A witty and queer Regency romance full of fun references for Austen fans.
While competing for the same man, two ladies realize they would rather win each other.
The 1817 Season is in full swing in Bath, and as yet another ball begins, everything is going just as Lady Rosalie (and her mother) have planned. She looks perfect in her gown and has only two friends left to pair off with suitable men. And of course, she’s nearly engaged herself, to future viscount Mr. Dean, even though she feels no real passion for him. So it’s a shock when the Pine family, new in town, are announced at the ball and immediately begin to unravel their plans. Miss Catherine Pine and her mother seem set on snatching Mr. Dean away from Rosalie, and the women are soon circling each other carefully at one social event after another, intensely looking for opportunities to prove their superiority and eventually admitting to being at war. But Rosalie soon realizes that her strong feelings for Catherine actually remind her of how she felt for her first love, Jane, and Catherine starts to admit that what she feels for Rosalie is closer to what she felt during her first kiss with another girl. As their attentions turn away from their competition and toward each other, it’s easy enough for them to find an opportunity to explore their attraction physically. After all, who could object to two women taking tea together alone in a parlor? But though their mutual adoration develops into love, society does not offer any pathways toward the future they dream of sharing, and they struggle to find a path forward together. Alban’s latest Sapphic Regency romance, loosely based on Northanger Abbey, is a sweet and spicy enemies-to-lovers story, enhanced by copious details about life in Regency Bath that will forever influence how readers think about what it means to “take [the] waters” there. Alban’s ability to center the blossoming of a romantic relationship without minimizing the importance of friends and family is on full display here, granting the story an extra measure of complexity that heightens the intense connection between Rosalie and Catherine. Their happily-ever-after is perhaps a little too optimistic given the book’s setting, but readers will likely be too charmed to mind.
A witty and queer Regency romance full of fun references for Austen fans.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780063428775
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
If you like your romance the darker the better, this one is for you.
A young mother returns to the gothic manor of her childhood to dust off the family secrets and face her old flame.
Maven Blackthorn hasn’t been home since her mom died under suspicious circumstances 12 years ago, but the death of her grandmother, Lorinda, forces her return to Solstice, Vermont. Maven’s daughter, Beatrix, has never seen where her mother grew up, but she quickly learns the Blackthorns have a reputation for witchcraft, largely fueled by a centuries-long feud with the powerful Croft family, whose heir apparent, Ronan, was Maven’s forbidden teenage love and “worst nightmare.” Maven hopes to bid farewell to her grandmother and visit with her aunts without running into Ronan, but he proves hard to avoid. Maven’s hatred for Ronan runs deep and she believes the feeling is mutual. From Ronan’s perspective, it’s clear their painful unraveling was full of misunderstandings. When Lorinda’s body goes missing from the funeral home, Maven is forced to accept Ronan’s help in discovering what happened. While Maven dives into her family history and the many unfortunate events befalling Blackthorn women, Ronan is forever in her ear, seducing her back to him. The push and pull of their romance feels immature, which isn’t helped by the first-person present narration. At times, it’s easy to forget Maven and Ronan aren’t still teenagers, until the erotica is punched up a thousand percent in the final third. Controlling lines from Ronan like “Don’t test my patience, woman” might read better if his perspective were explored more, though fans of Geissinger’s dark erotica, including Brutal Vows (2025), may not be fazed. Maven’s perspective dominates, and though her investigation into family lore and increasing paranoia are the most compelling arc, the million and one ways in which she threatens Ronan with physical violence—“What I really want to do is tie you to a tree, disembowel you with my bare hands, feed your guts to the wolves, and cut off your head”—is a bit one-note. Trigger warnings abound.
If you like your romance the darker the better, this one is for you.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781250379139
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
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