This absorbing tale of religious strife creates a vivid world that will draw readers in.
This historical novel introduces readers to the author’s ancestor Jean Pierre Bondurant and a tumultuous France in the late 17th century.
To understand the times, readers must grasp the religious discord between the Roman Catholics (King Louis XIV’s state religion) and the Huguenots, the persecuted Calvinist Protestants. Jehan (Jean), whose parents are Huguenot, was forcibly raised by the Dominican Order of the Frères from a young age (“the Dominicans baptized me into the Roman Catholic faith”). Now, at 18, he is free and returns to the family estates, trying to figure out his place in the world, where the threat of persecution and dire punishment is ever present. Secrets are the order of the day. Jehan is training to be an apothecary, and in his work, he meets—and falls in love with—the beautiful and mystical Amelia Auvrey. The feeling is mutual, but for reasons of her own, the relationship must remain platonic. The two seek a better way and a higher truth while dodging the Catholic authorities and becoming leery of the Huguenots’ growing madness. There are several close scrapes and hairbreadth escapes. Jehan’s uncle encourages him to escape to Switzerland and wait for a better future—either a return to a France that has resolved its religion issue or finding a new land where he and Amelia can be together again. Larimore tells an engrossing story about fiercely independent people. They are reflections of the Cévennes mountains in southern France, where the tale takes place: beautiful but rugged and unforgiving, honeycombed with caves and secret redoubts, a sort of European Appalachia. And this defiance frustrates the efforts of the bumbling and bloviating Intendant Basville, the king’s hellhound in the region. Along the way, readers learn a lot about the natural remedies of the times and come to realize how Jehan and Amelia’s apothecary practices could drift easily into spiritual healing, prayers, and amulets. Amelia, it is suggested, has preternatural powers. Of course, the author supplies significant context for this compelling tale of a noble ancestor. The audience is advised to first read the copious backmatter—the history of the region and other details—for valuable background and guidance.
This absorbing tale of religious strife creates a vivid world that will draw readers in.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2022
ISBN: 979-8986448817
Page Count: 370
Publisher: Mystic Lore Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.
A year in the life of the No. 2 boarding school in America—up from No. 19 last year!
Rumors of Hilderbrand’s retirement were greatly exaggerated, it turns out, since not only has she not gone out to pasture, she’s started over in high school, with her daughter Shelby Cunningham as co-author. As their delicious new book opens, it’s Move-In Day at Tiffin Academy, and Head of School Audre Robinson is warmly welcoming the returning and new students to the New England campus, the latter group including a rare midstream addition to the junior class. Brainiac Charley Hicks is transferring from public school in Maryland to a spot that opened up when one of the school’s most beloved students died by suicide the preceding year. She will be joining a large, diverse cast of adult and teenage characters—queen bees, jealous second-stringers, boozehounds young and old, secret lesbians, people chasing the wrong people chasing other wrong people—all of them royally screwed when an app called Zip Zap appears and starts blasting everyone’s secrets all over campus. How the heck…? Meanwhile, it seems so unlikely that Tiffin has jumped up to the No. 2 spot in the boarding-school rankings that a high-profile magazine launches an investigation, and even the head is worried that there may have been payola involved. The school has a reputation for being more social than academic, and this quality gets an exciting new exclamation point when the resident millionaire bad boy opens a high-style secret speakeasy for select juniors in a forgotten basement. It’s called Priorities. Exactly. One problem: Cinnamon Peters’ mysterious suicide hangs over the book in an odd way, especially since the note she left for her closest male friend is not to be opened for another year—and isn’t. This is surely a setup for a sequel, but it’s a bit frustrating here, and bobs sort of shallowly along amid the general high spirits.
A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9780316567855
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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