A fast-paced, mind-bending romantic thriller from an author with humor, heart, and big writing muscles.
A transgender YouTube vlogger has a secret identity as a social justice vigilante.
With the help of gender-reassignment surgery and testosterone therapy, Renard Grant can outwardly pass as a man—a good-looking and ripped one at that—but his inner transformation is his greatest challenge as he navigates manhood while plotting revenge on the guy who raped him in his female form. Transcriptions of Ren’s videos serve as flashbacks to his transition, and the modern style is not just trendy; it shows how a trans character relies on the internet to find strength in numbers: “We’re all stranded on the desert islands of ourselves, sending missive after missive and hoping someone will find us, and reply: Message received.” Wake (Cam Girl, 2015, etc.), formerly known as Leah Raeder, writes with abandon and razor-sharp wit as he details the struggles and joys of being a “self-made man.” “I don’t hurt women,” Ren says, “because I know how it feels.” But his fluctuating testosterone levels fuel his hostility, and when a fan who seduces him claims he raped her, Ren worries that he might be transitioning into a monster. He can’t trust his vigilante group, Black Iris, which targets sexual predators and internet trolls, not to turn on him, too. He's torn between his ex-girlfriend and roommate, Ingrid Svensson, who loves him for the person he once was, and his partner in crime, Tamsin Baylor, who loves him for the person he has become. Having lived as both a man and a woman has both gifted and cursed him with perspective—a shifting dynamic that results in palpable emotional anguish, shocking twists, and scorching love scenes.
A fast-paced, mind-bending romantic thriller from an author with humor, heart, and big writing muscles.Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1501-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
As the plot grows more complicated, it also sheds believability, leaving sex and witty banter to carry the day.
Brown (Mean Streak, 2014, etc.) ticks off the boxes that elevate her books to the bestseller lists in this sexy romantic thriller set in Texas.
Rock-jawed hero with a dark past: check. Strong-willed, beautiful woman who resists his charms: check. A Whitman’s Sampler of bad guys: check. And finally, a convoluted and not always plausible plot: check. In this latest outing, readers meet TV journalist Kerra Bailey, whose family was torn apart years ago by a hotel bombing that killed 197 people in Dallas. Just in time for the 25th anniversary, Kerra scores an interview with the notoriously private Maj. Trapper, who saved her life, among others, when he emerged from the blast to lead the survivors out of danger. There's an iconic, prizewinning photo of the major carrying a little girl from the wreckage, but the child has never been identified—until now, when Kerra goes public with the information that it was her. Just after they finish filming the interview in his home, the major is shot, and an injured Kerra escapes in the confusion. The major’s son, disgraced Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent John Trapper—a name M*A*S*H fans will appreciate—steps in, igniting a chain of events that leads to murder, intrigue, betrayal, and a series of dark revelations. As with most of Brown’s heroes and heroines, there’s palpable sexual tension between Trapper, whose taut rear occupies ample literary real estate, and Kerra, who when dealing with Trapper feels “like he’d lightly scratched her just below her bellybutton” when he’s not making her “pleasure points throb.” The complex plot plays out in a round of reveals that don’t always make a lot of sense, but that’s not why Brown’s fans read her books. They check in for the witty, pitch-perfect dialogue and fluid writing. A master of her genre, Brown knows how to please her most ardent readers but relies too often on the same basic formula from novel to novel.
As the plot grows more complicated, it also sheds believability, leaving sex and witty banter to carry the day.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4555-7210-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable...
Sydney and Ridge make beautiful music together in a love triangle written by Hoover (Losing Hope, 2013, etc.), with a link to a digital soundtrack by American Idol contestant Griffin Peterson.
Hoover is a master at writing scenes from dual perspectives. While music student Sydney is watching her neighbor Ridge play guitar on his balcony across the courtyard, Ridge is watching Sydney’s boyfriend, Hunter, secretly make out with her best friend on her balcony. The two begin a songwriting partnership that grows into something more once Sydney dumps Hunter and decides to crash with Ridge and his two roommates while she gets back on her feet. She finds out after the fact that Ridge already has a long-distance girlfriend, Maggie—and that he's deaf. Ridge’s deafness doesn’t impede their relationship or their music. In fact, it creates opportunities for sexy nonverbal communication and witty text messages: Ridge tenderly washes off a message he wrote on Sydney’s hand in ink, and when Sydney adds a few too many e’s to the word “squee” in her text, Ridge replies, “If those letters really make up a sound, I am so, so glad I can’t hear it.” While they fight their mutual attraction, their hope that “maybe someday” they can be together playfully comes out in their music. Peterson’s eight original songs flesh out Sydney’s lyrics with a good mix of moody musical styles: “Living a Lie” has the drama of a Coldplay piano ballad, while the chorus of “Maybe Someday” marches to the rhythm of the Lumineers. But Ridge’s lingering feelings for Maggie cause heartache for all three of them. Independent Maggie never complains about Ridge’s friendship with Sydney, and it's hard to even want Ridge to leave Maggie when she reveals her devastating secret. But Ridge can’t hide his feelings for Sydney long—and they face their dilemma with refreshing emotional honesty.
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable characters and just the right amount of sexual tension.Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5316-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2014
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