A sexy, page-turning romance made for the silver screen.
Two actors, who also happen to be former lovers, must put aside their differences and film one final season of their hit TV show.
Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy never meant to mix business with pleasure, but then again, their entire careers were based on years of slow-burning sexual tension. The pair star as Kate and Harrison, the main characters in the supernatural drama Intangible, and after eight seasons of fans wondering if they will or they won’t, their characters are finally going to declare their undying love for one another. Unbeknownst to #Karrison shippers worldwide, however, the actors behind their beloved show absolutely and utterly despise each other. During a brief yet passionate secret affair during the first season of filming, Lilah and Shane were practically inseparable, sneaking into each other's trailers for quick hookups and stealing kisses in coat closets at industry events. Their whirlwind romance ended as abruptly as it began, though, leaving the two emerging stars forced to feign civility on camera for years until Lilah left to pursue a career in movies. But now, three years later, she’s returned to Intangible for one last season, and she and Shane will need to, quite literally, kiss and make up. As the duo embark on a press tour and grueling filming schedule, their close proximity begins to shed light on the fact that hatred may not be the only strong feeling they have toward each other. Wilder returns to the limelight in her second rom-com, following How To Fake It in Hollywood (2022), and her new cast brings even more star power and sexiness to the page. Lilah and Shane's relationship is overflowing with frustration and longing, brought to a higher boiling point by their warring feelings of hatred and attraction: “[She was] his Botticelli wet dream come to life, sent from hell to drive him crazy.” Wilder's novel is movie material, and Lilah and Shane’s simmering romance will leave you breathless and eager for a sequel.
A sexy, page-turning romance made for the silver screen.Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9780593358979
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dell
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.
A Seattle woman meets a Chicago businessman as she flies home from a visit to a friend, and her small act of kindness blossoms into more.
Maisy Gallagher is barely making ends meet. With her father’s unexpected death a few years earlier, she dropped out of nursing school to help out in the family’s jewelry store, working with her uncle. Her older brother, Sean, also moved back home so he and Maisy could help their mother and their 10-year-old brother, Patrick. When Maisy offers a ride to a rude businessman who sat next to her on the plane, she’s just operating on the kindness her grandmother instilled in her. That businessman, Chase Furst, turns out to be an incredibly wealthy banker; he’s flown into Seattle to make funeral arrangements for his mother, to whom he hasn’t spoken in years. Sparks fly in this gentle and predictable romance that leans heavily on long-distance and class-divide tropes. As with many of the author’s books, Christianity and the characters’ reliance on God’s will—as they wait and see what happens next—play a large part, as do traditional gender roles where women cook, clean, and only work in paying jobs until they have children at home to take care of. The author does offer a lighter touch when it comes to the painful ways alcoholism can destroy family relationships, with an understanding of the regret that can weigh on every family member.
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9798217091676
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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