A fizzy tale about an entirely inappropriate but entertaining love affair.
A mentally ill woman meets the world’s hottest psychiatrist in this giddy romance.
Twenty-year-old Mercy Kavanaugh has been in and out of mental hospitals since she was abandoned in childhood by her parents. They were members of a religious sect who thought her violent hallucinations, which felt as if she was being skewered with nails and burned with acid, were caused by demonic possession. She and the rest of the psych ward are shaken up by the arrival of Dr. Travis Sutton, a new psychiatrist who, with his tousled hair, jeans, and muscle T-shirts, looks more like a Hugo Boss model than a shrink. Sutton good-naturedly parries Mercy’s defensive snark and soon declares a breakthrough: She’s not suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, as previously diagnosed, but from PTSD caused by the cultic abuse she suffered as a girl. He takes her off antipsychotics, reviving her libido, and applies his signature treatment of cradling her in his arms and soothing her tears after she has nightmares. Coached by her gal pals, Mercy tries seducing Sutton with outrageous sex talk during their sessions and, to make him jealous, a flirtation with a male patient. As she stampedes over Sutton’s weak protestations about transference and his medical license, passionate make-out sessions ensue with much groping and fondling. Alas, their love is threatened by federal regulations that will age her out of the hospital on her 21st birthday and into a halfway house. Decker’s yarn features an ideal lover, a dreamboat who’s fascinated by every wrinkle of the hero’s psyche in addition to her body, set in a glamorized rendition of a mental health facility that’s full of good-looking patients who don’t even seem crazy, just oversexed. The author’s skillful prose plangently evokes Mercy’s loneliness and fear of abandonment in the novel’s opening. (“Following each return to the unit, each searing disappointment, I let go of a little more hope,” Mercy muses of her rejections by foster families. “Once I was all hollowed out, I understood that no one would save me.”) After Dr. Sexy perks her up, though, the writing takes on a salacious energy and cheer. (He: “I have something for you.” She: “Is it a vibrator?”) Readers will root for Mercy’s campaign to undermine the psychiatric profession’s code of ethics.
A fizzy tale about an entirely inappropriate but entertaining love affair.Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7329645-2-5
Page Count: 265
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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 warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
© 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.
