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
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
A deep and moving portrayal of first love.
Two college students rekindle their relationship as they unravel the truth behind their breakup.
On the outside, college senior Bennett Reiner has it all. A goalie for Waterfell University’s hockey team, he lives with a group of friends in a luxurious off-campus house. He and his best friend, Rhys Koteskiy, have fathers who are retired hockey legends. But on the inside, he’s falling apart. Struggling with OCD, a shaky friendship with Rhys, and second thoughts about pursuing a future in hockey, the only thing keeping Bennett afloat is also the one thing breaking his heart: Paloma Blake. All dyed-hair and attitude, Paloma has built a bad reputation on the hockey scene since their relationship ended freshman year—but Bennett knows the real P. Underneath her promiscuous facade lies a scared and lonely girl running from a childhood of abuse. When they were together, it seemed like their romance was perfect, until Paloma broke it off without warning. Since then, Bennett has run to Paloma’s side whenever she needed him, whether she was drunk, lonely, or hurting, and now he’s determined to win her back. For Bennett, Paloma is his antidote, the cure for his compulsions; for Paloma, Bennett is her protector, her safe space. And though Paloma yearns to be with Bennett again, she’s not sure she’s willing to open old wounds and reveal the truth about her painful past. In the third installment of the Undone series, Corinne spotlights familiar characters as they navigate trauma, heartbreak, and first love. Bennett and Paloma’s relationship is raw and vulnerable, and their journey of relinquishing control is both necessary and inevitable. Their romance evolves as they open up to one another, and in return, the reader is rewarded with a love story that’s as lyrical, evocative, and emotional as poetry.
A deep and moving portrayal of first love.Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781668219423
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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