A fast, fun read that would have benefited from less setup and more action.
A self-proclaimed “hillbilly” finds unexpected film stardom and romance.
“Southern women are unique; there is no disputing that.” So begins Torre’s novel starring 29-year-old Summer Jenkins of Quincy, Georgia, a small town with nearly 50 millionaire families who, back in the day, bought shares in a yet-unknown company called Coca-Cola. Summer and her beauty queen–turned–bank-teller mother, however, are outcasts. They weren’t born and raised in Quincy, and an incident involving Summer, her wealthy ex-fiance, and a backstabbing bridal party still looms large in the minds of Quincy’s elite. Three years later, Summer longs to escape but lacks the resources until Hollywood comes to town. Superstar Cole Masten is producing and starring in The Fortune Bottle,a film adaptation of a novel about Quincy’s rags-to-riches history. He’s searching for an escape of his own after catching his movie star wife Nadia Smith in flagrante with her latest director and starting divorce proceedings with Brad DeLuca, a shark of a lawyer. Summer first befriends flamboyant location scout Bennington Payne and introduces him to the town—for a price—but when Cole arrives in Quincy and clashes with the feisty small-town woman in a spectacular fashion, he sees something he never expected: a leading lady. As Summer struggles to adapt to an acting job that could propel her out of Quincy for good, she fights her feelings for the cocksure actor, which are fast progressing from lust to love. New York Times bestselling author Torre provides both Summer’s and Cole’s perspectives, giving insight into the copious obstacles each is overcoming—as well as more than one steamy sex scene. Based on a real town, Quincy is a quirky, enjoyable character on its own. However, the first two-thirds of the book set up Summer and Cole’s inevitable relationship and then skims over many of their conflicts, missing an opportunity for rich exploration.
A fast, fun read that would have benefited from less setup and more action.Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5394-6909-4
Page Count: 429
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
A deep and moving portrayal of first love.
Two college students rekindle their relationship as they unravel the truth behind their breakup.
On the outside, college senior Bennett Reiner has it all. A goalie for Waterfell University’s hockey team, he lives with a group of friends in a luxurious off-campus house. He and his best friend, Rhys Koteskiy, have fathers who are retired hockey legends. But on the inside, he’s falling apart. Struggling with OCD, a shaky friendship with Rhys, and second thoughts about pursuing a future in hockey, the only thing keeping Bennett afloat is also the one thing breaking his heart: Paloma Blake. All dyed-hair and attitude, Paloma has built a bad reputation on the hockey scene since their relationship ended freshman year—but Bennett knows the real P. Underneath her promiscuous facade lies a scared and lonely girl running from a childhood of abuse. When they were together, it seemed like their romance was perfect, until Paloma broke it off without warning. Since then, Bennett has run to Paloma’s side whenever she needed him, whether she was drunk, lonely, or hurting, and now he’s determined to win her back. For Bennett, Paloma is his antidote, the cure for his compulsions; for Paloma, Bennett is her protector, her safe space. And though Paloma yearns to be with Bennett again, she’s not sure she’s willing to open old wounds and reveal the truth about her painful past. In the third installment of the Undone series, Corinne spotlights familiar characters as they navigate trauma, heartbreak, and first love. Bennett and Paloma’s relationship is raw and vulnerable, and their journey of relinquishing control is both necessary and inevitable. Their romance evolves as they open up to one another, and in return, the reader is rewarded with a love story that’s as lyrical, evocative, and emotional as poetry.
A deep and moving portrayal of first love.Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781668219423
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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