This winsome, magical story is just what the doctor ordered.
A witch trapped in her hometown reunites with her high school sweetheart.
Caroline Wilton’s family suffers from a deadly curse: If any of them leaves the island of Starfall Point off the coast of Michigan, they are killed in a freak accident within 24 hours. This includes Caroline’s older brother, Chris, who fell off a bridge after leaving to meet a girl he met online. For years, the Wiltons have been swamped by grief, and Caroline has lived a kind of half life, working at her family’s worn-down restaurant and bar and having flings with tourists. Everything changed a year ago, when Caroline developed magical powers and realized she’s a witch. She and two other women, Riley and Alice, formed a small coven that helps ghosts trapped on Earth reach the afterlife. Caroline is shocked when her high school sweetheart, Ben Hoult, returns to Starfall Point, newly divorced and with his two teenagers in tow. Ben’s ex-wife only wanted the money and prestige of being a doctor’s wife, caring little for him or the children. He hopes that moving to his childhood home will create a safe place to heal. Ben is delighted to discover Caroline is still single, and the two fall back into an easy, sweet romance. Then his kids develop their own paranormal talents, and Ben is forced to admit that ghosts, magic, and curses are real. When an evil ghost threatens Caroline and the kids, the coven suspects the malevolent presence might also be responsible for the Wilton curse. Caroline wonders what the future will hold if she has the freedom to leave town. Harper is an expert storyteller, effortlessly weaving together the second-chance romance between Ben and Caroline with multiple subplots and a large, quirky cast of characters—some of which are ghosts. The plot moves along at a brisk, pleasing pace, and even the late-stage exposition dump feels charming.
This winsome, magical story is just what the doctor ordered.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276823
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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
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