May entice fans of royal dramas but struggles with uneven execution.
In a world where only servants or Americans get to marry for love, three European noblewomen try to control their destinies.
Queen Victoria generally decides who weds whom among her large family—and she wants stunning beauty Alix of Hesse to marry her grandson and heir to the throne Eddy, aka Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward. Alix, however, has fallen for Nicholas, the eldest son of the Russian tsar. Meanwhile, the exiled French princess Hélène d’Orléans has a chance encounter with Eddy during which sparks fly. For her part, Her Serene Highness May of Teck struggles with being poorer and lower in status than her cousins; she’s also desperate to escape her cruel father and hopes to catch Eddy’s eye. Each young woman battles her confines in order to achieve happiness: Hélène owns her desires, but they may be held against her; Alix, though beloved by Queen Victoria, isn’t welcomed by the Russian court; and May leans into manipulative situations. The book ends on a cliffhanger, so readers will need to wait for the next entry to find out how these problems are resolved. The characterization builds over the course of the story, but the timelines can be confusing, and even though the events are loosely based on the lives of real people and the social stakes are clearly defined, the setting doesn’t feel fully immersive. Characters read white.
May entice fans of royal dramas but struggles with uneven execution. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780593710708
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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