Sure to satisfy as an amuse-bouche for die-hard series fans.
This love story told through two perspectives requires readers to flip the book over to read both Hannah’s and Toby’s sides of their romance.
Hannah Rooney is the reserved daughter of a ruthless crime boss who desperately wants out of the family business and its endless cycle of violence. Tobias Hawthorne II is the troubled only son in a rich, enigmatic family; he’s regarded as a disappointment and is unhappy despite his privilege. Their lives go up in flames one night, and tragedy brings them together. Hannah reluctantly uses her budding nursing skills to aid an injured Toby, who’s lost his memory. Slowly, a forbidden romance blossoms between the two seeming enemies whose unlikely bond forms over being outcasts in their respective warring families. Barnes’ signature style—snappy dialogue and clever puzzle-solving—situate Toby and Hannah’s relationship firmly in the world of the bestselling Inheritance Games series (Hannah’s version of events was published as a novella in the 2024 compilation Games Untold). However, this prequel’s romance is lackluster, formulaic, and mostly redundant, seeming to ride the coattails of the previous books. Still, it will serve as a fun diversion for those already familiar with the main series’ plot and characters; for the uninitiated, it feels as if half the story—and a more exciting one at that—is hinted at but left off the page. Main characters present white.
Sure to satisfy as an amuse-bouche for die-hard series fans. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780316600262
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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