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SOMETHING SPECTACULAR

This historical rom-com will delight readers looking for a fun, rompy read.

Two gender-nonconforming people find love with each other in Regency London.

Peggy Delancey loves herself and her body but knows she doesn’t fit into society’s rigid gender norms. She and her neighbor Arabella Tarleton have been friends and casual lovers for years, and Peggy is convinced that her feelings for Arabella are true love and not just sexual attraction even though Arabella doesn’t feel the same. Nevertheless, Peggy’s sense of duty and loyalty make her unable to resist Arabella’s pleas for help in wooing Orfeo, a famous castrato opera singer. Peggy is troubled by her instant feelings of attraction to Orfeo, wondering if it makes her disloyal to find them more attractive than Arabella. Even more thrilling, Orfeo is the first person who has ever preferred quiet, unassuming Peggy over the brash, beautiful Arabella. Orfeo instantly recognizes Peggy as someone special, and their magnetism and confidence show Peggy how to be honest with herself and others about her own identity. Hall’s trademark witty banter and impeccable comedic timing are on full display here. The book is a campy Regency, full of fabulous fashions and over-the-top plotting. The large returning cast of characters from the first book in the series, Something Fabulous (2022), adds a delightful feeling of camaraderie and a reminder of the importance of found family. Hall is explicitly claiming and making space in the historical romance subgenre for queer people to be main characters on their own terms. Peggy and Orfeo’s tender friendship and romance shows that queer people do not need to justify or explain their presence or identities to find love and that love, in some form or fashion, is for everyone.

This historical rom-com will delight readers looking for a fun, rompy read.

Pub Date: April 11, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-5420-3528-6

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023

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IT STARTS WITH US

Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.

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The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.

Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.

Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.

Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Atria

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022

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THE THINGS WE LEAVE UNFINISHED

A charming dual-timeline romance about learning from past mistakes.

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In Yarros’ latest romance novel, a young woman hires a handsome but infuriating writer to complete her late great-grandmother’s half-finished book.

After her marriage to a Hollywood producer ends in high-profile divorce, 28-year-old Georgia Stanton returns to her childhood home in Colorado. When she arrives at the house where she was raised by her great-grandma—the famous romance author Scarlett Stanton—she finds her mother, Ava, lying in wait. Georgia is in possession of the only unfinished manuscript that her deceased relative left behind, and her own mom wants her to sell the rights so they can get some cash. Georgia succumbs to the pressure and enters a deal in which another author will finish the book’s second half. The manuscript tells Scarlett’s life story, including how she found, and lost, her one true love. Georgia feels strongly that the finished novel must reflect the true events of Scarlett’s life, as difficult as they may have been. Unfortunately, the publishers hire Noah Harrison, a stubborn writer at the height of his career, who has his own fictional vision for the novel’s ending. As Noah and Georgia butt heads, each of them researches Scarlett’s history in England during World War II. As they learn more about Scarlett and Jameson Stanton, the fighter pilot she loved, Georgia and Noah must navigate their own increasingly complicated relationship. With two equally engrossing storylines, this book will draw in even seasoned romance readers. As the story jumps between past and present, the author also alternates present-day perspectives between Georgia and Noah, moving deftly between her characters’ distinct voices. The relationships are well developed, and the love that Scarlett felt for Jameson is especially palpable. Along with the sweetly romantic themes, the book explores several heftier topics, including personal ambition, grief, family discord, and self-esteem. The story has a few digressions that do little to advance the plot, but the main characters are sufficiently engrossing that readers will want to stick with them to the end.

A charming dual-timeline romance about learning from past mistakes.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-68281-566-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Entangled: Amara

Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021

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