A slow-paced tale that offers well-drawn, multilayered characters and standout, sex-positive romance.
A commitment-phobic woman and a hopelessly romantic man strike sparks in this novel.
In London temporarily to visit her sister, Leia Scott, 26, is sure about a couple of things. One is that “there’s no such thing as true love,” a conclusion reached after a painful divorce; another is that it’s time to focus on her career as a fashion designer who makes upcycled, sustainable clothing. Though Canadian, Leia lives in New York City, supplementing her Frill-Seekers label with a job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. When she bumps into the very attractive (and very rich) Tarquin Balfour at IKEA, he’s immediately smitten with her. Like Leia, he also refurbishes the old, worn out, and discarded, as a property developer in his case. Unlike Leia, he’s tired of meaningless hookups and ready for commitment. Their initial encounter seems destined to fizzle. Fortunately, a business connection through Tarquin’s designer friend brings them together. Before long, Tarquin and Leia begin a thrillingly hot, just-sex relationship, but she eventually breaks things off. It’s over—yet when they meet again, true love may have the last word. In her latest romance, Middleton deepens some standard elements (beautiful woman, wealthy man, fear of commitment, aspirational lifestyles) through strong character development. Tarquin, for example, seeks treatment for his depression, growing in the process. The couple’s shared interest in seeing new possibilities for the old or abandoned also supplies a more compelling reason for their attraction beyond the physical. Not that the physical is neglected: Sex scenes are steamy, well written, and anti-shaming. Humor enlivens the drama nicely, but the narrative crawls sometimes, hampered by extensive backstories and the overexplaining of inessentials.
A slow-paced tale that offers well-drawn, multilayered characters and standout, sex-positive romance.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9992753-0-3
Page Count: 472
Publisher: Kirkwall Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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