Delivers on the titular premise of “like,” but may not satisfy romance readers hoping for love.
A makeup artist and beauty influencer is the target of a catfishing scheme.
Jia Ahmed is a well-known internet sensation for her makeup tutorials and beauty tips, but she senses her star is waning and is tired of the pressure to create new content. She’s also determined to finally meet Dev Dixit, the man she’s been texting for a few months. His family is Bollywood royalty, but he’s a star in his own right, having spent a decade as the lead in one of India’s most famous serialized dramas. Dev moved to California for a part in an American show, but mostly he’s trying to escape the emotional turmoil caused by his brother’s unexpected death and the responsibility of becoming his niece’s guardian. When Jia approaches Dev at a party and he doesn’t recognize her, she is horrified and embarrassed to realize she was catfished. Appalled that his identity was stolen and used to hurt an innocent woman, Dev approaches her and they develop a cautious friendship. When the media gets hold of the story, the two pretend to be engaged to smooth things over with their respective families. Although Jia and Dev are completely likable, the book reads like mainstream fiction, not romance. The focus is on the thorny dilemmas the two face in trying to achieve professional goals and their individual navigation of complex and interesting family dynamics. Although they go on a few dates, most of their thin, hastily constructed love story is jammed into the last few chapters. Romance fans may wonder what happened to Rai’s trademark ability to craft deeply felt emotional connections between her main characters.
Delivers on the titular premise of “like,” but may not satisfy romance readers hoping for love.Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-287815-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Haphazard and undemanding.
A sports agent’s first official client is the man she dumped years ago in college.
After two years of hard work as an underling, Nora Mackenzie is finally being promoted to full-time sports agent. She’s worked hard, kept quiet, and allowed men in the office to call her Mac—a nickname she hates—all to show she’s a team player and “one of the guys.” Unfortunately, her boss instructs her to sign Derek Pender, a football player coming off an injury, who happens to be the man she heartlessly dumped in their senior year of college. Derek signs with her for revenge, seeing it as his opportunity to pay Nora back for callously breaking his heart eight years earlier. He insists she be at his beck and call: answering his emails, running his errands, cooking dinner for his dates. He also refuses to let her explain why she broke up with him without warning or explanation. Nora feels she has no choice but to acquiesce to Derek’s humiliating demands, since she’s worked too hard to let him ruin her dream job. She hopes he’ll thaw and they might become friends, but Derek’s bad behavior is designed to hide the fact that he’s still in love with her. Nora’s characterization is uneven, veering between anger at how she’s treated in the male-dominated field to immature bickering and bantering with Derek. Although Adams likely meant for Derek and Nora’s interactions to have an enemies-to-lovers vibe, the characters instead seem juvenile and stuck in the past. The novel is fueled by a string of tropes—second chance romance! married in Vegas! only one bed!—each randomly deployed to keep the book going despite thin characterization and wan plotting.
Haphazard and undemanding.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593723678
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dell
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
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
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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