A fluffy and comforting romance that bolsters faith in the power of friendship.
An inhibited designer rethinks her paint-by-numbers approach when a leap of faith lands her in closer quarters with a friend.
Graphic designer Olivia Bakersfield has carefully cultivated her image as a successful—if somewhat cold—career woman. Raised by a single mother and traumatized by a brief brush with homelessness in her childhood, Liv feverishly clings to advice dished out by self-improvement books and blogs as if they are life rafts that will save her from further harm. But when she is forced to make a hard financial decision quickly, Liv decides to shelve some self-prescribed diktats: Not only does she finally refuse to work on yet another uninspiring assignment at her workplace, but she also impulsively decides to join her friends on their trip to South Africa. Although the holiday bonds her more thickly with her group, it puts her in uncomfortably close proximity with her extremely gorgeous and equally aloof friend Lucas Deiss. As the group prepares to return home, Liv tries to ensure that she and Lucas revert to their old equation. But when a series of crises force her to lean more on him than ever, Liv must reevaluate not only Lucas’ place in her life, but her entire attitude toward careers and companionship. Waldon charts Liv’s epiphany and eventual transformation with convincing attention to detail. Although Liv and Lucas’ gradually blossoming intimacy is the centerpiece, the shifts in Liv’s relationships with several other people are also crucial to her coming-of-age story. Liv’s friend circle is fun and their dynamic is charming, but owing to their tendency to withhold crucial parts of themselves from each other, they seldom appear as close-knit as they seem to think they are. Liv and Lucas take a tantalizing amount of time to become lovers, and the slow burn makes for delightful reading. But their journey from that point onward feels slightly rushed, especially since Lucas’ perspective remains conspicuously absent.
A fluffy and comforting romance that bolsters faith in the power of friendship.Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-32827-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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