A fast-paced, emotionally fraught story that balances court politics, romance, and rebellion.
A death-marked fae prince and a mortal with a cursed ring must outwit gods, assassins, and court conspiracies in Lee’s high-stakes fantasy sequel.
Lachlan “Lach” Gage, who recently became a target of mercenaries, races against time to rescue Cate Holloway—the mortal woman he loves—from the clutches of the manipulative Hallow Court. As Lach fights to stay alive and arm himself for war, Cate is held captive by dangerous fae twins Oberon and Titania, who plot to use her as a pawn in their own bid for power. The novel shifts between Lachlan’s and Cate’s first-personperspectives, building suspense and emotional stakes in parallel arcs: Lach’s violent encounters in New York City’s magical underworld and Cate’s psychological cat-and-mouse game behind enemy lines. Lee’s prose is slick and cinematic, pulsing with tension, sensuality, and sharp dialogue. The worldbuilding is expansive and immersive, blending fae mythology with urban grit and palace intrigue. The romance, still central to the story, leans into longing and loyalty, although the threat of separation and betrayal keeps emotions running high. Cate’s voice is especially strong as she navigates captivity with strategy and heart (“I’d been here for dayswhile Lach was being hunted. The realization made a dull pain radiate through my chest even as my heart continued to race”), while Lach’s arc is driven by guilt, rage, and his fading access to magic. Themes of sacrifice, survival, and chosen families ground the action-heavy plot, and supporting characters, such Titania and vampire boss Durant, add dimension. At times, the pace threatens to become overwhelming—particularly during extended action sequences or lore-heavy passages—but emotional clarity keeps the story accessible. Although this sequel builds on the previous book’s momentum, new readers may feel lost without having read Filthy Rich Fae (2024).Still, fans will find much to savor in this continuation, including its cliffhanger ending.
A fast-paced, emotionally fraught story that balances court politics, romance, and rebellion.Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781649376930
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.
A Seattle woman meets a Chicago businessman as she flies home from a visit to a friend, and her small act of kindness blossoms into more.
Maisy Gallagher is barely making ends meet. With her father’s unexpected death a few years earlier, she dropped out of nursing school to help out in the family’s jewelry store, working with her uncle. Her older brother, Sean, also moved back home so he and Maisy could help their mother and their 10-year-old brother, Patrick. When Maisy offers a ride to a rude businessman who sat next to her on the plane, she’s just operating on the kindness her grandmother instilled in her. That businessman, Chase Furst, turns out to be an incredibly wealthy banker; he’s flown into Seattle to make funeral arrangements for his mother, to whom he hasn’t spoken in years. Sparks fly in this gentle and predictable romance that leans heavily on long-distance and class-divide tropes. As with many of the author’s books, Christianity and the characters’ reliance on God’s will—as they wait and see what happens next—play a large part, as do traditional gender roles where women cook, clean, and only work in paying jobs until they have children at home to take care of. The author does offer a lighter touch when it comes to the painful ways alcoholism can destroy family relationships, with an understanding of the regret that can weigh on every family member.
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9798217091676
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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