A disjointed international romance.
A young woman hired to spy on a diplomat falls in love with her target in Audsley’s novel.
In 2006, Christine Wilson is working at a restaurant in London. After an altercation with a manager, she is fired. Christine’s friend, Marci, connects her to a man, Mr Bresckin, who hires Christine to collect information about an American named Daniel Kestreller. Christine starts following Daniel and ends up in a lift with him in the Queensway tube station, where he seduces her. They continue to see each other afterward. Daniel works as a project manager for the U.S. foreign service and uses his diplomatic connections to help Christine get a new job with a celebrity chef. They continue to get to know each other—going to dinner, drinking wine, attending an embassy party, and taking a trip to France. (There’s also some intrigue related to Daniel’s job going on in the background.) Eventually, Christine has to come clean about what she was up to when they met. At this point, Daniel apologetically breaks into Christine’s narration and says that she “feels (unnecessarily, in my opinion) a bit embarrassed by the whole thing,” as if the two characters are writing the novel together. This gives away the game: They are together in the future, recounting the events in this narrative. The prologue details Christine’s sister’s death, but this doesn’t have much bearing on the story—in fact, the plot never really goes anywhere, which is the novel’s main flaw. There’s tension between Christine and Daniel after she confesses to stalking him, but there are no real consequences. While the prose is chatty, light, and engaging, the narrative doesn’t quite hang together—there’s a weird supernatural side trip involving Christine’s late grandmother and a psychic, for example, and Marci is a terrible friend to Christine (which feels unintentional on the author’s part); Christine seems unfazed by it. The diplomatic intrigue heats up in the last third of the book, but it feels disconnected from the rest of the story.
A disjointed international romance.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9798218375133
Page Count: 299
Publisher: Pantego Press
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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