An entertaining love story featuring sharply etched, appealing characters with palpable chemistry.
A personal trainer agonizes over whether to dump her jerk of a boyfriend in favor of a rich dreamboat in Aiseman’s fizzy romance.
Chloe Barrett is a 20-something Baltimore-area brunette whose unemployed, live-in boyfriend Jimmy is possibly the world’s worst: He constantly criticizes her looks and clothes, derides her ambition to finish college and open a combination Pilates/yoga/nutritional counseling studio, openly flirts with other women, and says things like “you could lose some pounds, you know” and “even your parents knew nothing good would come out of you” (Chloe was raised in foster homes). Enter the dashing young Will Allentown, who runs his family’s billion-dollar real estate business and is “slightly too handsome to be real” with his captivating dark eyes and awesome lats and deltoids. Will takes Chloe’s business dreams seriously, and she supports his dream of becoming a writer; the two bond over s’mores, steamy hands-on personal training sessions, and Will’s intervention when he rescues Chloe from a creepy groper. Unfortunately, Chloe’s self-esteem is so undermined by Jimmy’s abuse that she can’t bear to leave him, even after he steals $6,000 from her to invest in a nutritional-supplement scam. A further complication arises in the person of Sydney Bell, a gorgeous real estate agent whom Will’s snooty mom Alina wants Will to marry. Aiseman’s colorful, evocative prose ably conveys both catty comedy (“Sydney gets up to hug [Will], making sure her cleavage rubs onto his chest”) and the tremulous buildup of passion (“She moves a tad closer to him almost reflexively…he must notice that little hitch in her breath, because his smile curves upward a little more”). Chloe is a winsome hero, hesitant, wary, and determinedly independent but suffused with quiet yearning; readers will root for her to land the right man.
An entertaining love story featuring sharply etched, appealing characters with palpable chemistry.Pub Date: May 18, 2023
ISBN: 9798218210649
Page Count: 275
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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