A fake marriage leads to real feelings in this charming rom-com.
When two London neighbors decide to fake being husband and wife, they’re not prepared for the true feelings that emerge in the process.
Thirty-one-year-old Connie, an aspiring writer, has never trusted self-proclaimed "nice guys," because her track record when it comes to dating them has been terrible. Either their niceness is a facade meant to cover up some big lie—like a wife at home—or they’re just pretending to be decent to get into her bed. That’s why she scrutinizes everything her American neighbor, Henry Samuel Beckett, does for her; there’s no way anyone this cheery, well dressed, and all-around kind isn’t hiding some deep, dark secret. To an extent, Connie’s instincts are correct, since Beck does have a secret, but when he finally reveals the truth, she realizes her early skepticism may have been unfounded. At 37, Beck has always been single, but he may have told a teeny-tiny white lie about being married to save face with an irritating colleague at the publishing house where he works. Then, when Connie and Beck run into each other at a book party, she somehow tells his annoying coworker that she’s the mystery wife. Now, the two of them are trapped having to preserve this lie, especially since they’re both heading to a writing retreat where all eyes will be on them—so they’ll need to get their stories straight, not to mention figure out how to sleep in the same bed. Despite her earlier reservations about Beck, Connie finds herself in the best position to learn who he really is, and the truth is that he isn’t just any nice guy—he’s way better. Stein’s latest is a sweet rom-com with the kind of endearing, cinnamon-roll hero the genre can always use more of, as well as a heroine who’s willing to lower her walls and trust someone who might actually be worth the effort. While it would have been nice to see Connie and Beck’s romantic dynamic develop further outside the retreat setting, the characters’ strong introspection and emotional vulnerability make the book impossible to put down.
A fake marriage leads to real feelings in this charming rom-com.Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781250867971
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.
A collegiate diver and swimmer secretly pursue kink together, and risk falling in love along the way.
Scarlett Vandermeer is struggling. Despite a successful recovery from the injury that almost ended her Stanford diving career, she hasn’t been able to get her head together, and it’s affecting her performance. Plus, she’s trying to stay focused on getting into medical school. A relationship would be out of the question. By comparison, Lukas Blomqvist is a swimming idol, a record-breaker who wins medals as easily as breathing, and Scarlett has long been convinced he would never look in her direction—until one fateful night when a mutual friend lets slip that they have something unexpected in common: Scarlett likes to be submissive in the bedroom, while Lukas prefers to take a dominant approach. Now, they both know a big secret about each other, and it’s something neither of them can stop thinking about. It’s Lukas who suggests they have a fling—purely physical, just to take the edge off, so Scarlett can get out of her own head and stop overthinking her dives. Initially, their arrangement is easy to stick to, but the more time they spend together, the more Scarlett starts to realize that what she feels for Lukas is more than physical attraction. Complicating the situation is the fact that Scarlett’s friend Penelope Ross used to go out with Lukas, and the longer Scarlett keeps mum about her true feelings for him, the more difficult it is to keep the situation hidden from another person she really cares about. While Scarlett and Lukas’ relationship does begin as a physical one, their deeper psychological connection takes a little too long to emerge amid all the other storylines, resulting in a somewhat rushed resolution. However, Hazelwood’s latest is proof of the depth and maturity that has emerged in her writing over the years, and it highlights her embrace of sexier, more emotional elements than were present in her original STEMinist rom-coms.
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593641057
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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