A fun, nostalgic story that’s perfect for anyone who wants to take a trip down Memory Lane.
A high school senior hits her head and wakes up as a 30-year-old—and she’s in bed with her now-adult high school nemesis.
Charlotte Wu might be a bit of a control freak, but she knows how to get things done. One of her last tasks before graduating from high school is organizing the perfect prom—but unfortunately, she has to do it with help from her No. 1 enemy, J.T. Renner. He’s been a thorn in her side ever since he stood her up for freshman homecoming, and he seemingly lives to irritate her. But when she falls off a ladder (and right into Renner) as they’re decorating for the big dance, she wakes up in an unfamiliar house—with an adult, bearded Renner beside her in bed, just as confused as she is. It turns out they’re 30 years old and engaged. Time travel is hard enough for Charlotte to understand, but the idea that she’d ever marry the boy she hates more than an unchecked to-do list is unfathomable. As Charlotte and Renner try their best to make it back to their 17-year-old selves, they’re forced to keep up appearances in 2037. They go to work at their former high school (where Charlotte is a counselor and Renner, a gym teacher), hang out with their friends (all of whom have gone through their own changes in the past 13 years), and project the image of a happy couple at their joint bachelor/bachelorette party. As the two of them spend more time together, Charlotte sees a side of Renner he’d never shown her before—but she realizes that maybe she didn’t see it because she was so focused on hating him. Soon, Charlotte is desperate to get back to 2024 so she can make changes in how she lives her life—but will she and Renner be able to travel through time again? Lea creates a story that is part 13 Going on 30, part To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (both referenced in the pop-culture savvy text), and 100% swoony fun. Charlotte and Renner have charming chemistry that would be right at home in a classic teen rom-com.
A fun, nostalgic story that’s perfect for anyone who wants to take a trip down Memory Lane.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781662511684
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Mindy's Book Studio
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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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