A charming romance hits all the right notes.
After a decadent one-night stand, two women discover they will be competing against each other on a reality TV show.
Lillian Jackson is lead dancer and ballet master at the Reed-Whitmer Ballet Company, which highlights Black dancers, but she’s just learned that the troupe is about to lose its funding. Her financial backers make a desperate, last-ditch offer: They can get Lillian and the company an audition for The Great American Talent Show. If they win, they can use the $1 million prize to keep the doors open. Sitting alone in a bar after the audition, Lillian meets a hot, confident white woman who says her name is Blue Lenox, and they have what’s supposed to be a one-night stand. Blue’s real name is Izzy Wells, and she turns out to be the head of a queer-friendly, body-positive, no-audition burlesque troupe named Velveteen Crush that’s also in the competition. Izzy mortgaged her house to buy a dilapidated old theater, hoping to create a safe performance space and community center, but it’s a money pit. Winning the prize will help her save the theater and her home. The external stakes are clearly defined, but the heart of this romance is watching Izzy and Lillian navigate their emotional wounds. Lillian sacrificed everything for her art, chasing perfection to overcome racism in the ballet world. She loves being with Izzy, but she’s always put ballet before relationships. Izzy was functionally abandoned by her mother as a teenager and is looking for a woman who will put her first. Their romance is sweet and sexy if a bit predictable. Difficult, decades-old problems have pat resolutions. A highlight of the book is that Izzy and Lillian both struggle with the burdens of leadership, but each woman finds support and comfort from their communities when they are in need.
A charming romance hits all the right notes.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781538756119
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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