A charming rom-com about finding your place and knowing who you are.
A troubled Native American pop star retreats to her estranged grandmother’s ranch in Oklahoma and finds unexpected love.
Rising star Avery Fox’s record label never believed a Native musician could climb the charts, but now that her song “I Need a Warrior Tonight” has cracked the Billboard Hot 100, all eyes are on her. Everything comes crashing down, however, when she poses for a Rolling Stone cover in a feathered warbonnet—she’s officially cancelled by the listening public for being embarrassing at best and offensive to Native Americans at worst. Avery, who was raised as a child star by her single mom, never knew her family back in Oklahoma and didn’t understand that her costume was problematic and racist. Although she’s a descendent of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, she’s not an enrolled citizen, leading to accusations that she’s faking her heritage. Now, her mom (also her manager) decides that Avery’s best option is to go hide out in Oklahoma with the grandmother she’s never met—she can lay low and bond with the community, putting to rest all the rumors that she isn’t really Native. But when Avery shows up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, she finds a ranch hand named Lucas Iron Eyes who hates her music, a grandmother who threatens people with a shotgun, and a ranch where the horses terrify her (and try to eat her hair). Living at Red Fox Ranch means hard work that Avery isn’t accustomed to—including cooking for ranch hands and caring for animals—and it also means being in close quarters with Lucas. These enemies soon become lovers, but Avery’s complicated career and Lucas’ connection to the ranch mean that they’re destined to be pulled apart—unless Avery can reconcile her dreams with the heritage she’s finally getting the chance to explore. Avery’s fish-out-of-water story leads to plenty of classic rom-com hijinks as she learns to ride a horse, play stickball, and adjust to life on the ranch. Nava balances these lighter moments with depth as Avery learns more about her grandmother and what it means to be Muscogee.
A charming rom-com about finding your place and knowing who you are.Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9780593642627
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
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
PERSPECTIVES
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.
A happily engaged woman is pulled back to her hometown—and her first love—when tragedy strikes.
Billie Wright is living her dream, running a thriving fertility clinic in New York City and engaged to a wonderful trauma surgeon named Dean. Her happily-ever-after meant giving up her life in Wisconsin, where she left behind many friends as well as her high school sweetheart, Mick. Although they’d been deeply in love, when Billie’s ambition pulled her away from home and toward the city, Mick couldn’t handle either the distance or her busy schedule. Billie has finally moved on from that heartbreak—but then she receives a phone call from Mick, the first communication between them in years. Her best friend, Erin, died in a car accident, leaving behind an 11-year-old daughter, Phoebe. Now Billie must return home to help sort Erin’s affairs and provide some kind of comfort to Phoebe while grieving the loss of her best friend. Of course, being back home also means being in close contact with Mick. Their feelings for each other may not have ever gone away, and their proximity leads to big decisions for Billie. Can she ever reconcile her current life in Manhattan with her past in Wisconsin? And which one will be her future? Giffin knows how to do drama, and she ratchets up the stakes with every page as she continues to reveal new obstacles for Billie. The ending wraps up quite neatly, but the nostalgia-filled ride is full of twists and turns that will keep readers flipping the pages.
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780593600320
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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