A Sapphic reimagining of many magical school novels that makes no demands on the reader.
A reunion between two alumni from a magical academy brings up old feelings.
Bryn Delmar is a witch born into a siren family, with one published book on her résumé and the hopes of writing another. In the meantime, she’s returned to her alma mater, Grimoire Academy, because a former mentor has left her a collection of books. She’s braced to meet the new headmistress, Amelia Hexford, her one-time schoolmate and crush, and worried about how Amelia will react to her return. To Bryn’s confusion and pleasure, Amelia confesses to having harbored romantic feelings for her, too. As the two start to fall in love, however, professional pressures loom for both. Bryn has agreed to stay on to teach some of her late mentor’s classes but is worried about not being a good teacher. Meanwhile, Amelia suspects that the school’s governors are plotting to have her fired and replaced with someone who doesn’t subscribe to newfangled educational principles. The other instructors include long-serving teachers and nervous newbies, and students span a range of teen stereotypes meant to evoke different levels of affect and cognitive ability. Bryn and Amelia verbalize their feelings as if well trained in interpersonal communication, and we are told how well they get along and are shown instances of explicit, enthusiastic romance-related consent. Thanks to these choices, and to early declarations of love, the romance plot feels fairly low-stakes until there is a perfunctory third-act breakup, when Bryn must decide whether she’s a writer or a teacher who wants to stay at the academy full time. The fight for control of the school’s direction and for a less conservative pedagogy is equally low in tension. The sex scenes between Bryn and Amelia show some sparkle but are somewhat misplaced in what seems like a middle-grade boarding-school novel written from a teacher’s perspective.
A Sapphic reimagining of many magical school novels that makes no demands on the reader.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2026
ISBN: 9780008779436
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.
Best friends confront feelings for each other when they take a honeymoon trip together.
Francesca Gardiner and George Saint James have always been best friends—just like Jo and Laurie from Little Women, which they both love. Frankie has a big, complicated family and George was the boy next door who’d moved in with his eccentric grandmother. Their friendship survived childhood, awkward teenage years, and living together as young adults without ever venturing into the romantic—well, except for one kiss, but they don’t talk about that. When Frankie gets engaged to an older professor named Nate, George isn’t happy and a huge fight ensues. Despite his misgivings, George shows up to be her best man, but Nate leaves Frankie right before the wedding with only a cryptic letter. Devastated, Frankie goes to a friend’s house to recuperate, but her honeymoon is already planned and paid for—so she decides to travel to Tofino, a picturesque town on the coast of Vancouver Island, with George taking Nate’s place. Frankie wants to fix her friendship with George, but now that they’re in a romantic suite in a beautiful location, things are more complicated than ever. She’d always thought a relationship would be a bad idea, but she’s slowly beginning to realize they’ll never be able to go back to being kids. Maybe the only way forward involves forging a new kind of relationship. Fortune, the author of romances like This Summer Will Be Different (2024), returns with another love story full of longing and intense angst. The many allusions to Little Women are charming, and Frankie is a delightfully headstrong, feisty character. She and George have explosive chemistry, and Fortune manages to make the “will-they-or-won’t-they” nature of their relationship feel like life-or-death stakes.
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593953242
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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