A charming romance with a likable lead.
A city girl goes back to her rural home in Roscoe’s small-town contemporary romance.
Chicago therapist Cora gets a call from Mississippi telling her that her father, whom she is not close to, is in the hospital, and the doctors think he has Alzheimer’s. She reluctantly flies to her hometown of Taloowa. The first thing she does when she arrives is meet her friend Coop at a bar, where they encounter Jensen Mabry, Cora’s old crush. A few days after her arrival, Cora learns that her father purchased the Sweet Shrub Inn and she will inherit it. An anonymous buyer has offered a great price for it, but the offer is contingent on renovations being completed, renovations Cora’s father is no longer capable of doing. Jensen agrees to help her finish the renovations, which means Cora will be splitting her time between Chicago and Taloowa for a few months. Cora once confessed her feelings to Jensen, and he turned her down. But he seems ready for something now. And though Cora had good reasons for leaving Taloowa, she is finding it comforting. As she falls for Jensen and lets the Sweet Shrub Inn charm her during its renovation, she has to think about what she wants more—her career in Chicago or a life running an inn, possibly with Jensen, back home in Taloowa. The book’s chatty tone (“I give her a genuine smile because she is oblivious to the fact that she is on the arm of a total douchebag”) enhances an already fun, lively storyline. Taloowa has a lot of great small-town appeal, and Cora’s difficulties with her father keep the novel grounded in reality. The only real flaws here are that there isn’t much suspense about which path Cora will choose, and the final conflict feels a little manufactured. But these are mere quibbles about a sweet, heartfelt, and very cute tale.
A charming romance with a likable lead.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63988-096-6
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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