Hot, humorous, and well paced.
A steamy romance set in the 16-century Scottish Highlands.
The third book in McCollum’s Sons of Sinclair series stars a chieftain under Scotland’s King James. Both brawny and brainy, Gideon Sinclair is one of four “Horsemen of the Apocalypse”; i.e., Gideon and his brothers were taught by their father to raise hell against enemies of the throne. Gideon, “Horseman of Justice,” must impose law and order. On one of his patrols, Gideon spies Cait MacKay dancing alone in the snowy woods, and he is instantly entranced. Gideon saves Cait’s sister, Willa, when she falls into an icy river, but Cait, a widow, resorts to stealing from him to keep her children fed. She learns he is one of the formidable Horsemen of the Apocalypse and goes on a risky adventure to return what she stole. As Gideon grows increasingly passionate about Cait and becomes familiar with everyday people, he also learns to distinguish between judgment and justice. And as Cait begins to fall for Gideon, she heals from her previous abusive marriage. Cait and Gideon work together to organize the Christmas Hogmanay fest and deal with their past traumas, and all seems well, but sinister forces are plotting a dangerous political takeover. McCollum’s romance ably balances a suspenseful game of political chicken, the possibility of civil war, and skyrocketing sexual tension between Gideon and Cait. Along with their crackling chemistry, the couple build a deep respect for each other that involves the shedding of emotional and social barriers; Gideon says to Cait: “We convince ourselves that we’re something we’re not. We bend our world around that impersonation to protect ourselves from an ugly world that requires us to be something else.” Though filled with the genre’s common tropes, the novel also considers identity, gender equality, and the nature of justice. And we see some comic relief in the form of fraternal hijinks among the Sinclair brothers.
Hot, humorous, and well paced.Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64937-076-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.
An earnest grad student and a faculty member with a bit of a jerkish reputation concoct a fake dating scheme in this nerdy, STEM-filled contemporary romance.
Olive Smith and professor Adam Carlsen first met in the bathroom of Adam's lab. Olive wore expired contact lenses, reducing her eyes to temporary tears, while Adam just needed to dispose of a solution. It's a memory that only one of them has held onto. Now, nearly three years later, Olive is fully committed to her research in pancreatic cancer at Stanford University's biology department. As a faculty member, Adam's reputation precedes him, since he's made many students cry or drop their programs entirely with his bluntness. When Olive needs her best friend, Anh, to think she's dating someone so Anh will feel more comfortable getting involved with Olive's barely-an-ex, Jeremy, she impulsively kisses Adam, who happens to be standing there when Anh walks by. But rumors start to spread, and the one-time kiss morphs into a fake relationship, especially as Adam sees there's a benefit for him. The university is withholding funds for Adam's research out of fear that he'll leave for a better position elsewhere. If he puts down more roots by getting involved with someone, his research funds could be released at the next budgeting meeting in about a month's time. After setting a few ground rules, Adam and Olive agree that come the end of September, they'll part ways, having gotten what they need from their arrangement. Hazelwood has a keen understanding of romance tropes and puts them to good use—in addition to fake dating, Olive and Adam are an opposites-attract pairing with their sunny and grumpy personalities—but there are a couple of weaknesses in this debut novel. Hazelwood manages to sidestep a lot of the complicated power dynamics of a student-faculty romance by putting Olive and Adam in different departments, but the impetus for their fake relationship has much higher stakes for Adam. Olive does reap the benefits of dating a faculty member, but in the end, she's still the one seemingly punished or taunted by her colleagues; readers may have been hoping for a more subversive twist. For a first novel, there's plenty of shine here, with clear signs that Hazelwood feels completely comfortable with happily-ever-afters.
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-33682-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A lovely and moving romance that examines what it truly means to live.
Opposites attract when a Grim Reaper clashes with a Guardian Angel in this whimsical paranormal romance.
Darcy Moore is in a bit of a tough spot; she’s a Grim Reaper who’s grown tired of death. When she’s given her next assignment, Darcy decides to go rogue. Rather than reaping, Darcy is determined to save her mark, which only upsets the balance kept by the Department of Hauntings and Spirits. Nothing good comes from a Grim Reaper who’s gone AWOL. Bartender Gabriel Aetos works as a Guardian Angel. He doesn’t take kindly to the fact that a Grim Reaper is slinking around his territory. His role is to protect people, while hers is to usher souls into death. To him, their very natures are at odds and his sudden attraction to Darcy won’t change that. This is very much a grumpy-meets-grumpy romance. Gabriel tries hard to keep Darcy at arm’s length and is open about his mistrust of her. Darcy’s standoffishness, though, is born out of her feelings of isolation and loneliness. Dealing in death has taken an obvious toll on her, and she’s traveling her own introspective path on what it means to be human. Darcy’s fragility is what slowly convinces Gabriel to get close to her, despite the heady yearning he keeps under wraps. However, both view their jobs as central to their existence, for better or worse. While Darcy is actively wondering what it would mean to break free of her Grim Reaper responsibilities, Gabriel has never seemed to ponder being anything other than a Guardian Angel. Borison’s romances—most recently And Now, Back to You (2026)—always strike an emotional chord, with deep-seated conflicts that tap into themes of identity, connection, and grief. This addition is truly the epitome of a Borison romance.
A lovely and moving romance that examines what it truly means to live.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9780063430464
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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