An exciting historical tale of adventure and a love story that defies social mores.
Two very different women go on a quest that changes them forever.
Lady Edith Darling, a 27-year-old spinster from a wealthy family, secretly plans to fulfill her grandmother’s dream of finding Excalibur and proving the truth of the Arthurian legend. Her adventures begin when she’s robbed at gunpoint by a tough, attractive highwaywoman who’s just the person to help in her search. Continuing to London, Edith arrives at the home of the Sunless Syndicate and demands to see the boss. Taken to Thomasin Shaw, the woman who accosted her, she pitches her idea for a quest that will make them both rich. Thomasin, who finds Edith adorable, agrees to accompany her but has a secret plan to ransom her to her father against the advice of Worthing, the second-in-command who’s eager to replace Thomasin. With Worthing and newcomer Jay, the women set off for Slaughterbridge, where Thomasin expects to find treasure, though Edith knows will only be the first stop on a long road. On the way, Edith schools Thomasin in history, and the highwaywoman, admiring her bravery, becomes even more attracted to her. When they reach the delivery point for the ransom, Thomasin follows along in pursuit of clues they find in a cave after Edith tells the truth, solves puzzles, and is wounded by a booby trap meant for Thomasin. Their adventures become increasingly dangerous, especially as Worthing plots against them. The naïve and innocent Edith is sexually awakened and begins to fall in love, while Thomasin finds herself changing to protect the woman she’s come to love.
An exciting historical tale of adventure and a love story that defies social mores.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9798892425490
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Alcove Press
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 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 fun, positively frothy friends-to-lovers romance.
While on her sister’s wedding cruise, a woman enlists her childhood best friend for help as she attempts to woo her longtime crush.
JoJo Burton is bad at love. After she leaves her terrible fiancé, Pearce Richmond, at the altar, she’s convinced she might never settle down. But during her sister’s wedding, which is being held on an eight-day cruise to the Bahamas and Cozumel, she and her family concoct a plan that will help her seduce her recently divorced childhood crush, Finn Turner. The two of them once shared a blindfolded kiss that might have ruined JoJo for all other men, and she’s never forgotten it. But then JoJo’s best friend, Cooper Watts, shows up. Cooper and JoJo were inseparable as children but didn’t talk for years after she got engaged to Pearce. She doesn’t know why he suddenly disappeared on her, but it doesn’t matter—he’s here now, and she needs him to help her get Finn to reenact that long-ago kiss. But after she and Cooper share a cabin, get thrown together for every wedding week activity, and even engage in the classic friendly flirting meant to make another man jealous, JoJo starts to realize that Finn might not be the man she’s been waiting for, after all. Center keeps things light, focusing on humor even when the subject matter veers into family drama. JoJo and Cooper find themselves caught up in the sort of tropes that are catnip for romance fans—he takes care of her when she has a sunburn, for instance, and they participate in a slow-dance contest. As Center reveals in an author’s note at the beginning, “Spoiler: This book will end well.” The destination may not be a surprise, but the journey is a delight.
A fun, positively frothy friends-to-lovers romance.Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9781250408051
Page Count: 336
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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