A heart-skipping small-town love story with tight pacing, captivating prose, and memorable characters.
Parker offers a charming romance about a woman living and working in a lobster-fishing town on the New England coast.
The remote village of Christmas Cove, Maine, is home to the endearingly awkward Charlie Pinkham, who describes herself as a “female lobsterman.” (“Most people get it wrong,” she explains at one point.) Her life is one of comfort and familiarity, with long days hauling shellfish and pleasant times with grandmother Mem and best friend, Maia. She believes herself to be unsuited to romance, and she allows very few people past her emotional defenses. Then several changes happen to her and those around her: Mem finds love; Maia asks Charlie to post on her blog, and her lobster-themed posts are a surprise hit; a handsome (but married) new tenant moves in next door; and Charlie connects with a stranger online and inadvertently sets in motion a local Christmas festival. Charlie navigates all these events with unease, struggling to accept the notion that her world could possibly expand beyond her usual boundaries. This cozy, feel-good romance explores the power of a small supportive community, the many kinds of love that lift us up and how fear can weigh us down, and whether it’s possible to find that rarest of loves—much like the one-in-100-million “cotton candy” lobsters that Charlie describes in her posts. Parker brings the December Maine coast to vivid life with captivating, intelligent prose that highlights the Maine resident’s clear love of the region, as when she describes the village’s lights (“water can effortlessly transform beads of light into a fitful sea of stars”) and a new dawn: “Strands of silver float up from the twilight sea, churning pink as they reach for the sun.” Just as lovingly illuminated are her descriptions of the rhythms and tasks of lobstering.
A heart-skipping small-town love story with tight pacing, captivating prose, and memorable characters.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798991306904
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Riveter
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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