A heartwarming and funny romance.
A crown princess must find a worthy husband, but no candidate is as tantalizing as the man least suitable for the job.
Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria is heartbroken: Not only is she recovering from an international scandal caused by a previous misalliance, but she's also forced to accept the prospect of losing her father, whose health is steadily deteriorating. She needs to get married and swiftly prepare herself to rule a small but prosperous nation. Prodded by Dante Robuchard, the Machiavellian prime minister of Wesloria, Justine sets sail to England to learn the royal ropes from Queen Victoria and wed an eligible British gentleman. Robuchard, who needs a finger in every pie, asks William, Lord Douglas, heir to the Scottish Duke of Hamilton, to tail the princess and send him regular updates on her progress. Cornered into accepting the mission by his cash-strapped father, who's made an unwise investment in the Weslorian coal industry, the notoriously rakish William does what he can to aid the princess. Justine and William have met before, and they have a history of getting on each other’s nerves, but it appears that he's the only one who can offer her sound advice. As she begins to count on his support, Justine finds it harder to even think of a gentleman other than William, but William’s past threatens to obscure every future prospect. London trots out several secondary characters from her previous books for the first installment of the Royal Match series, and each of them adds to the charm and sweetness of the central love story. While Justine is charming as a sharp princess who knows when she’s being outmaneuvered but feels helpless to prevent it, she is absolutely fabulous as a powerful woman who learns to stand up for herself. William and Justine’s interactions are consistently endearing and witty, but when the focus shifts to his past, the urgency of her present predicament falls by the wayside.
A heartwarming and funny romance.Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-335-63986-8
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Harlequin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
This rip-roaring romp pivots between past and present and posits the future-altering power of love, hope, and forgiveness.
A time-toying spy romance that’s truly a thriller.
In the author’s note following the moving conclusion of her gripping, gleefully delicious debut novel, Bradley explains how she gathered historical facts about Lt. Graham Gore, a real-life Victorian naval officer and polar explorer, then “extrapolated a great deal” about him to come up with one of her main characters, a curly-haired, chain-smoking, devastatingly charming dreamboat who has been transported through time. Having also found inspiration in the sole extant daguerreotype of Gore, showing him to have been “a very attractive man,” Bradley wrote the earliest draft of the book for a cluster of friends who were similarly passionate about polar explorers. Her finished novel—taut, artfully unspooled, and vividly written—retains the kind of insouciant joy and intimacy you might expect from a book with those origins. It’s also breathtakingly sexy. The time-toggling plot focuses on the plight of a British civil servant who takes a high-paying job on a secret mission, working as a “bridge” to help time-traveling “expats” resettle in 21st-century London—and who falls hard for her charge, the aforementioned Commander Gore. Drama, intrigue, and romance ensue. And while this quasi-futuristic tale of time and tenderness never seems to take itself too seriously, it also offers a meaningful, nuanced perspective on the challenges we face, the choices we make, and the way we live and love today.
This rip-roaring romp pivots between past and present and posits the future-altering power of love, hope, and forgiveness.Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781668045145
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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