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
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.
A happily engaged woman is pulled back to her hometown—and her first love—when tragedy strikes.
Billie Wright is living her dream, running a thriving fertility clinic in New York City and engaged to a wonderful trauma surgeon named Dean. Her happily-ever-after meant giving up her life in Wisconsin, where she left behind many friends as well as her high school sweetheart, Mick. Although they’d been deeply in love, when Billie’s ambition pulled her away from home and toward the city, Mick couldn’t handle either the distance or her busy schedule. Billie has finally moved on from that heartbreak—but then she receives a phone call from Mick, the first communication between them in years. Her best friend, Erin, died in a car accident, leaving behind an 11-year-old daughter, Phoebe. Now Billie must return home to help sort Erin’s affairs and provide some kind of comfort to Phoebe while grieving the loss of her best friend. Of course, being back home also means being in close contact with Mick. Their feelings for each other may not have ever gone away, and their proximity leads to big decisions for Billie. Can she ever reconcile her current life in Manhattan with her past in Wisconsin? And which one will be her future? Giffin knows how to do drama, and she ratchets up the stakes with every page as she continues to reveal new obstacles for Billie. The ending wraps up quite neatly, but the nostalgia-filled ride is full of twists and turns that will keep readers flipping the pages.
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780593600320
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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