A somewhat uneven but engaging romance with a unique heist structure.
In Bow’s novel, a woman plans a heist to save her family’s winery from a corrupt Russian businessman.
After giving up a government job in Canada, 39-year-old Dionysia “Dion” Kokanakis moves to Crete to help with her father’s and grandmother’s winery; Kokanakis Wines owes 250,000 euros to their Russian investor, Leonid Salin, and if they can’t pay, they’ll be wiped out and left homeless. When Salin offers them a new contract with terms that will kill the ancestral land of their winery over time, Dion knows they have no other choice: They must raise the money they owe before their current contract ends to keep Salin from gaining control. The question is, how? As Dion frets over this conundrum, the narrative shifts its focus to Dion’s other pressing problem—a 28-year-old artist named Theo who wants to paint her. The story explores their growing romance as Theo teaches Dion how to let her guard down and learn to live life unafraid, all against a rich and vivid backdrop. (“Easter Sunday’s morning sky is crystalline blue. Herb-perfumed warmth, coming up the mountain, dissolves the night cold.”) The dreamlike, lyrical quality of the novel’s first half feels somewhat at odds with the second; Dion and her compatriots’ plan to steal a $2 million bottle of cognac from Salin to repay the winery’s debts turns the narrative into a heist caper, which, while entertaining in its own right, feels slightly jarring compared to the previously established leisurely pacing. Still, the slow-burn romance between Dion and Theo carries the story; the pair share a vibrant chemistry. Every character is unique and well developed—Dion is easy to relate to, and her personal evolution unfolds in a way that feels natural and well earned.
A somewhat uneven but engaging romance with a unique heist structure.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781966293309
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Red Elixir
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.
Dead bodies turn up in the first sentence of the prologue in McFadden’s latest domestic thriller.
The mystery of who died is at the pulsating heart of this propulsive tale. As Chapter 1 begins, Naomi arrives home to find the locks changed on the front door of the gorgeous home she shares with her husband, Jeremy, and their 5-year-old son, Teddy. Jeremy steps out the front door and convinces Naomi to move out while he has their home renovated, a plan Naomi knows nothing about. It’s all a ruse, though, as the next day Jeremy tells her he wants a divorce. Naomi is shellshocked and soon discovers that Jeremy is having an affair with Veronica, a beautiful younger woman. What seems at first like a stereotypical story about a man who leaves his wife turns into something else when Naomi decides she’ll do anything to get Veronica away from Jeremy and Teddy, and Veronica decides to fight for what she thinks she deserves. Fans of stalker novels will cringe with delight as creepy things start to happen. Teddy’s stuffed elephant, a gift from Veronica, is found impaled on a kitchen knife; Naomi suspects Jeremy is gaslighting her and that Veronica tried to poison her. A weird confrontation among Jeremy, Veronica, and Naomi at Teddy’s birthday party, to which Naomi shows up uninvited, is priceless. There are three main characters, and any or all of them may be unreliable narrators. Packing the plot with dark, gasp-inducing twists, McFadden outdoes herself in a story about how highly emotional people engage in risky behavior to get what they want—but in this novel, for better or worse, not everyone will survive.
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249631
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK TO SCREEN
An extremely fun, fast-paced, and unusual addition to the marriage-in-trouble romance canon.
A marriage on the rocks gets a second chance—with a science-fiction twist.
Dr. Emery Martín is happily married to her husband Luca…mostly. She’s been madly in love with him since the moment they met, but in the three years they’ve been wed, she hasn’t been able to focus much on him. To the world—including Luca—Emery’s job involves developing medical-grade lasers. In reality, she works at a supersecret San Diego lab that’s engineering a compound to bring mammals back from the dead. Although Emery doesn’t want to admit it, she can tell that Luca feels pushed aside, but she believes so deeply in her work that she has a hard time leaving the lab. When Emery is late for dinner—yet again—on their anniversary, she rushes home only to see Luca get hit by a car. She has the secret compound in her car, and she knows she could get in major trouble if she uses it—but what’s she supposed to do, not save her husband’s life? The compound has only been tested on animals so far, and there’s no guarantee it will even work for humans. It does, though, and Luca comes back to life—with one small caveat. He can’t remember most things, including his marriage to Emery. After almost losing Luca, Emery is now grateful for what she has, and she’s determined to show him that she can be a better, more attentive partner. While Luca may not remember her, their magnetic chemistry is still there. This may be the do-over they needed to save their marriage—that is, if Emery can keep the life-reviving measures she took hidden from everyone around them, including nosy neighbors and her own company. Lauren—the pen name of the duo behind rom-coms like The Paradise Problem (2024)—has created a unique hook that feels genuinely refreshing. Emery and Luca’s unconventional second chance is emotionally compelling, and the slight thriller edge as Emery tries to cover up her actions keeps the pages turning.
An extremely fun, fast-paced, and unusual addition to the marriage-in-trouble romance canon.Pub Date: July 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781668017753
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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