A vigorous potboiler combining over-the-top melodrama with psychological realism.
An adolescent indiscretion leads to broken hearts and sexual enslavement in Wiens' third installment of the Love, Loss, and Honor series.
Bill Schmidt and Carrie Bennett, high school sweethearts living on ranches in Washington state’s Palouse region, break up when rich vamp Willa Roberts casually seduces Bill just before graduation. Crushed, Carrie moves out East for college and, while on a vacation in Greece, has a fling with sexy crime lord Nicolas. When she tries to leave, Nicolas says that he now owns her as a concubine and forces her to continue servicing him and other men whom he loans her out to. The abuse continues until Bill, still carrying a torch, shows up to rescue her from Nicolas’ island lair; impressed by his gallantry, Nicolas lets him and Carrie go. But the pair only grow more estranged, as Carrie has grown attached to Nicolas and wants to bear his child, and Bill now considers Carrie defiled. Back in Washington, Carrie is again forced into sexual servitude when she meets Rod, who beats her, prostitutes her to other men, and forces her to make porn videos. Bill again intervenes, thrashing Rod and whisking Carrie away to her parents’ ranch, where she recovers with the help of a remorseful Willa. Romance rekindles between Bill and Carrie—and then short-circuits when Bill has a flashback to the Nicolas episode (“I…I saw a man pawing you in your slut days,” he stammers, permanently killing the mood). Danger is afoot when Nicolas’ son, Nicolas Jr., arrives incognito, scheming to lure Carrie back into thralldom once again. The novel features a lurid, implausible narrative that includes a subplot about Bill’s cousin being possessed by the soul of Bill’s long-dead father. But it’s also a penetrating exploration of the emotional dynamics of relationships, probing the yearning, hesitancy, and prickliness that arise from lingering wounds. Wiens conveys this in subtle prose that evokes rich feeling from homely details: “Carrie walked over to remove the browned slices from the toaster. Reaching across for more bread, she had to press against him for a moment. Bill’s body was fixed, immobile, yet somehow tender”). The result is a soap opera with real depth.
A vigorous potboiler combining over-the-top melodrama with psychological realism.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9798985408386
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
PERSPECTIVES
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.
A happily engaged woman is pulled back to her hometown—and her first love—when tragedy strikes.
Billie Wright is living her dream, running a thriving fertility clinic in New York City and engaged to a wonderful trauma surgeon named Dean. Her happily-ever-after meant giving up her life in Wisconsin, where she left behind many friends as well as her high school sweetheart, Mick. Although they’d been deeply in love, when Billie’s ambition pulled her away from home and toward the city, Mick couldn’t handle either the distance or her busy schedule. Billie has finally moved on from that heartbreak—but then she receives a phone call from Mick, the first communication between them in years. Her best friend, Erin, died in a car accident, leaving behind an 11-year-old daughter, Phoebe. Now Billie must return home to help sort Erin’s affairs and provide some kind of comfort to Phoebe while grieving the loss of her best friend. Of course, being back home also means being in close contact with Mick. Their feelings for each other may not have ever gone away, and their proximity leads to big decisions for Billie. Can she ever reconcile her current life in Manhattan with her past in Wisconsin? And which one will be her future? Giffin knows how to do drama, and she ratchets up the stakes with every page as she continues to reveal new obstacles for Billie. The ending wraps up quite neatly, but the nostalgia-filled ride is full of twists and turns that will keep readers flipping the pages.
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780593600320
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
