A quirky romance about second chances for those who come in second place.
Cursed with being forever second best, a 28-year-old woman risks everything to win the heart of her high school crush.
Imogen Finch is unlucky. Clinically unlucky, according to her clairvoyant mother, who prophesied Imogen’s silver-medal existence when she was only 6. No matter how hard Imogen tried to win student offices and ace math exams, she was forever destined to be runner-up in life—and in love. Every one of her 17 exes not only dumped her but left her for other people. Resigned to mediocrity, Imogen works six jobs in Pitt’s Corner, her small coastal town, caring for her mother and avoiding the pitying stares of her now happily married ex-boyfriends. Despite the blows to her ego, Imogen was never certain she was even in love with her past flames—all except heartbreak No. 1, Eliot Swift. Even though they were never a couple, Eliot was Imogen’s first and only love, the one who didn’t believe in her mother’s miserable prophecy, the one who ghosted her (and the whole town of Pitt’s Corner) 10 years ago. Still nursing her wounds a decade later, Imogen finds her world turned upside down when Eliot’s father dies, forcing him to return to the friends and family he left behind. Seeing Eliot again only confirms Imogen’s feelings for him, but will she be able to separate herself from a fate she spent years believing was irreversible? Firkins’ novel is a special blend of humor, passion, and friendship, with a hint of a sixth sense that sets it apart from other contemporary romances. Every so often, a chapter outlines one of Imogen’s 17 breakups, each more outrageous and humiliating than the last, and it’s impossible to root for anything other than a well-deserved happily-ever-after. Don’t expect Imogen to find her HEA too easily, though; Firkins takes her time with her characters, patiently weaving moments of grief, healing, and understanding to make this friends-to-lovers tale gratifyingly worthwhile.
A quirky romance about second chances for those who come in second place.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9781250836526
Page Count: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.
A Seattle woman meets a Chicago businessman as she flies home from a visit to a friend, and her small act of kindness blossoms into more.
Maisy Gallagher is barely making ends meet. With her father’s unexpected death a few years earlier, she dropped out of nursing school to help out in the family’s jewelry store, working with her uncle. Her older brother, Sean, also moved back home so he and Maisy could help their mother and their 10-year-old brother, Patrick. When Maisy offers a ride to a rude businessman who sat next to her on the plane, she’s just operating on the kindness her grandmother instilled in her. That businessman, Chase Furst, turns out to be an incredibly wealthy banker; he’s flown into Seattle to make funeral arrangements for his mother, to whom he hasn’t spoken in years. Sparks fly in this gentle and predictable romance that leans heavily on long-distance and class-divide tropes. As with many of the author’s books, Christianity and the characters’ reliance on God’s will—as they wait and see what happens next—play a large part, as do traditional gender roles where women cook, clean, and only work in paying jobs until they have children at home to take care of. The author does offer a lighter touch when it comes to the painful ways alcoholism can destroy family relationships, with an understanding of the regret that can weigh on every family member.
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9798217091676
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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
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