A deeply felt and pitch-perfect continuation that lets its title character finally come into her own.
In this elegant and expansive sequel to Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1811), McVeigh revisits Austen’s moral world with deft humor and surprising emotional gravity.
Two years after the death of Col. Brandon, Marianne Dashwood—once the embodiment of romantic impetuosity—has become a 20-year-old widow, uncertain of her future. In London, she finds herself drawn back into the orbit of high society. McVeigh sets the tone from the opening pages as a wary Lady Catherine de Bourgh coolly observes of Marianne, “Her air is not unattractive…one sees a great many worse.” Such dry Austenian prose pervades the novel. Marianne’s journal entries alternate with omniscient narration, giving readers access to a protagonist still marked by passion but tempered by loss. At concerts, teas, and country houses, she navigates encounters with old acquaintances—some welcome, others far less so—and meets new figures, among them the quick-witted, morally ambiguous Henry Crawford of Mansfield Park fame. Their exchanges, full of intellectual play and emotional charge, capture the delicate balance between propriety and longing. McVeigh resurrects not only Marianne’s sensibility but also the moral texture of Austen’s entire world. John Willoughby, flattered by “the coolness of Marianne’s reception,” convinces himself that his abandonment of her had been “far from uncommon,” yet his self-justification only deepens the portrait of moral blindness that Austen once sketched in miniature. When Marianne encounters him again later, McVeigh’s command of tension is exquisite. The encounter unfolds amid music, light, and memory, until “it felt strangely natural to lean upon Willoughby’s arm…’tis dangerous work to walk in the half-light with your first love, with time and all the dead between you.” The narrative scope broadens with the inclusion of other Austen characters, yet these crossings feel organic, not contrived. Mary Crawford’s reappearance provides an unexpected and deeply moving counterpoint: “My hope for this world is over, indeed,” she says quietly, “but I have every hope, my friend, for the world that is still to come.” It’s one of the novel’s most striking lines—simple, graceful, and devastating.
A deeply felt and pitch-perfect continuation that lets its title character finally come into her own.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781738546169
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Warleigh Hall Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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