A sexy holiday romp that's the perfect combination of naughty and nice.
An adult film actress and a bad-boy pop star are cast in a wholesome, made-for-TV Christmas movie. What could go wrong?
Teddy Ray Fletcher is a bit of an anomaly in the film business. On one hand, he’s the producer of Fletcher Productions’ holiday films, which run on the Hope Channel; on the other, he’s the owner of Uncle Ray-Ray’s porn studio. When Teddy’s golden starlet falls ill, he's hard-pressed to find a new Felicity before the filming of Duke the Halls starts in Christmas Notch, Vermont. When the Duke director spots a nude headshot Teddy accidentally placed in the wrong folder, she’s convinced they’ve found their new, edgier star. Against Teddy’s better judgment, they hire Bee Hobbes, aka plus-size porn star Bianca von Honey, who's “gorgeous and filthy and great for business.” While Bee loves the freedom and power of sex work, she hopes this movie will finally be her big break…even if she has to follow Teddy’s rule about staying "above reproach" while filming and pray that “chaste-as-hell” Hope Channel fans and Uncle Ray-Ray viewers don’t align. Added to the mix is former boy band member Nolan Shaw, the actor playing the duke, who’s in need of major image rehab after photos of him at an orgy during the Duluth Olympics spread around the world. Following his career downfall, Nolan will do anything to support his bipolar mother and teenage sister, like be contractually bound to good behavior for the two weeks of shooting. It turns out, however, that a fortnight of celibacy will be easier said than done for Bee and Nolan, especially when Nolan recognizes Bee as Bianca and they have mouthwatering chemistry on a set with heaving corsets and tight breeches. Murphy and Simone’s holiday romance is laugh-out-loud funny and so deliciously hot—“She smelled so sweet, like a warm sugar cookie, and the corseted dip of her waist under my hand felt like sin itself”—that readers will be glad it’s made for chilly weather.
A sexy holiday romp that's the perfect combination of naughty and nice.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-322257-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.
An earnest grad student and a faculty member with a bit of a jerkish reputation concoct a fake dating scheme in this nerdy, STEM-filled contemporary romance.
Olive Smith and professor Adam Carlsen first met in the bathroom of Adam's lab. Olive wore expired contact lenses, reducing her eyes to temporary tears, while Adam just needed to dispose of a solution. It's a memory that only one of them has held onto. Now, nearly three years later, Olive is fully committed to her research in pancreatic cancer at Stanford University's biology department. As a faculty member, Adam's reputation precedes him, since he's made many students cry or drop their programs entirely with his bluntness. When Olive needs her best friend, Anh, to think she's dating someone so Anh will feel more comfortable getting involved with Olive's barely-an-ex, Jeremy, she impulsively kisses Adam, who happens to be standing there when Anh walks by. But rumors start to spread, and the one-time kiss morphs into a fake relationship, especially as Adam sees there's a benefit for him. The university is withholding funds for Adam's research out of fear that he'll leave for a better position elsewhere. If he puts down more roots by getting involved with someone, his research funds could be released at the next budgeting meeting in about a month's time. After setting a few ground rules, Adam and Olive agree that come the end of September, they'll part ways, having gotten what they need from their arrangement. Hazelwood has a keen understanding of romance tropes and puts them to good use—in addition to fake dating, Olive and Adam are an opposites-attract pairing with their sunny and grumpy personalities—but there are a couple of weaknesses in this debut novel. Hazelwood manages to sidestep a lot of the complicated power dynamics of a student-faculty romance by putting Olive and Adam in different departments, but the impetus for their fake relationship has much higher stakes for Adam. Olive does reap the benefits of dating a faculty member, but in the end, she's still the one seemingly punished or taunted by her colleagues; readers may have been hoping for a more subversive twist. For a first novel, there's plenty of shine here, with clear signs that Hazelwood feels completely comfortable with happily-ever-afters.
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-33682-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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