A fun, if occasionally tedious, novel, equal parts heart-tugging and steamy—strictly for romance enthusiasts.
An attorney and a baseball star must come to terms with their complicated past for the sake of their ailing son.
Libby Tucker is a beautiful, successful Windy City attorney who knows how to get what she wants. And what she wants most right now is to find a bone marrow donor for her 6-year-old son Cass, who is dying of leukemia. The boy’s father is her best hope, but Libby hasn’t spoken to Banford Aidan Palowski—aka Band-Aid—in a half-dozen years, and for good reason. When a brief hookup between these two college friends led to pregnancy, Aidan urged Libby to get an abortion. She refused, excising him from her life. Aidan took off to make it in the big leagues, believing Libby had given their baby up for adoption. Years later, Libby, who still hasn’t forgiven her old flame, reluctantly turns to Aidan—now the Cubs’ star pitcher—in a desperate attempt to save her son. Aidan agrees, but on one condition: He wants to be part of his child’s life. Libby’s hesitant (Cass believes his father is dead), but Aidan persists, manipulating his way into their life. Soon, the three have formed a charming, if sometimes prickly, family unit, as Cass quickly bonds with his father, and Aidan embraces his new role. But the relationship between Aidan and Libby is less settled. Aidan wants another chance to win “the only game, in thirty odd years, I hadn’t seen to completion.” Libby is less eager, still nursing anger and frightened of the intensity of her feelings for Aidan. Gradually, the couple learns to navigate their new relationship, but before long, tragedy strikes, tearing the couple apart again. Marx’s (The Seer’s 7 Deadly Fairy Tales, 2012, etc.) romance is full of twists and turns, some expected, and some not, with an emotionally complex central conflict, lively (though at times infuriating) characters and a carefully drawn Chicago setting. But far too many secondary characters populate this bulky novel, and half-baked subplots distract from the main story, such as Aidan’s scheming ex-fiancee, who attempts to blackmail him with a scandalous doctored photograph and then abruptly disappears. This crowded tale is at its best when focused on the shifting dynamics among Aidan, Libby and Cass.
A fun, if occasionally tedious, novel, equal parts heart-tugging and steamy—strictly for romance enthusiasts.Pub Date: May 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-1477470732
Page Count: 484
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 10, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An extremely fun, fast-paced, and unusual addition to the marriage-in-trouble romance canon.
A marriage on the rocks gets a second chance—with a science-fiction twist.
Dr. Emery Martín is happily married to her husband Luca…mostly. She’s been madly in love with him since the moment they met, but in the three years they’ve been wed, she hasn’t been able to focus much on him. To the world—including Luca—Emery’s job involves developing medical-grade lasers. In reality, she works at a supersecret San Diego lab that’s engineering a compound to bring mammals back from the dead. Although Emery doesn’t want to admit it, she can tell that Luca feels pushed aside, but she believes so deeply in her work that she has a hard time leaving the lab. When Emery is late for dinner—yet again—on their anniversary, she rushes home only to see Luca get hit by a car. She has the secret compound in her car, and she knows she could get in major trouble if she uses it—but what’s she supposed to do, not save her husband’s life? The compound has only been tested on animals so far, and there’s no guarantee it will even work for humans. It does, though, and Luca comes back to life—with one small caveat. He can’t remember most things, including his marriage to Emery. After almost losing Luca, Emery is now grateful for what she has, and she’s determined to show him that she can be a better, more attentive partner. While Luca may not remember her, their magnetic chemistry is still there. This may be the do-over they needed to save their marriage—that is, if Emery can keep the life-reviving measures she took hidden from everyone around them, including nosy neighbors and her own company. Lauren—the pen name of the duo behind rom-coms like The Paradise Problem (2024)—has created a unique hook that feels genuinely refreshing. Emery and Luca’s unconventional second chance is emotionally compelling, and the slight thriller edge as Emery tries to cover up her actions keeps the pages turning.
An extremely fun, fast-paced, and unusual addition to the marriage-in-trouble romance canon.Pub Date: July 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781668017753
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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
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