A romance full of heart and second chances.
When a beleaguered lawyer books a trip to visit her best friend, her three-week vacation turns into a trial run for their romance in Lee’s friends-to-lovers novel.
At 30 years old, Elizabeth Chung can’t help but feel the waning thrill of living a high-stakes, career-oriented life in the big city. As a senior counsel at top Los Angeles law firm Nelson Peters, Lizzy has a workaholic lifestyle that's placed her well on the path to becoming a partner. Although her choice of profession keeps her strict mother appeased, “conflict-averse” Lizzy can’t help but feel burned out despite her success. Lately, she only finds solace in two things: the nearby Hideaway Bookstore and the company of her best friend, Jack Park, a bookkeeper at his parents’ brewery. Little does Lizzy know that Jack has harbored a powerful, two-decades-long crush on her, but he would never risk their friendship by acting on his feelings. When Lizzy suffers a panic attack while reciting the opening statement at her first trial as lead counsel, she finds herself craving nothing more than Jack’s calming presence. She opts to take a three-week vacation and visit him in his hometown of Weldon, California, where they volunteer to revamp the quaint Sparrow Bookstore together. With Lizzy in town, Jack finds it even harder to conceal his infatuation, but could it be that his feelings are not as unrequited as he thinks? Lee’s third novel is delightfully mature; her lead characters communicate with ease and gratifyingly go for what they want regardless of the consequences for them. Her writing is the perfect combination of funny and joyful, with lines like “His eyes crinkled at the corners as his lips spread into a crooked grin, and an answering smile blossomed in her heart and spread across her face,” and “Jack with tools makes Lizzy a very horny girl.” Lee seamlessly spins a tale that offers her readers laugh-out-loud moments, with touching pages of raw honesty and heartfelt passion.
A romance full of heart and second chances.Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-2506-2114-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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
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