With insights on the immigrant experience but not on love, this is hardly a romance to remember.
Two Canadian immigrants struggling with the past have a one-night stand with long-term consequences.
Azere has been a good Nigerian Canadian girl all her life and can’t let a steamy encounter with a stranger derail her commitment to preserving her birth culture. But when Spanish Canadian Rafael Castellano reenters her life, she weakens in her resolve to marry a fellow Nigerian, one selected by her obnoxious, widowed mom. Yet the habit of family obedience is hard to break, and Rafael’s secrets make her wonder if choosing heart over heritage is a mistake. Igharo’s debut has some evocative passages on the heroine’s memories of Nigeria and on Edo culture. The sections on Azere’s experiences as an immigrant tween and the novel’s depiction of the strains on biracial relationships are also valuable for representing a reality that many never know. But the story of an immigrant who is expected to marry within her community is narrated with more melodrama than fresh perspective. The demonization and eventual repentance of Azere’s conservative mom is wince-inducing, and Rafael’s secret, which is easy to guess, is a needless complication of an overwrought plot. Azere’s character could also have used some revision: She lacks emotional intelligence and conceals her inner life from everyone, which could be attributed to being 25 but can’t be squared with her job as a high-powered creative director leading a large team in a major ad agency. Igharo's writing is still in a developmental stage, with more telling than showing and characters repeatedly asking Azere if she’s OK, presumably because she’s staring into space during an inner monologue. This is symptomatic of a wider weakness with the dialogue, which is frequently brief and stilted. The first sex scene is off-page, which is unusual in a contemporary romance, and the plot’s excessive reliance on romantic movie references plus tropes from category romance suggests a lack of confidence rather than metatextual deftness.
With insights on the immigrant experience but not on love, this is hardly a romance to remember.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-10194-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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