A steamy rom-com that doesn’t sell all of its elements successfully.
A kindergarten teacher finds herself falling for the parent of one of her students as they team up to take down a sketchy company.
Emerson Pierce loves her job as a kindergarten teacher, up to and including everything except her salary. Desperate for the opportunity to make more money—and to connect with other women her own age—she throws herself into becoming a salesperson for skincare company Petunia Lemon after being recruited by a co-worker. All she has to do is invest some of her savings first, and she’ll make all that money back tenfold in no time. If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is; investigative reporter Lucas Miller has been sniffing around Petunia Lemon and their borderline-illegal activity ever since his ex-wife got suckered into their act. He has every intention of writing an article to expose the company, and sneaking into their convention at a local hotel seems like the perfect way to do it. When Emerson and Lucas lock eyes on each other at the rooftop bar, it’s lust at first sight, and a steamy hookup soon follows. Emerson expects to leave her one-night stand behind as soon as she and Lucas part ways, but the beginning of a new school year has a surprise in store for her: He’s the father of one of her students. Emerson wants to keep things professional, but when she starts catching on to Petunia Lemon’s more sinister underbelly, she reaches out to Lucas in a moment of desperation. Now, the two of them have to team up in order to reveal the company’s dirty dealings, all while fighting the attraction between them that has never truly dissipated. Martin’s latest delivers all of her signature humor, but the plot struggles to strike a balance between sizzling romance and the takedown of a predatory pyramid scheme. Still, Emerson and Lucas’ chemistry, which builds within the background of their reluctant investigative work, as well as Emerson’s strengthening relationship with Lucas’ endearing daughter, is the book’s best component.
A steamy rom-com that doesn’t sell all of its elements successfully.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780593816356
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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