The magic fades quickly.
Two witchy rivals unite against a common enemy when a new coven comes to their small Georgia town.
Something that happened 13 years ago at Graves Glen's Penhaven College forged the beginning of Gwynevere Jones and Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow's prickly relationship. Thankfully, Wells moved back to Wales after one semester. He didn't even return to Graves Glen to attend his own brother's wedding to Gwyn's cousin Vivi. Simon Penhallow, the family patriarch, believes the infernal Jones women and their kitschy magic shops are tarnishing the town's deep, magical history, and he decides his favorite son's magical talents would be better served back in the U.S. Gwyn immediately bristles at Wells' surprising return, but that irritation heightens to a full rolling boil when he opens a witchcraft shop right across the street from her own. What seems at first to be the beginning of a rivals-to-lovers romance during the lead-up to Halloween quickly dissipates into a slapdash story involving strange newcomers and a villain who doesn't appear until the book is nearly over. The book never seems to figure out its focus. While Graves Glen feels like a picturesque Southern version of Salem, Massachusetts, the twee Main Street vibe carries the weak romance only so far. The fact that Gywn is holding on to one seemingly innocuous event from her college years as a reason to dislike Wells makes her seem juvenile. Wells is a man who loves to feel useful, which puts him in a rather unhealthy relationship with his cold father, leading him to uproot his life not just once, but twice for the sake of the Penhallow magical lineage.
The magic fades quickly.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-302751-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Deeply moving and emotional.
A hockey player falls in love with his tutor.
Matt “Freddy” Fredderic is the life of the party at Waterfell University. He’s a starter on the hockey team and can have any girl on campus—but he’s also in danger of failing out if he can’t improve his grades in math and biology. His ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia make him eligible for university tutoring services, and Ro Shariff is his newly assigned tutor. Ro had a crush on Freddy freshman year but convinced herself that she’s over it now, in her senior year. She’s been in an on-again, off-again relationship with a guy named Tyler for the past two years, but he’s manipulative, borderline abusive, and probably cheating on her. Ro is desperate for love and affection and still suffers from bouts of intense homesickness. She and Freddy develop a tentative friendship even though they couldn’t be more different on the surface—he’s a popular, gregarious athlete to her quiet, introverted academic. Ro sees beyond Freddy’s persona as a dumb jock, while he recognizes that she feels lonely and like an outsider. When Freddy swoops in to rescue Ro after an ugly disagreement with Tyler, the two admit that their feelings for each other are more romantic than friendly. Corinne’s second novel is an emotional powerhouse. Ro and Freddy share everything with each other: fears of not being good enough for their friends, details of their harmful previous romantic relationships, and the deep feelings of grief related to illness and loss of parents. They have to learn to trust themselves and each other in the midst of the pressures that come with transitioning from college to adulthood. Their evolution from friends to lovers is a classic slow burn, and it makes for an angsty and deeply affecting read.
Deeply moving and emotional.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781668068489
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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