A delightfully vibrant tale of reluctant lovers reunited.
In this Regency romance, two old friends warily consider giving love another try.
In this second volume of Michaels’ Linfield Hall series, following Lady August (2021), Louisa Strickland is content mostly to avoid scheming London in favor of managing her estate in the Kent countryside. “She was more than competent enough by herself,” readers are told, “so much so that she didn’t even employ a land steward.” As the novel opens, Louisa has only one worry: the well-being of her slightly foolish young sister, Flora, who’ll soon be making her society debut in London as an heiress with 30,000 pounds. Little does Louisa know that this very fortune will make Flora irresistibly attractive to the rakish Earl Charles Finch, who’s 20,000 pounds in debt (with the stern Duke of Rutley overseeing his account books and setting up a rigorous payment schedule) and badly needs to marry a rich heiress. This would be a perilous enough situation for the Strickland family women, but there’s an added wrinkle. Years ago, Finch and Louisa shared a brief and torrid moment, and both have tried to forget it ever since. Finch, readers learn, “hadn’t thought about Louisa Strickland in a long time, but just the idea of her red hair was enough to make his heart skip a beat.”
The author has devised a classic setup for a Regency love story of second chances. Longtime romance readers will feel very comfortable knowing exactly what to expect from the plot complications Michaels cooks up. Once the size of Flora’s dowry becomes widely known, debauched and impecunious lords of all kinds start swarming. When some of their attentions spill over to include Louisa, Finch finds himself in the awkward position of feeling protective about one sister even while he’s attempting to take advantage of another. The author skillfully manipulates these conflicting imperatives: Finch is entirely believable and very likable in her handling. And this is doubly true of Louisa, who not only doesn’t resemble her petite and delicate sister physically, but is a completely different kind of person emotionally as well, unconventional and fiercely independent. When one of her suitors, through a combination of guile and good looks, actually manages to tempt her, readers will feel a genuine sympathy for the plight of poor Finch, who by this point realizes that he has never stopped loving Louisa. Even comparatively late in the narrative, Louisa is still fighting her own version of this yearning, mainly on the grounds that she doesn’t want to sacrifice her independence. She “had no desire to become a countess, so attaching herself to the earl couldn’t possibly benefit her,” she thinks. “Why should she sign her life away to him?” This streak of self-sufficiency causes Louisa to put obstacles in the path of her own happiness, but it’s also a large part of what makes her such an intriguing character.
A delightfully vibrant tale of reluctant lovers reunited.Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73514-015-5
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Mildred Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
If you like your romance the darker the better, this one is for you.
A young mother returns to the gothic manor of her childhood to dust off the family secrets and face her old flame.
Maven Blackthorn hasn’t been home since her mom died under suspicious circumstances 12 years ago, but the death of her grandmother, Lorinda, forces her return to Solstice, Vermont. Maven’s daughter, Beatrix, has never seen where her mother grew up, but she quickly learns the Blackthorns have a reputation for witchcraft, largely fueled by a centuries-long feud with the powerful Croft family, whose heir apparent, Ronan, was Maven’s forbidden teenage love and “worst nightmare.” Maven hopes to bid farewell to her grandmother and visit with her aunts without running into Ronan, but he proves hard to avoid. Maven’s hatred for Ronan runs deep and she believes the feeling is mutual. From Ronan’s perspective, it’s clear their painful unraveling was full of misunderstandings. When Lorinda’s body goes missing from the funeral home, Maven is forced to accept Ronan’s help in discovering what happened. While Maven dives into her family history and the many unfortunate events befalling Blackthorn women, Ronan is forever in her ear, seducing her back to him. The push and pull of their romance feels immature, which isn’t helped by the first-person present narration. At times, it’s easy to forget Maven and Ronan aren’t still teenagers, until the erotica is punched up a thousand percent in the final third. Controlling lines from Ronan like “Don’t test my patience, woman” might read better if his perspective were explored more, though fans of Geissinger’s dark erotica, including Brutal Vows (2025), may not be fazed. Maven’s perspective dominates, and though her investigation into family lore and increasing paranoia are the most compelling arc, the million and one ways in which she threatens Ronan with physical violence—“What I really want to do is tie you to a tree, disembowel you with my bare hands, feed your guts to the wolves, and cut off your head”—is a bit one-note. Trigger warnings abound.
If you like your romance the darker the better, this one is for you.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781250379139
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
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