An often fun and steamy love story despite uneven execution.
A data engineer and her new employee/roommate deal with their mutual attraction in Vinson’s debut romance.
Theresa Alberts works at tech company InfoQuest in Portland, Oregon. She’s a single parent with a 7-year-old son, and she carries some emotional baggage from her last relationship that makes her wary of starting something new. When she interviews Hawaiian Conall O’Donnell for a software-development job at her company and, later, for tenancy at her residence, they find themselves intensely drawn to each other, and they each try to come to terms with insecurities that could hinder their romance. In addition, Conall and Theresa’s son, Liam, quickly form a bond, and the book also explores Theresa’s work friendships and complex relationship with her mother as well as Conall’s close relationships with his extended family in Hawaii. Vinson’s debut novel consciously explores the lives of women who work in STEM fields while also drawing on familiar chick-lit tropes—the latter of which begets the work’s fitting but rather trite title. Still, the work intriguingly explores gender roles in relevant ways, particularly when in delves into questions of what it means to be a good man and father. Theresa’s struggles as a working single mom—whose conservative mother disapproves of her choices—feels relatable without being oversimplified. Vinson effectively shows how the damage of past relationships can complicate present ones but also stresses the importance of having faith in love, despite its difficulties. However, the prose can feel a bit long-winded at times, and the plotting feels clunky toward the end; readers may wish that the author focused more on building the emotional intimacy between Conall and Theresa, which would have added more depth.
An often fun and steamy love story despite uneven execution.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2021
ISBN: 979-8985151114
Page Count: 354
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 31, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
