A sparkling love story with richly depicted lovers and a sly comic sensibility.
A lawyer trying to dispossess the proprietress of a sleepaway camp ends up falling for her instead in Chase’s fizzy romance.
She’s Cricket Abernathy, owner of the run-down Camp Abernathy by gorgeous Lake Willa in the Poconos; he’s Charlie Thorpe, a Philadelphia lawyer tasked with convincing her to sell the camp to his real-estate developer client—with a promotion to partner riding on his success. When Cricket rejects the offer, Charlie decides to look for secrets that could force her to sell by signing up for the two-week-long Comic-Camp for adult nerds who are into everything from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings. Cricket knows about his subterfuge, but lets him in anyway because of his granite jaw, muscular chest, and adorable dimples. Other campers include Adam, who plays a Sith Lord; Stefan, who dresses as a Viking; Hunter, who portrays a zombie from an apocalypse-set game; 11-year-old Olivia, who’s a dead shot with foam-tipped arrows; Angela, a cougar on the hunt for a fourth husband; and Esther, an old lady who crochets plushie penises as gag bridal gifts. Charlie, who is basically a nice guy and a good sport, bonds with these oddballs and, smitten by her toned physique and infectious humor, falls in love with Cricket. Cricket reciprocates Charlie’s ardor, and their relationship escalates from flirty banter to Cricket inspecting Charlie’s genitals for ticks, thence to skinny-dipping and…nature taking its course. Complications arise when Cricket’s old flame, Patrick, shows up. The situation worsens when Charlie discovers a lien on Camp Abernathy, giving his client leverage to take the land—and threatening Cricket’s home and livelihood.
Chase’s yarn follows a classic screwball-comedy formula, pairing a nervy heroine with a manly but menschy hero amid a constellation of loveable eccentrics in a narrative that’s full of blithe, energetic contrivances. It’s also a valentine to nerdishness and the pop-culture icons it feeds upon, spoofing them but also acknowledging their moral seriousness and relevance. (“Peter becomes a hero when he develops a genuine connection with others,” Adam explains to Charlie in a rather pointed interpretation of Guardians of the Galaxy.) The romantic leads are complicated and unfinished, with Charlie needing to release the emotions that his judgmental parents forced him to suppress and Cricket unable to break free from the safe but isolating cocoon of Camp Abernathy. Chase writes vigorous, evocative prose that crackles with smart and salacious repartee (“Your hand is on my ass, Charles Xavier Thorpe….[e]ither that or this lake has a small octopus”) and makes her characters, unlike many of the bland protagonists who populate romances, feel quirky, colorful, and alive. (“The memory of Cricket’s laughter rings in my head. It was a wicked, bawdy laugh that ought to belong to a gangster’s moll and not the bespectacled woman in the Tree of Mordor or Gondor or one of the ’dors T-shirt”). Readers will heartily root for Cricket and Charlie to get together and save their geeky paradise.
A sparkling love story with richly depicted lovers and a sly comic sensibility.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9798999775306
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Red Palm Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.
Best friends confront feelings for each other when they take a honeymoon trip together.
Francesca Gardiner and George Saint James have always been best friends—just like Jo and Laurie from Little Women, which they both love. Frankie has a big, complicated family and George was the boy next door who’d moved in with his eccentric grandmother. Their friendship survived childhood, awkward teenage years, and living together as young adults without ever venturing into the romantic—well, except for one kiss, but they don’t talk about that. When Frankie gets engaged to an older professor named Nate, George isn’t happy and a huge fight ensues. Despite his misgivings, George shows up to be her best man, but Nate leaves Frankie right before the wedding with only a cryptic letter. Devastated, Frankie goes to a friend’s house to recuperate, but her honeymoon is already planned and paid for—so she decides to travel to Tofino, a picturesque town on the coast of Vancouver Island, with George taking Nate’s place. Frankie wants to fix her friendship with George, but now that they’re in a romantic suite in a beautiful location, things are more complicated than ever. She’d always thought a relationship would be a bad idea, but she’s slowly beginning to realize they’ll never be able to go back to being kids. Maybe the only way forward involves forging a new kind of relationship. Fortune, the author of romances like This Summer Will Be Different (2024), returns with another love story full of longing and intense angst. The many allusions to Little Women are charming, and Frankie is a delightfully headstrong, feisty character. She and George have explosive chemistry, and Fortune manages to make the “will-they-or-won’t-they” nature of their relationship feel like life-or-death stakes.
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593953242
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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