A wickedly fun romance that doesn’t quite live up to its potential.
A woman makes a deal with a demon to win back her ex, but is her perfect match actually from another dimension?
Samantha Cooper may be having the worst day of her life. After her girlfriend, Hannah, swiftly and brutally rejects her proposal—at a restaurant, no less—she gets stuck in an elevator with a strange, unsettlingly beautiful woman. Despite her perfectly coiffed blonde hair and pretty pink dress, Daphne is a demon, and she’s here to make a deal: In exchange for her mortal soul, Samantha will be able to make a total of six wishes. Anything she wants in life, or love, can come true, once she signs her name on the dotted line. After getting past her initial doubts, Samantha attempts to exploit an obvious loophole and use one of her wishes to get Hannah back, but Daphne’s fulfillment of each wish comes with its own less-than-desirable consequence, forcing Samantha to use more wishes to get one step closer to ultimate happiness with Hannah. Naturally, it also turns out that Daphne has her own motives: Samantha’s is the last of the thousand souls she needs to collect to free herself from the deal she made thousands of years ago that turned her into a demon. As Samantha comes to the realization that getting everything she wishes for isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and faces the possibility that repairing things with Hannah won’t lead to the happiness she always imagined, her mixed feelings about Daphne give way to something much more complicated. Bellefleur’s latest romance is her most ambitious yet, with a conceit that puts a welcome sapphic spin on the classic Faustian tale. While the story is a bold, fun blend of paranormal and contemporary, the pacing does a disservice to the book’s ultimate pairing, as Samantha spends so much time plotting to win her ex back and pining over what could have been that there isn’t enough time spent on the evolution of her superior, devilishly entertaining dynamic with Daphne.
A wickedly fun romance that doesn’t quite live up to its potential.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780593952504
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
Henry fans, rejoice: This is her best yet.
A recently dumped librarian finds herself fake dating her polar opposite.
When Daphne Vincent’s fiance, Peter, dumps her, she’s shocked—but the worst part is that he’s leaving her for his gorgeous best friend, Petra, the woman he’d always told Daphne not to worry about. Now Daphne has to move out of Peter’s home and restart her life in the small Michigan town where she’d moved to be with him. Salvation comes in the form of Miles Nowak, Petra’s ex—he has a tiny spare room in his apartment, and he understands what it’s like to wallow in heartbreak. Daphne feels lucky to have her dream job as a children’s librarian, but other than that, she feels adrift and friendless in Waning Bay—and then she and Miles get invitations to Peter and Petra’s wedding. In a momentary lapse of judgment, Daphne not only says she’ll attend the wedding, but tells Peter she’s dating Miles. It would be the perfect way to show Peter and Petra that they’ve moved on…if only it were true. In the grand tradition of fake-dating romances, Daphne and Miles pretend to be in love, getting to know each other while having various adventures and misadventures. Daphne quickly learns that although she’d dismissed Miles as a pothead with a lack of direction, he’s actually a good time—and a loyal friend. But Daphne knows she needs to get out of Waning Bay, so this fake relationship can’t lead anywhere…can it? Reliable bestseller Henry has written another surefire hit that manages to be dramatic, sexy, and fun. Miles and Daphne have chemistry that leaps off the page, and their will-they-or-won’t-they energy propels the story to its satisfying conclusion. Daphne is an immensely likable character, one whose past realistically informs her current relationships. The world of Waning Bay is charmingly quirky, and Daphne’s co-workers at the library are endearing. As always, Henry’s biggest strength is the sharp, often hilarious dialogue that makes the story a joy to read.
Henry fans, rejoice: This is her best yet.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593441282
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
© 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.
