An enjoyably lusty romance with good relationship development.
Two adults who suddenly lost their mothers strive for connection in this romance novel.
Since her mom died unexpectedly two years ago, 23-year-old Katie Williams has put college and her future dreams aside to work as a teller in a Portland, Maine, bank and take care of her half brother, 12-year-old Tyler, whose abusive father left years ago. It’s a dull, dreary life in their cramped apartment, but Katie sees no way to move beyond it. After his own mother’s death, 26-year-old Matt Stephens, a wealthy CEO of a computer software startup in Boston, comes to clean out her place, which happens to be one floor below Katie’s. When he and Katie run into each other—literally—their attraction is immediate. He’s drawn to her “delicate” prettiness and mane of dark-brown hair and she, to his tall, muscular form and “midnight blue” eyes. They start dating, and the sex is spectacular, but the path to love proves to be a rocky one. It turns out that both have something to hide; for Katie, it’s her long struggle with depression, while Matt keeps the fact that he’s rich under wraps, hoping to be loved for more than his money. When Tyler’s father threatens to seek custody, the couple’s secrets and true feelings come out. In her debut novel, Disano initially doesn’t go very deep into Matt and Katie’s instant attraction, instead summing it up unsatisfactorily with questions such as “What was it about him that flustered her so much?” However, the portrayal of the relationship strengthens as the story goes on, and although the two predictably manage to work out their differences, they do so with notable integrity and caring. The couple’s sex life is improbably superb from the get-go, but the scenes that depict it are well written, varied, and reveal some unexpected verve on mild-mannered Katie’s part: “Oh yeah. That’s going to leave a mark.”
An enjoyably lusty romance with good relationship development.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73776-120-4
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Disano Dreams
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A book that will wolfishly appeal to the most heated fans of omegaverse erotica.
Tess Covington is a talented, successful contractor who just learned that she’s a late-in-life omega wolf shifter. Her new boss, surly innkeeper Hunter Barrett, is an alpha who’s opposed to the remodeling she’s there to do.
Tess hasn’t made it public that she’s being considered for her own HGTV makeover show, but she runs her career like a well-oiled machine. She posts a lot of her remodels on social media, granting her a certain level of celebrity, and leans on her brothers to help run the business she took over after a stroke made it impossible for her father to keep working. Hunter’s last serious relationship with an omega 10 years ago left him deeply wounded, ending when his parents were killed in a car accident and he moved back home to take care of their lodge—hence his resistance to change. With few exceptions, Tess keeps her newly diagnosed omega status to herself. Unfortunately, as an alpha, Hunter sniffs her out and seems to be the only person capable of helping her with her sudden heats, so there’s a lot of very smutty caretaking. The specificity of omegaverse hierarchy might be new to some readers, but Ferguson’s worldbuilding is quick, easy, and deeply horny. General romance readers might enjoy the grumpy-meets-sunshine and stranded-in-a-snowstorm tropes, although for a book about shifters, the characters spend surprisingly little time in wolf form. There’s not much danger of character development or surprising plot elements here, but for fans excited to read about animalistic mating, that might be enough.
A book that will wolfishly appeal to the most heated fans of omegaverse erotica.Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593953693
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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