A bumpy love story with a gorgeous setting and vivid architectural details.
An American woman moves to Italy to restore a villa and meets a handsome architect in this contemporary romance.
Natalie Malone has just purchased a fixer-upper villa on the Amalfi Coast with money from a mysterious benefactor. In the villa’s “former life, it had been known as Pensione Benone, which translated to ‘very good inn.’ She had yet to decide what she would name it, but she liked the idea of quality.” The villa is part of an economic development plan for the hamlet of Zavona, but the program has been struggling. Architect Pietro Indelicato is determined to help the plan succeed, but his father and some cronies on the Economic Development Council are standing in the way. Pietro meets Natalie when she shows up at city hall to get a construction permit. Even though he is unhelpful, Natalie is attracted to him. They meet again when Natalie seeks his professional expertise. They start flirting as they work together and Pietro assists her with tasks at her villa. But the development plan is in trouble. Because of a clause in the contracts, people renovating houses in the community can’t own the dwellings unless satisfactory restoration work is done within six months. With unscrupulous contractors making shoddy repairs, it is becoming increasingly common for investors to suffer huge losses. When part of a house owned by friends of Natalie’s collapses, she finally realizes the serious difficulties she’s facing. Meanwhile, she tries to track down her generous benefactor, and Pietro fights with his father over Zavona’s future. Blades’ tale deftly portrays the beautiful Amalfi Coast, but the romance takes a while to get going. Most of the novel’s first half focuses on Natalie’s seemingly doomed attempt to renovate her villa. The romance feels like a slow burn until it isn’t, with friendly conversations suddenly escalating into making love in a lemon grove and Natalie meeting Pietro’s family. This series of events results in uneven pacing. The only conflict between the lovers is a manufactured misunderstanding, so the romance feels a bit bland compared with the rest of the tale. Still, there’s a great deal of intriguing home renovation information that will appeal to HGTV fans as the author skillfully describes the villa’s design and repairs.
A bumpy love story with a gorgeous setting and vivid architectural details.Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64937-208-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.
Best friends confront feelings for each other when they take a honeymoon trip together.
Francesca Gardiner and George Saint James have always been best friends—just like Jo and Laurie from Little Women, which they both love. Frankie has a big, complicated family and George was the boy next door who’d moved in with his eccentric grandmother. Their friendship survived childhood, awkward teenage years, and living together as young adults without ever venturing into the romantic—well, except for one kiss, but they don’t talk about that. When Frankie gets engaged to an older professor named Nate, George isn’t happy and a huge fight ensues. Despite his misgivings, George shows up to be her best man, but Nate leaves Frankie right before the wedding with only a cryptic letter. Devastated, Frankie goes to a friend’s house to recuperate, but her honeymoon is already planned and paid for—so she decides to travel to Tofino, a picturesque town on the coast of Vancouver Island, with George taking Nate’s place. Frankie wants to fix her friendship with George, but now that they’re in a romantic suite in a beautiful location, things are more complicated than ever. She’d always thought a relationship would be a bad idea, but she’s slowly beginning to realize they’ll never be able to go back to being kids. Maybe the only way forward involves forging a new kind of relationship. Fortune, the author of romances like This Summer Will Be Different (2024), returns with another love story full of longing and intense angst. The many allusions to Little Women are charming, and Frankie is a delightfully headstrong, feisty character. She and George have explosive chemistry, and Fortune manages to make the “will-they-or-won’t-they” nature of their relationship feel like life-or-death stakes.
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593953242
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
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