Patchwork pieces of crime, intrigue, and romance fall into place perfectly.
This Philadelphia police procedural serves as a backdrop for a romance between two broken but highly attractive detectives.
Detective Alexandra “Lexi” Danvers “was hollow inside...in a way no amount of sex or whiskey seemed able to fill.” That doesn’t stop the feline-eyed beauty from trying. Because of self-destructive behavior that includes getting served too many drinks and hooking up regularly at “cop bars,” her reputation on the force is that she’s unfit for duty in spite of her good work record. Her train-wreck conduct began three years ago when her husband, Robert, a police officer, chose suicide after a failed investigation into the kidnap and murder of 8-year-old Donald Palmer. Arthur Book’s confession to that crime was thrown out due to allegations of police coercion. Book walked free and successfully sued the city. Now, Xavier Knight, Lexi’s sexy new partner (“He’s got a great ass”), has a hidden agenda. Police Capt. Jack Barrett brought Knight from the Baltimore police force to Philadelphia to evaluate Lexi’s fitness. Knight also has a backstory that led to a damaged life. As soon as the two detectives are partnered, another 8-year-old boy is kidnapped and murdered, and Book starts tormenting Lexi. In addition to looking for the killer, shielding Lexi from Book, and keeping his mission to evaluate his partner a secret, Knight finds himself falling in love with her, as she does with him. As good as Flade’s storytelling is, the murders and suicides (yes, plural) are upsetting to read about, but they are not presented with over-the-top gore. And the flirtations that lead to something deeper balance the darkness of the crimes. In addition, the police investigation feels authentic. For example, Knight notes that the kidnapper/killer hunts in neighborhood parks but not in the crowded parts of the city because the snatch may be fast and anonymous there, “but the escape is near impossible.” There’s often welcome humor in the patter between the two detectives, as when Knight says: “For crying out loud, Danvers, don’t talk with your mouth full. And use a fork.”
Patchwork pieces of crime, intrigue, and romance fall into place perfectly.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 253
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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 feisty storm of Greek tragedy headlined by three very modern women.
On the isle of Capri, Helen Lingate seeks revenge on the people responsible for her mother’s death 30 years earlier—her own family.
When Sarah Lingate fell to her death on Capri in 1992, she left behind a 3-year-old daughter, Helen, and a legacy as a gifted playwright; her favorite necklace of golden snakes was lost to the sea. Thirty years later, Helen, chafing at the restrictions she’s grown up under as a member of the old-money Lingate family, hatches a plan with her uncle Marcus’ assistant, Lorna Moreno, to blackmail her uncle and her father with that same necklace, which mysteriously entered her possession a few months before. The novel begins on Capri just after Lorna disappears, and then traces her steps from 36 hours earlier. Interweaving chapters from the points of view of Helen, Lorna, and Sarah—as well as, later, a few others—we learn how Sarah gradually became stifled by the constant pressure of keeping up appearances until she became inspired to write a play, Saltwater, that was a not-so-thinly veiled tell-all revealing dark Lingate family secrets. It was shortly after this that she fell to her death. The loss of her mother has come to define Helen’s life, and if she can use the necklace as leverage to escape her family, and maybe learn the truth along the way, she’ll take the risk. Lorna’s motives are both murkier and more straightforward—she’s never had money, and she’s got a chip on her shoulder about it, so splitting 10 million euros with Helen sounds like a way to discard her past and start fresh. These strong, conniving women drive the drama and the narrative, and they are captivating enough that as twist after twist begins to unfurl, the novel still feels character-driven. The end—well, the end shocks. And it’s well earned. By the time the sun sets on the gorgeous excess and rugged coast of Capri, lives will have been destroyed.
A feisty storm of Greek tragedy headlined by three very modern women.Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780593875551
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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