A sweet tale of finding love and redemption that fans of strong female leads will particularly enjoy.
A woman’s reluctant return to her hometown leads to unexpected romance in Gibbs’ debut novel.
When Penny Crenshaw discovers her husband, Teddy, is cheating on her with a much younger woman, she thinks her life is going to fall apart. Having grown up in a broken home, with only her grandparents as her emotional anchors, Penny thought she had cultivated the perfect life and marriage in Atlanta, Georgia, miles away from Camden, Kentucky, the hometown she ran away from. Soon, the gossip about her marriage becomes too much to bear, and, after Teddy whisks their three children away to Africa for the summer, Penny decides to go back to Camden to sort out the estate of her grandmother, Ruby Ray. The narrative introduces flashbacks to Penny’s childhood to illustrate why she left Camden (and why she took to heart the lesson, “You don’t go poking the bear. You might not be so lucky next time”). When she runs into Bradley Hitchens, her high school sweetheart, the situation grows more complicated. The author crafts a complex will-they, won’t-they romantic dynamic that delves into the importance of confronting personal demons and the irony of finding yourself in the place you tried to leave behind. Though the constant interference by various well- and ill-meaning characters in Camden can grow a little frustrating at times (and read as an overemphasis on the politics of small-town gossip mills), Gibbs’ thoughtful handling of Penny’s setting herself free by returning to her past is so engrossing that it seldom matters. Although primarily a romance narrative, the multifaceted plot is refreshing in that the hero, a mother entering middle age, is allowed the room to find and understand herself in addition to becoming embroiled in a romance plot.
A sweet tale of finding love and redemption that fans of strong female leads will particularly enjoy.Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 354
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.
A heartbroken man lusts after his therapist while seeking revenge on a drug kingpin and his enforcer.
Mitch Haskell’s wife, Angela, died two years ago of an apparent suicide, but Mitch has always believed the scene was staged. Certainly, she would never have willingly left their young son, Andrew, behind. Consumed with a thirst for vengeance, Mitch—a former Marine and undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and currently a police detective—is struggling with alcohol dependency and uncontrolled rage. Andrew is living with his in-laws, who are making not-so-subtle suggestions that they might apply for permanent guardianship if Mitch can’t get it together. So his boss and best friend, John Bowie, mandates that he go into therapy, which puts him in the path of sexy Dr. Dylan Reede. Within a few days, Mitch makes a connection between two new murders and the death of his former partner; finds a big clue that points to the truth about Angela’s death; goes undercover as a homeless man; takes on a vicious drug cartel; and obnoxiously bullies Dylan with a charm offensive that leads them inevitably to bed. While Mitch seems to lean into the stereotype of the ex-soldier/cop with deeply buried trauma who believes that the ends justify the means—at least in law enforcement—Dylan offers the strength and sweetness to help him start breaking down his walls, allowing herself to be vulnerable in turn. Is passionate sex enough to ground a relationship and a family for the long term? For these characters, and the breakneck speed of this thriller, it’s as good a foundation as any.
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781538743027
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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