An often pleasing read for fans of billionaire romances.
A wealthy Englishman rescues a traumatized young woman in Sorel’s romance series starter.
All Theadora “Thea” Hart wants to do is pay her rent—and working for a night in a seedy London gentlemen’s club could get her squared away. The 24-year-old is only willing to serve customers drinks while dressed in a tight corset and heels, but those who run the club want to auction off her virginity to the highest bidder. Before that can happen, a handsome, anonymous stranger rescues a drugged Thea and lets her sleep on his sofa for the night. Three months later, Thea is working as a cleaning woman at the exclusive Lovechilde’s Hotel when she receives an offer to become a maid at the Lovechilde estate in Bridesmere, a seaside town outside the city. The Lovechildes are a rich and powerful family, and Thea soon discovers that eldest son Declan was her rescuer that terrible night. He’s a decorated military veteran in the process of developing a program for troubled youth, and he never forgot the woman he saved; when he encounters Theadora again, he’s swept away by passion. The attraction is mutual, and their lust soon develops into love. However, Declan’s tumultuous family relationships may threaten his future with Thea. Alternating between Thea’s and Declan’s perspectives, the novel works to raise the stakes for both characters. The Lovechilde family is rife with fascinating, Succession-like drama as its members vie for power and Declan’s parents openly conduct sexual affairs in town and country. For her part, Thea wants nothing more than to be a music teacher, and she struggles to get back on track after her plans were thwarted as a teenager due to the actions of her abusive stepfather. The novel includes too many mentions of Thea’s curvy figure, and Declan makes a problematic comment about a character’s bisexuality. However, Thea and Declan appealingly connect on an emotional level as well as a physical one, as evidenced by their explosive chemistry in several explicit sex scenes.
An often pleasing read for fans of billionaire romances.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9798843322458
Page Count: 330
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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