ended her Stanford diving career, she hasn’t been able to get her head together, and it’s affecting her performance. Plus, she’s trying to stay focused on getting into medical school. A relationship would be out of the question. By comparison, Lukas Blomqvist is a swimming idol, a record-breaker who wins medals as easily as breathing, and Scarlett has long been convinced he would never look in her direction—until one fateful night when a mutual friend lets slip that they have something unexpected in common: Scarlett likes to be submissive in the bedroom, while Lukas prefers to take a dominant approach. Now, they both know a big secret about each other, and it’s something neither of them can stop thinking about. It’s Lukas who suggests they have a fling—purely physical, just to take the edge off, so Scarlett can get out of her own head and stop overthinking her dives. Initially, their arrangement is easy to stick to, but the more time they spend together, the more Scarlett starts to realize that what she feels for Lukas is more than physical attraction. Complicating the situation is the fact that Scarlett’s friend Penelope Ross used to go out with Lukas, and the longer Scarlett keeps mum about her true feelings for him, the more difficult it is to keep the situation hidden from another person she really cares about. While Scarlett and Lukas’ relationship does begin as a physical one, their deeper psychological connection takes a little too long to emerge amid all the other storylines, resulting in a somewhat rushed resolution. However, Hazelwood’s latest is proof of the depth and maturity that has emerged in her writing over the years, and it highlights her embrace of sexier, more emotional elements than were present in her original STEMinist rom-coms.
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593641057
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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