Romance fans will enjoy this tangled web of love and work amid the tumultuous backdrop of the changing times.
Kendall’s debut combines romantic love and melodrama to explore changing gender roles and business relationships.
By 1965, much has already changed at John Hampton’s home in the safe, idyllic community of Agoura, Calif. Young and handsome, John has a promising career as an engineer at Nielsen Electronics, a firm that specializes in the production of security tape recording devices. After his wife’s infidelity and repeated drug abuse, John’s marriage tragically dissolves, and he and his children are left to pick up the pieces. There’s another woman in John’s world, however: beautiful, intelligent Robin Nichols, a divorced mom of two sons, who also happens to be the hardworking secretary at Nielsen Electronics. John and Robin fall in love, which causes even more problems with John’s ex-wife. The story clips along at a sprightly pace, as Kendall touches on themes familiar to those who have lived through or studied the ’60s—e.g., women’s roles, divorce, blended families, psychedelic drugs and the Vietnam War—yet it’s all from the perspective of office professionals. The minor character of John’s wife is a banal foil for his heroics; for example, John is a dependable and selfless parent, but his ex-wife, the stereotypical “hippie artist bound for destruction,” was raised by domineering religious parents. Then there’s the drama of John’s boss and his wife, a dowdy, submissive woman who struggles to find herself and a voice of her own. While the boss’ wife is a sympathetic character, her changes are predictable: She finds strength through love. Also, a few scenes are rather far-fetched, as when Robin walks into a top modeling agency on a secret errand for the boss and she’s instantly offered a modeling contract. A more complex and engaging character is the boss himself, Loren Slaton, who evolves from a cheating, womanizing jerk into a realistic version of a changed man. The dialogue flows easily, and there’s plenty of cute, witty banter between lovers. When John pretends to be shocked after Robin calls him a fool, Robin retorts: “You are an impossible, incorrigible, fool. I might point out, however, that one of Webster’s definitions for a fool is, professional jester. I do believe you qualify.”
Romance fans will enjoy this tangled web of love and work amid the tumultuous backdrop of the changing times.Pub Date: July 28, 2010
ISBN: 978-1770671034
Page Count: 296
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
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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