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
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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