An entertaining, thoughtful take on the odd-couple romance.
A New York book editor travels west to track down the reclusive author of a bestseller in this debut romance.
The prestigious titles published by New York’s Banter House Books don’t include anything like Rancho de Amor, a romance that’s become a huge, bestselling sensation by first-time author Loretta de Bonnair. With Banter House verging on financial collapse, it would love to publish de Bonnair’s next moneymaking novel, a difficult prospect since she’s older, gives no interviews, and has no contact information. All anyone knows is that she lives in tiny Sisquoc, California, so that’s where Banter House book editor Catherine Doyle, a 28-year-old brunette, heads when she gets the uncongenial assignment to find and sign de Bonnair. In Sisquoc, Catherine learns that no one knows how to contact the romance writer. No one, that is, but handsome, blue-eyed, brooding ranch manager Sam Wilson, who promises to act as go-between for Catherine and a rival press. Since Catherine first meets Sam as he’s getting thrown out of a bar, he doesn’t make a great first impression. To their mutual surprise, they’re attracted—but Sam has secrets of his own that could derail everything. In his novel, Harder tells a fairly familiar opposites-attract story that is boosted by its clever central mystery. The couple’s obstacles are unsurprising—she’s wary of passion; he hasn’t found the right woman to love—but emotional moments are described lyrically, and the book is insightful about issues like de Bonnair’s displeasing locals with her “environmentalism and socialism.” Quirky details also amuse: a B&B bedroom filled with taxidermic roadkill, an academic study titled “Hay Bales, Heifers, and a Feminist Hermeneutic of the Heroine in de Bonnair’s Rancho de Amor,” and a local poetaster.
An entertaining, thoughtful take on the odd-couple romance.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5132-6431-8
Page Count: 246
Publisher: West Margin Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 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
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