A sexy, science-filled, and surprising romance full of warmth and wit.
A DNA–based dating company matches a harried single mom with the company’s gruff founder—but can their real relationship measure up to their statistics?
Jessica Davis isn’t interested in dating. She’s a busy single mom who’s raising her beloved daughter, Juno, with her grandparents (who also raised Jess since her addict mother wasn’t exactly a reliable presence). Between her job in statistics, helping Juno with school projects, and bailing her mom out whenever she gets into trouble, Jess’ plate is full enough. But one day, when she and her romance-novelist BFF, Fizzy, are working at a coffee shop, they start up a conversation with a grumpy regular they refer to as Americano (based on his drink order). It turns out he’s Dr. River Peña, the founder of a new matchmaking company, GeneticAlly, that matches users based on their DNA. When Jess capitulates to Fizzy by giving the company a spit sample, she finds out she has 98% compatibility with River, a man she already can’t stand, and she’s not interested in exploring anything. But between losing a big client and giving her mom another loan, Jess needs money, and GeneticAlly offers to pay her to date him. As Jess begins to get to know the real River, she starts to wonder if the data might be right. Lauren, the author duo behind The Honey-Don’t List (2020) and countless other rom-coms, not only introduce a fascinating and unique premise, but flawlessly execute it with their trademark humor and charm. Jess is a believable and sympathetic heroine—it’s easy to see why she’s skeptical of GeneticAlly’s promises but still willing to give it a try. And although River starts out a bit unlikable, his irritable facade conceals hidden depths and passions. As their relationship proceeds, each encounter ratchets up the sexual tension and the emotional stakes, creating a love story that keeps the pages flying. Although the romance is stellar, some of the most enjoyable scenes in the book take place between the other people in Jess’ life: her precocious daughter, her hilarious and irreverent best friend, and her sweet, dependable grandparents. Readers won’t want to leave these characters or this world.
A sexy, science-filled, and surprising romance full of warmth and wit.Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9821-2396-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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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