A lively but uneven romance.
A male escort finds himself falling in love with a client in this debut novel.
David Henderson is in his 50s, wealthy, and retired from a successful consulting career. And now, thanks to a compliment from a former lover that she’d “pay for sex this good,” he’s a companion for hire on New York’s Upper East Side. David’s duties range from accompanying the rich octogenarian Victoria around town to various glamorous benefits and parties to indulging the BDSM fantasies of slightly unhinged younger women, like Lauren. He enjoys his work, collects his money, and moves on—until Janet Saunders hires him for the evening. She’s smart, independent, and has a penchant for sexy Christian Louboutin high heels, which she keeps on during their lovemaking escapades. Conversation flows as freely as expensive liquor, and the duo’s sexual chemistry is fierce. David is instantly smitten, and the two become close as their paid encounters become more frequent. He even accompanies Janet on a business trip to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, a second “date” with Lauren—who has already praised David’s attributes via Twitter—has deadly results and he finds his future with Janet in serious jeopardy. At 152 pages, Harrison’s book is short and action-packed, and contains an excellent plot twist at the end of Chapter 1. Sadly, the author often skips over captivating topics like how David has maintained his privacy and sense of self as a sex worker, and why exactly he finds Janet so intriguing over all his other clients. Instead, Harrison pens copious sex scenes that are not only repetitive (the author seems unaware that lovemaking styles vary by individual; not every woman expresses ecstasy by screaming), but also use immature terms like “lovely boobs.” Most troubling, Harrison equates a love for kink with a penchant for hard drugs, possessive behavior, and a disrespect for one’s privacy on social media—all featured in the character of Lauren, who from beginning to end seems too cartoonish to be real.
A lively but uneven romance.Pub Date: April 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64437-272-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Black Opal Books
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.
A collegiate diver and swimmer secretly pursue kink together, and risk falling in love along the way.
Scarlett Vandermeer is struggling. Despite a successful recovery from the injury that almost ended her Stanford diving career, she hasn’t been able to get her head together, and it’s affecting her performance. Plus, she’s trying to stay focused on getting into medical school. A relationship would be out of the question. By comparison, Lukas Blomqvist is a swimming idol, a record-breaker who wins medals as easily as breathing, and Scarlett has long been convinced he would never look in her direction—until one fateful night when a mutual friend lets slip that they have something unexpected in common: Scarlett likes to be submissive in the bedroom, while Lukas prefers to take a dominant approach. Now, they both know a big secret about each other, and it’s something neither of them can stop thinking about. It’s Lukas who suggests they have a fling—purely physical, just to take the edge off, so Scarlett can get out of her own head and stop overthinking her dives. Initially, their arrangement is easy to stick to, but the more time they spend together, the more Scarlett starts to realize that what she feels for Lukas is more than physical attraction. Complicating the situation is the fact that Scarlett’s friend Penelope Ross used to go out with Lukas, and the longer Scarlett keeps mum about her true feelings for him, the more difficult it is to keep the situation hidden from another person she really cares about. While Scarlett and Lukas’ relationship does begin as a physical one, their deeper psychological connection takes a little too long to emerge amid all the other storylines, resulting in a somewhat rushed resolution. However, Hazelwood’s latest is proof of the depth and maturity that has emerged in her writing over the years, and it highlights her embrace of sexier, more emotional elements than were present in her original STEMinist rom-coms.
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593641057
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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