A winsome, witchy rom-com.
A wedding-spell mishap transports a magical-artifact hunter and a Welsh witch back in time.
Tamsyn Bligh has earned a reputation for procuring magical objects, particularly the type that will earn her an impressive sum. While she’s not a witch herself, her line of work allows her to cross paths with many people in that particular community, but none of them have left quite as strong an impression as the stoic, bearded Bowen Penhallow. When the two of them strike a deal in which Tamsyn will procure magical items for Bowen without resorting to less-than-legal means, it seems like the perfect agreement. Never mind the fact that Bowen has been the leading man in most of her filthy fantasies; Tamsyn has been an artifact hunter long enough to recognize that it would be a mistake to blend the professional and personal. Besides, she’s got one more job lined up that could ensure she’s financially set for the rest of her life; she’ll just need to sneak into the witchy wedding of the century at Tywyll House in North Wales to pull it off. Meanwhile, Bowen has been invited to the same wedding, and when the two cross paths, sparks fly—in part because an unexpected spell catapults them back to 1957, to another Yuletide wedding on the same estate. As Tamsyn and Bowen are forced to work together to return to the present, they also have to perform some important matchmaking to ensure that Bowen’s grandparents tie the knot—but nothing may be more dangerous than giving in to their own growing feelings. The latest installment in Sterling’s bewitching series sets another charming romance against a new seasonal backdrop, with Bowen and Tamsyn proving themselves a couple to cheer for. Navigating time travel and magical mishaps might seem like a lot, but the book mostly succeeds at balancing all of these elements without sacrificing a beat of its main love story.
A winsome, witchy rom-com.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780063297593
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
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
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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