A complex and hugely satisfying contemporary romance between genuine, flawed people.
In Sherry’s novel, an embattled woman finds unlikely second chances in the wake of her mother’s death.
Feeling flummoxed and vulnerable, Lena Buckley is dealing with more than her fair share of life's troubles: She’s 35, without many exciting personal or professional prospects on the horizon, living in her family’s run-down farm house (where “everything here is edges toward broken”) and dealing with her usual anxieties, which have only been exacerbated by the recent death of her mother. She and her younger brother, Lucas, have finished sorting through their mother’s things, and he’s flown back to Malibu, leaving her alone in the old house with a million loose ends to tie up (and feeling like her entire life is one big loose end). Her dogged philosophy through all of this has been the simple goal that forms the book’s title, but even that often seems beyond her reach. Into this messy, muddled world comes local policeman Ben Wright, who, on the surface, appears to be Lena’s opposite in every way that matters—he’s orderly, in control, and efficient (and good-looking: When Ben pulls Lena over to give her a speeding ticket, she notices “his chiseled face seems permanently fixed on tough-guy-having-a-bad-day”). But he’s hiding some internal damage and conflict as deep as Lena’s own, as she slowly discovers when she decides that, after “three years of a stalled life,” she requires a change. When a twist of fate brings her into contact with Ben again, a guarded, awkward friendship slowly begins to grow into something more.
The author crafts the tale of this unlikely friendship in ways that are both subtle and surprising. The central factor in the utterly winning quality of the narrative is Lena herself, hapless but not helpless, sarcastic but not mean, loving to everybody but her own harshest critic. Sherry expertly varies Lena’s different registers, from biting humor (when a married couple wants to swoop in and buy the old family house, Lena notices of the wife, “Her serial-killer vibe matches her husband’s”) to merciless self-castigation (“I’m jobless, practically homeless, and destined for my brother’s pool house,” she thinks in one such moment. “I have absolutely nothing to offer, and I suck at relationships”). This produces the natural, unforced effect of making the reader feel protective, and it adds a sharp intensity to her beautifully rendered longing for something more (an “all in, unapologetic, honest love”), which she begins to feel for Ben. “There’s a soft moment in the empty space between us that edges on relief,” she observes, “like he’s jiggling the lock on the door I’m trapped behind.” Readers accustomed—maybe too accustomed—to the typical meet-cute, witty-banter, early-to-bed, early-to-wed template of many contemporary romances will find the emotionally complicated situation the author creates in these pages immensely refreshing; these are two far from perfect, believable characters slowly chipping away at the barriers they’ve erected against the happiness they want. When Lena observes that “falling in love is all about the little things,” this narrative will make readers believe it.
A complex and hugely satisfying contemporary romance between genuine, flawed people.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9798988725411
Page Count: 408
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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
A charming dual-timeline romance about learning from past mistakes.
In Yarros’ latest romance novel, a young woman hires a handsome but infuriating writer to complete her late great-grandmother’s half-finished book.
After her marriage to a Hollywood producer ends in high-profile divorce, 28-year-old Georgia Stanton returns to her childhood home in Colorado. When she arrives at the house where she was raised by her great-grandma—the famous romance author Scarlett Stanton—she finds her mother, Ava, lying in wait. Georgia is in possession of the only unfinished manuscript that her deceased relative left behind, and her own mom wants her to sell the rights so they can get some cash. Georgia succumbs to the pressure and enters a deal in which another author will finish the book’s second half. The manuscript tells Scarlett’s life story, including how she found, and lost, her one true love. Georgia feels strongly that the finished novel must reflect the true events of Scarlett’s life, as difficult as they may have been. Unfortunately, the publishers hire Noah Harrison, a stubborn writer at the height of his career, who has his own fictional vision for the novel’s ending. As Noah and Georgia butt heads, each of them researches Scarlett’s history in England during World War II. As they learn more about Scarlett and Jameson Stanton, the fighter pilot she loved, Georgia and Noah must navigate their own increasingly complicated relationship. With two equally engrossing storylines, this book will draw in even seasoned romance readers. As the story jumps between past and present, the author also alternates present-day perspectives between Georgia and Noah, moving deftly between her characters’ distinct voices. The relationships are well developed, and the love that Scarlett felt for Jameson is especially palpable. Along with the sweetly romantic themes, the book explores several heftier topics, including personal ambition, grief, family discord, and self-esteem. The story has a few digressions that do little to advance the plot, but the main characters are sufficiently engrossing that readers will want to stick with them to the end.
A charming dual-timeline romance about learning from past mistakes.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68281-566-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
