Frenetic, fast-paced, and unfulfilling.
A huge cast of immortal creatures prepare themselves for war and unrest in the first of a new series from the author of the Immortals After Dark novels.
Generations ago, immortals were cast out of the mortal realm of Gaia and into the Skein. The witches, Lykae, vampires, and Berserkers have all created heavily fortified settlements as bulwarks against invasions from other immortal factions in their new, violent world. Now, the Accession is looming, an intense cycle of warfare and matchmaking that happens every 500 years. The reader is quickly introduced to more than a dozen point-of-view characters. Eight of them quickly develop romantic entanglements that may or may not last through the coming Accession: A young female vampire determined to flee her evil family is paired with a Berserker; her vampire servant bargains with an incubus sent to spy on the vampire clan; a Lykae king recognizes a high priestess from the witch coven as his mate; and the witch and Lykae seconds-in-command drift into an affair. Other primary characters include a pair of Valkyrie sisters as well as assorted allies or enemies across the clans. Cole sinks her considerable storytelling energy into describing the setting and landscape of the Skein and introducing a truly dizzying number of characters, but she makes almost no attempt to create a coherent, overarching plot. Eventually, each of the subplots coalesces and drives toward a single point on the timeline, an upcoming full moon when it’s foretold that a portal to Gaia will open. Cole’s writing is sharp and entertaining, but the sheer number of subplots results in too many characters, and the book feels both rushed and underdeveloped. Cliffhanger endings for each of the plotlines promise to be picked up in future books in the series.
Frenetic, fast-paced, and unfulfilling.Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464279317
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.
A Seattle woman meets a Chicago businessman as she flies home from a visit to a friend, and her small act of kindness blossoms into more.
Maisy Gallagher is barely making ends meet. With her father’s unexpected death a few years earlier, she dropped out of nursing school to help out in the family’s jewelry store, working with her uncle. Her older brother, Sean, also moved back home so he and Maisy could help their mother and their 10-year-old brother, Patrick. When Maisy offers a ride to a rude businessman who sat next to her on the plane, she’s just operating on the kindness her grandmother instilled in her. That businessman, Chase Furst, turns out to be an incredibly wealthy banker; he’s flown into Seattle to make funeral arrangements for his mother, to whom he hasn’t spoken in years. Sparks fly in this gentle and predictable romance that leans heavily on long-distance and class-divide tropes. As with many of the author’s books, Christianity and the characters’ reliance on God’s will—as they wait and see what happens next—play a large part, as do traditional gender roles where women cook, clean, and only work in paying jobs until they have children at home to take care of. The author does offer a lighter touch when it comes to the painful ways alcoholism can destroy family relationships, with an understanding of the regret that can weigh on every family member.
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9798217091676
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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