A quiet, conversational late-in-life love story.
High school sweethearts reconnect six decades later in Bennett’s contemporary romance.
Ace Sinclair and J’nelle Reade, both in their 70s, dated in high school but haven’t seen each other in years. They’ve bothlost their spouses; his wife died some years ago, and her husband went missing in Alaska. After a long email exchange, J’nelle flies in from New York City to visit Ace at his beach house in North Carolina's Outer Banks. As they catch up, J’nelle confesses that she secretly had an affair with a married teacher while they were dating in high school. He forgives her, however, and soon they’re sharing stories about their children and spouses. J’nelle confesses that she got back in touch with him because she wants to “Search for the truth. About us, about each other, about ourselves.” She urges Ace to join her in her quest, and he reluctantly agrees. Over the next few days, they visit the beach, go out to dinner, and talk about the past and present. They discuss religion, Ace’s service in Vietnam, and parts of their pasts that they aren’t proud of; meanwhile, a hurricane bears down on North Carolina. Things soon turn romantic, and as the storm gets closer, they have to decide if they’ll head to their homes in safer places or ride out the storm together. Most of Bennett’s novel consists of Ace and J’nelle’s dialogue as they explore their pasts, and as such, it reads a bit like a play, with lovely and expressive exchanges throughout. The book explores a number of intriguing themes, such as aging, how to move on from trauma, how to pursue love late in life, and whether it’s better to forget the past or use it to make change in the future. As each character faces their own mortality—both are expecting the results of medical tests that could be devastating, and the hurricane picks up speed and intensity as it approaches—they try to come to terms with the events of their lives. Overall, it makes for a nice, contemplative read.
A quiet, conversational late-in-life love story.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-73-368169-8
Page Count: 222
Publisher: Lystra Books & Literary Services, LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
