When it comes to tension and momentum, this foodie romance barely reaches a simmer.
Two former culinary rivals enter into a marriage of convenience to save a communal green space in Portland, Oregon, from the clutches of a fast-food corporation.
Six years ago, Kia Jackson beat out her culinary-school rival Alice Sullivan for the Prix du Patrimoine Culinaire award, given to the student with the highest rank in the class. But that evening, they set aside their differences and ended their rivalry with a kiss, knowing that their competition through four years of schooling made them better chefs. Sullivan now runs a restaurant in her neighborhood of Oakwood Heights and Kia has become a food truck influencer, winning several honors around the country. When a green space, known as the Bois, goes up for sale in Oakwood Heights, both women have their own ideas of how to use it. Sullivan wants to protect the space, a promise she made to her late grandfather. Kia wants to turn it into a hub for food trucks and community gatherings. As a legacy landowner in the community—her great-great-grandfather signed the original neighborhood charter—Sullivan gets first dibs on the space, but she doesn’t have the money to buy it, though the neighborhood association is giving her plenty of time to prepare for the sale. Aside from Kia, a fast-food chain called Mega Eats wants to buy the land for its next location. To add salt to Sullivan’s wound, Mega Eats only knew about the sale through Kia’s social media posts. Since Mega Eats is the worst-case scenario, Kia proposes marriage. Since she has the money to buy the land and Sullivan gets priority in the sale, together they’ll be able to secure the Bois. The legal aspects of marriage and land sales bog down a stale romance that emphasizes a rivalry that feels barely there.
When it comes to tension and momentum, this foodie romance barely reaches a simmer.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781538771204
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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
A book that will wolfishly appeal to the most heated fans of omegaverse erotica.
Tess Covington is a talented, successful contractor who just learned that she’s a late-in-life omega wolf shifter. Her new boss, surly innkeeper Hunter Barrett, is an alpha who’s opposed to the remodeling she’s there to do.
Tess hasn’t made it public that she’s being considered for her own HGTV makeover show, but she runs her career like a well-oiled machine. She posts a lot of her remodels on social media, granting her a certain level of celebrity, and leans on her brothers to help run the business she took over after a stroke made it impossible for her father to keep working. Hunter’s last serious relationship with an omega 10 years ago left him deeply wounded, ending when his parents were killed in a car accident and he moved back home to take care of their lodge—hence his resistance to change. With few exceptions, Tess keeps her newly diagnosed omega status to herself. Unfortunately, as an alpha, Hunter sniffs her out and seems to be the only person capable of helping her with her sudden heats, so there’s a lot of very smutty caretaking. The specificity of omegaverse hierarchy might be new to some readers, but Ferguson’s worldbuilding is quick, easy, and deeply horny. General romance readers might enjoy the grumpy-meets-sunshine and stranded-in-a-snowstorm tropes, although for a book about shifters, the characters spend surprisingly little time in wolf form. There’s not much danger of character development or surprising plot elements here, but for fans excited to read about animalistic mating, that might be enough.
A book that will wolfishly appeal to the most heated fans of omegaverse erotica.Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593953693
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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