This slow, sweet romance explores the boundary between privacy and publicity.
A stylist is hired to work with an up-and-coming actor she knew in high school.
Marley Kamal works as a consultant at a high-end Toronto department store. Her dream job is to become a personal shopper, a more prestigious position with access to exclusive clients. When Marley is called into her boss’ office and told she must sign a nondisclosure agreement, she realizes she’s landed her first celebrity. Marley is shocked to discover the client is none other than Nikhil Shamdasani, a high school friend who took her to prom and ghosted her after they had sex. Nikhil has been cast as a superhero, but the studio doesn’t seem to fully back him. He suspects they’re waiting to see if white fans will balk at a Desi actor being cast in the role, and his awkward press conferences and strange personal style aren’t helping his cause. After disastrous results with other stylists, he insists the studio hire Marley, remembering her as unflappable and calmly competent. Marley decides to capitalize on this opportunity, even though it’s happening at the absolute worst time. In two weeks, she’ll be having a double mastectomy as a preventative measure, since she’s a carrier of the BRCA gene. The studio wants Marley to keep styling Nikhil, but she’s kept the details of her surgery private. The old friends strike a deal: Nikhil will move in and help Marley with her recovery and she can style him from home. As always, Heron’s characters are lovingly drawn and richly layered. Marley and Nikhil learn to care for each other, sharing their sadness over familial struggles and their worries about the future—her health and his career. The novel explores whether the sweet, gentle romance they create while alone together can withstand the pressure and media speculation of the real world.
This slow, sweet romance explores the boundary between privacy and publicity.Pub Date: July 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538725474
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.
A heartbroken man lusts after his therapist while seeking revenge on a drug kingpin and his enforcer.
Mitch Haskell’s wife, Angela, died two years ago of an apparent suicide, but Mitch has always believed the scene was staged. Certainly, she would never have willingly left their young son, Andrew, behind. Consumed with a thirst for vengeance, Mitch—a former Marine and undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and currently a police detective—is struggling with alcohol dependency and uncontrolled rage. Andrew is living with his in-laws, who are making not-so-subtle suggestions that they might apply for permanent guardianship if Mitch can’t get it together. So his boss and best friend, John Bowie, mandates that he go into therapy, which puts him in the path of sexy Dr. Dylan Reede. Within a few days, Mitch makes a connection between two new murders and the death of his former partner; finds a big clue that points to the truth about Angela’s death; goes undercover as a homeless man; takes on a vicious drug cartel; and obnoxiously bullies Dylan with a charm offensive that leads them inevitably to bed. While Mitch seems to lean into the stereotype of the ex-soldier/cop with deeply buried trauma who believes that the ends justify the means—at least in law enforcement—Dylan offers the strength and sweetness to help him start breaking down his walls, allowing herself to be vulnerable in turn. Is passionate sex enough to ground a relationship and a family for the long term? For these characters, and the breakneck speed of this thriller, it’s as good a foundation as any.
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781538743027
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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