A heartwarming, refreshingly nuanced take on the old fantasy standard of the road not taken.
A Christmas romance all about life’s lost chances.
In her latest novel, Baird introduces readers to ninth grade English teacher Paige Pierce, who’s caught up in organizational efforts to launch her “Paws and Read” literacy program. Paige is happy and upbeat, professionally dedicated, and seldom given to maudlin sentimentality when it comes to her single status. “I would be involved with someone, if the right person had come along,” she thinks. “But no one’s ever seemed just right and, after a few short months, each union’s fizzled.” When she’s being honest with herself, Paige is willing to admit this isn’t precisely true. One union seemed exactly right: her relationship with Dean Burton, two years her senior, who moved away from town and left her floundering. Nowadays, she tells herself that she prefers the single life. “Who needs kids and sleepless nights? A messy house…laundry? Not me, thankfully.” But when a celestial event known as “the Christmas Comet” seems to sweep her into an alternate reality in which she’s married to Dean and the mother of two little children, all those certainties start to wobble. “You’re living on the cusp of two realities,” she’s told by the novel’s requisite Mystery Character (here called “Mary Christmas”). “You’re trying to discern whether you’ve made the very best choices.” As a magic advent calendar seems to count down the days she can remain in Reality 2, Paige must decide what those very best choices are. Can she stay in this new world where she has the life she denied she ever wanted? Does she want to stay?
Baird takes the familiar old formula of It’s a Wonderful Life and plays with it in inventive ways. She avoids the overly simplistic gambit of portraying the life of Reality 1 as dreary or horrible in some way (although readers might not quite believe Paige’s own protestations about how great, great, great it is to be single). She likewise doesn’t insult her readers by giving Reality 2’s Paige a picture-perfect existence free of mess or headaches. Baird also offers a sensitive portrayal of Paige’s gradual fading of wariness about Reality 2. “After the initial bout of disorientation, I’ve found my way in the woods,” she thinks once her comfort grows. “And it’s not dark and scary here. It’s a happy and protected place.” Her husband, children, and dog make Reality 2 simply more fulfilling than her life in Reality 1, which adds dramatic intensity to her sense that whatever advent-calendar magic is giving her this wonderful life is inexorably running out. Once Paige shares her knowledge of these dual realities with Reality 2’s Dean, Baird broadens narrative opportunities to explore what really constitutes a happily-ever-after romance ending. And along the way, she deftly weaves in all the expected rewards of the genre; readers get to savor the sheer comfort of Paige’s love for Dean. “I relax against him and sigh, enjoying this special moment,” she thinks in one of many such moments. “I love sitting beside him and feeling his body warmth seep into mine.” Readers will universally know which Reality they’re rooting for.
A heartwarming, refreshingly nuanced take on the old fantasy standard of the road not taken.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781942058496
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Winter Wedding Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.
Best friends confront feelings for each other when they take a honeymoon trip together.
Francesca Gardiner and George Saint James have always been best friends—just like Jo and Laurie from Little Women, which they both love. Frankie has a big, complicated family and George was the boy next door who’d moved in with his eccentric grandmother. Their friendship survived childhood, awkward teenage years, and living together as young adults without ever venturing into the romantic—well, except for one kiss, but they don’t talk about that. When Frankie gets engaged to an older professor named Nate, George isn’t happy and a huge fight ensues. Despite his misgivings, George shows up to be her best man, but Nate leaves Frankie right before the wedding with only a cryptic letter. Devastated, Frankie goes to a friend’s house to recuperate, but her honeymoon is already planned and paid for—so she decides to travel to Tofino, a picturesque town on the coast of Vancouver Island, with George taking Nate’s place. Frankie wants to fix her friendship with George, but now that they’re in a romantic suite in a beautiful location, things are more complicated than ever. She’d always thought a relationship would be a bad idea, but she’s slowly beginning to realize they’ll never be able to go back to being kids. Maybe the only way forward involves forging a new kind of relationship. Fortune, the author of romances like This Summer Will Be Different (2024), returns with another love story full of longing and intense angst. The many allusions to Little Women are charming, and Frankie is a delightfully headstrong, feisty character. She and George have explosive chemistry, and Fortune manages to make the “will-they-or-won’t-they” nature of their relationship feel like life-or-death stakes.
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593953242
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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