A retiring spinster inadvertently becomes embroiled in solving a mystery with the crown prince of Alucia, winning his trust and love—which is a problem since he’s expected to marry, but he can’t marry her.
“At eight-and-twenty, Eliza was unmarried, a fact that had long baffled the judge.” The judge is The Right Honorable Justice William Tricklebank, Eliza’s father. The family is highly respectable but common. However, Eliza’s sister, Hollis, runs a ladies’ gazette, and their closest friend, Caro, is an aristocrat. Caro and Hollis routinely mingle in society events, but after a youthful indiscretion, Eliza is mostly content to live vicariously through them while helping her blind father navigate his physical and professional spaces with cheerful efficiency. Unusually, she decides to attend a masquerade ball arranged to help Prince Sebastian find an English bride. When a masked stranger cynically tries to seduce her, she’s amused, then tickled and surprised when she realizes it was the prince. After the dance, Sebastian’s personal secretary is murdered, and a note with a rumor hinting at the possible culprit is delivered to the Tricklebank family’s home. Hollis publishes the gossip, which leads to a rude visit from the prince. Eliza throws him out—a novel experience for Sebastian—but subsequent run-ins between the two highlight her honesty, intelligence, and wisdom, which he comes to depend on as they work the case together. Sebastian wants Eliza, but she’s not an appropriate match since he’s not allowed to wed a commoner. London’s newest series launch is a charming read, but don’t come to it for the mystery, which feels hodgepodge and poorly motivated. Where it works is as a perfect showcase for the delightful Eliza, an anti-Cinderella who captures the prince not with her beauty but with her precious real self.
A fun, touching “prince meets real girl” Victorian fairy-tale romance.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-335-04153-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable...
13
GET IT
Sydney and Ridge make beautiful music together in a love triangle written by Hoover (Losing Hope, 2013, etc.), with a link to a digital soundtrack by American Idol contestant Griffin Peterson.
Hoover is a master at writing scenes from dual perspectives. While music student Sydney is watching her neighbor Ridge play guitar on his balcony across the courtyard, Ridge is watching Sydney’s boyfriend, Hunter, secretly make out with her best friend on her balcony. The two begin a songwriting partnership that grows into something more once Sydney dumps Hunter and decides to crash with Ridge and his two roommates while she gets back on her feet. She finds out after the fact that Ridge already has a long-distance girlfriend, Maggie—and that he's deaf. Ridge’s deafness doesn’t impede their relationship or their music. In fact, it creates opportunities for sexy nonverbal communication and witty text messages: Ridge tenderly washes off a message he wrote on Sydney’s hand in ink, and when Sydney adds a few too many e’s to the word “squee” in her text, Ridge replies, “If those letters really make up a sound, I am so, so glad I can’t hear it.” While they fight their mutual attraction, their hope that “maybe someday” they can be together playfully comes out in their music. Peterson’s eight original songs flesh out Sydney’s lyrics with a good mix of moody musical styles: “Living a Lie” has the drama of a Coldplay piano ballad, while the chorus of “Maybe Someday” marches to the rhythm of the Lumineers. But Ridge’s lingering feelings for Maggie cause heartache for all three of them. Independent Maggie never complains about Ridge’s friendship with Sydney, and it's hard to even want Ridge to leave Maggie when she reveals her devastating secret. But Ridge can’t hide his feelings for Sydney long—and they face their dilemma with refreshing emotional honesty.
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable characters and just the right amount of sexual tension.Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5316-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2014
Categories: ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP
Did you like this book?
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
