A sweet but unsatisfying mashup of quarterlife coming-of-age tale and queer romance.
A trans man in his 30s confronts his past in a fantastical way.
After breaking up with his boyfriend of seven years, Harlowe is without an apartment and feeling adrift. Rather than crash with friends or try to find a new place in Boston, he rents a cottage on Cape Cod for the summer. His new landlady is Dina Daley (strong Mrs. Madrigal vibes) and, as he gets to know his neighbors, Harlowe learns she almost never lets anyone use the cottage. Why does she want Harlowe there? Maybe the answer has some connection to the fact that the cottage is inhabited by manifestations of his ex, his estranged father, and the thesis advisor who discouraged him from going into academia. He also encounters a handyman named Nathan fixing a hole in the bedroom wall—and then meets an older version of the same man (Dina’s nephew) on the Cape. Harlowe keeps avoiding repeated conversations with people from his past (strong Groundhog Day vibes) as he gets to know present-day Nathan. Harlowe is attempting to work through his past at the same time that he’s exploring a relationship with Nathan. Underhill manages to leave both parts of the narrative underdeveloped. And, it has to be said, Harlowe’s reaction to the uninvited visitors in his new home is hard to believe. He’s perturbed when he discovers Dina can’t see these people, but he’s not freaked out. Quickly, and with little evidence, he decides the cottage has a message for him. Then he spends a week trying to find a new place to stay when the summer season is underway. It’s hard to see Harlowe as an actual human person until well into the novel.
A sweet but unsatisfying mashup of quarterlife coming-of-age tale and queer romance.Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9780063448841
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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