A haunting and atmospheric work that’s likely to captivate genre fans.
Northwick offers a gothic romance about a young woman with a tragic past who discovers more tragedy while working as a researcher at a decades-old estate.
The story picks up with Millie Foxboro’s journey to a place called Willowfield; the estate is located 120 miles outside Boston, where she works in a bookstore. She’s been hired as a research assistant by brooding professor Callum Hughes, a noted scholar of Celtic lore and the wealthy owner of a large perfumery business. Millie learns of the professor’s own difficult past and the ghosts that continue to haunt him and the once-grand Willowfield. As the story goes, when the professor brought his new wife to the sprawling estate, the pressure of the house became overwhelming; as a result, she spiraled into an obsession with evil spirits of Celtic folklore and the unusual flora that adorn the mansion. She eventually threw herself into a nearby ravine and drowned in the river at the bottom, plunging Callum into profound grief. When Millie arrives, the estate has fallen into disrepair and is haunted by many things, including memories that oddly parallel events in her own difficult past. Northwick presents a dark love story that sparkles with elements of gothic horror and more modern romance as Millie explores the dark secrets hidden in Willowfield’s shadows and reveals a few of her own, showing the devastating effects of trauma. Rich and lush natural scenery winds its way around this work like a pervasive vine: “There were pergolas, cherry blossom tunnels, and innumerable bramble arches and clusters of broom waiting patiently to flower. A majestic weeping willow sighed low over a murky pond where a stone kelpie reared half out of the water, searching for a rider.” The prose often reflects the conflict between staid society and the wildness within each of the characters. While some readers may struggle with the slow-burn romance and often quiet tone, many will find this work to be thrilling.
A haunting and atmospheric work that’s likely to captivate genre fans.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9798988473824
Page Count: 226
Publisher: Northwick Books LLC
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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