An uplifting romance about mending bruised relationships and holding onto hope.
After her mother’s death, a young woman revisits her childhood home and discovers important truths about her first great love in Schenck’s romance novel.
Lanie McCallister has been named executor of her mother’s estate and must return to her hometown of Cedar Haven, Maryland, to help settle her affairs. After traveling back to the east coast from her home in Seattle, Lanie takes up temporary residence in her mother’s recently vacated home, which is also the house where Lanie grew up. Though the property is chock-full of memories of her mother, Melody, Lanie (with her brother, Steven) has agreed to sell it. After Lanie begins packing up her mother’s belongings, she takes a drive to see her brother and ends up with a flat tire. As luck would have it, the person who shows up to tow Lanie’s car is none other than Nate, her childhood sweetheart, and quite possibly the one that got away (“Nate finally raised his eyes to meet mine, and my attempt at indifference wavered when I saw how much they had softened with sympathy”). Although Lanie has a serious boyfriend back in California, and may soon be engaged, seeing Nate brings back many complicated feelings for her. Each day she remains in town, Lanie seems to bump into Nate with increasing frequency. Before long, she learns a secret from their shared past that makes her wonder if she and Nate might deserve a second chance at a new future together. Told entirely in the first person, from Lanie’s perspective, the book details different ways that adults deal with grief and loss and provides hope that righting longstanding wrongs can help mend ailing hearts. As Lanie navigates complicated relationships with both her ex and her current boyfriend, as well as her brother (and even her deceased mother), the novel explores questions of self-doubt, fragile mental health, and whether second chances are worth taking. Despite following a predictable path, the story’s journey toward its inevitable conclusion is thoroughly delightful. With a plot-focused narrative and fast-paced dialogue, this wholesome tale will keep readers engaged throughout.
An uplifting romance about mending bruised relationships and holding onto hope.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 979-8988480310
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Faery Whisper Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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.
