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
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.
Best friends confront feelings for each other when they take a honeymoon trip together.
Francesca Gardiner and George Saint James have always been best friends—just like Jo and Laurie from Little Women, which they both love. Frankie has a big, complicated family and George was the boy next door who’d moved in with his eccentric grandmother. Their friendship survived childhood, awkward teenage years, and living together as young adults without ever venturing into the romantic—well, except for one kiss, but they don’t talk about that. When Frankie gets engaged to an older professor named Nate, George isn’t happy and a huge fight ensues. Despite his misgivings, George shows up to be her best man, but Nate leaves Frankie right before the wedding with only a cryptic letter. Devastated, Frankie goes to a friend’s house to recuperate, but her honeymoon is already planned and paid for—so she decides to travel to Tofino, a picturesque town on the coast of Vancouver Island, with George taking Nate’s place. Frankie wants to fix her friendship with George, but now that they’re in a romantic suite in a beautiful location, things are more complicated than ever. She’d always thought a relationship would be a bad idea, but she’s slowly beginning to realize they’ll never be able to go back to being kids. Maybe the only way forward involves forging a new kind of relationship. Fortune, the author of romances like This Summer Will Be Different (2024), returns with another love story full of longing and intense angst. The many allusions to Little Women are charming, and Frankie is a delightfully headstrong, feisty character. She and George have explosive chemistry, and Fortune manages to make the “will-they-or-won’t-they” nature of their relationship feel like life-or-death stakes.
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593953242
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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