A tearjerker that effectively explores how shame can transform into pride.
Virzo offers a novel that celebrated queer joy, resilience and creativity.
Thirty-something chef Luca’s mental health is in shambles after he finds out that his personal life has been made public in an art exhibition by his former boyfriend, Bjorn. This betrayal takes him on a journey of self-acceptance that involves attending rehab for recovery from addiction to drugs and sex, embracing art therapy, and finding a support group. He also goes to culinary school, reinvents his relationship with Christianity, and finds meaning in cooking at a café called Pan y Paz. Luca’s sister, Annie, narrates the story and offers her own insights: “A perfect dish was something he could control in a world where he often couldn’t control himself. His recovery journal became a food journal, and his emotions became recipes.” This book reminds readers that there’s no standard path to healing, and that people must explore what resonates with them and helps them take charge of their own narrative. Along the way, Virzo offers a gut-wrenching examination of what violation of consent can look like in a queer relationship in which only one partner is a member of another marginalized group. Luca is a Latine person of Argentinian descent while Bjorn, “a walking, talking Viking statue,” presents as white; what transpires between them is a scathing commentary on racism in LGBTQ+ communities. The book captures the frustrating nature of online dating forums that offer easy access to sex without the promise of care and companionship, and it paints a moving portrait of love anchored in kindness and mutual respect. Luca, who takes on a new name—Gabriel—as he forges a new identity, welcomes another person into his heart, and monogamy and polyamory are not presented in a way that extols the virtues of one and discredits the other. When asked about his views on monogamy, for instance, the new person in Gabriel’s life tell him: “I believe in honesty more than rules…But with you? I want the kind of love that looks no further.” What happens when Bjorn has another exhibition? Read to find out.
A tearjerker that effectively explores how shame can transform into pride.Pub Date: May 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798999008077
Page Count: 270
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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