A comforting, low-angst romance that will make readers want to attend a Renaissance Faire.
An overworked attorney decides to give up law life and join a Renaissance Faire.
Louisa “Lulu” Malone isn’t happy working long, thankless hours as a corporate attorney. While on a business trip, she decides to take a break and visit a local Renaissance Faire, and while she’s there she gets a phone call that confirms what she already knows—she’s never going to make partner at her firm. In a fit of anger and desperation, she tells her boss she’s quitting and throws her phone into a tub of water the “laundry wenches” are using for their show. Luckily, she makes a new friend at the Faire, a woman named Stacey who works with a band called the Dueling Kilts. Stacey also happens to know Lulu’s Ren Faire–loving cousin, Mitch, and the two of them convince Lulu to take some time away from the law world. Instead of rushing into another job, why not travel with the band…or, as Lulu puts it, “run away and join the Renaissance Faire”? Soon, Lulu’s wearing a lace-up bodice, selling turkey legs, and meeting the “bad boy” of the Dueling Kilts, Dex. Dex has a reputation for hooking up with any acrobat or belly dancer who will have him, and Lulu has no intention of falling for his charms, his over-the-top flirting, or his man bun. As she gets to know Dex, she realizes there may be a depth to him that no one else sees. But he lives for the Faire and his band, and Lulu has to figure out if there’s a future for the two of them. DeLuca returns to the Renaissance Faire world of her previous three books, bringing back many familiar characters. The Faire is a unique setting, and Lulu and Dex’s relationship feels both realistic and fun, making this an easy and perfectly charming read.
A comforting, low-angst romance that will make readers want to attend a Renaissance Faire.Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-20046-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.
After purchasing a dilapidated, century-old starship called the Destitute, Torian Razner discovers that the moss covering it is, in fact, a deeply sarcastic sentient computer with abandonment issues.
Torian’s sister, Celise, is dying. Determined to save her life by getting her to a distant planet with air she can breathe, Torian ignores her former captain Amelia Perrosk’s warning that it’s an impossible task (along with any romantic feelings she might have for Amelia). Using the only ionite bars she has to her name, Torian purchases an ancient, moss-covered alien starship that appears to be on its last legs, so to speak. She hardly expected the moss to be a sentient computer or for it to hold a century-old grudge against its former alien captain. Moss quickly proves itself to be acerbic, intelligent, and rightly angry after being having been left behind for 100 years by its former captain. The two form a reluctant and surprising alliance, Torian proving to Moss that not all captains are “dog-turd fungus,” and they both gradually evolve into the best versions of themselves, human or otherwise. It’s obvious from the early pages that Thorne has crafted a story tailored to fans of Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot series and Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries. Falling somewhere between the two, this is a delightful mashup of romance, found family, and a touch of violence as Moss grapples with its feelings about its former captain and the unexpected kindness that Torian shows. Sweet without being overly saccharine, it’s a book for readers who want the adventure that comes with the vastness of outer space without its harsher realities.
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414144
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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