A bland historical romance with occasional grace notes.
A musician plays her way into the heart of a duke.
Miss Viola Beaton has an unusual name, but it's a good fit for the spinster daughter of a world-renowned (and now shunned) composer. She herself is an excellent composer but shields her work behind a male pseudonym and, to keep her small family from penury, focuses most of her energy on being a music instructor to the five sisters of the Duke of Westbury. Well, and maybe a little energy on peeking at the duke himself, Brandan Delamar. He’s attractive but entirely off-limits; in any event, he's also known as “Wicked Westbury” and known to deliberately avoid his noble obligations after a lifetime of shame and cruelty from his father. But when he discovers that his neglect and family debt have ruined his sisters’ chances at decent marriages, he pledges to reform. His obtuse early attempts to make amends earn him a stern talking-to from Viola, and their first clash brings their chemistry into view. He realizes she's crucial to a happy household, and they work together more closely as he searches for a proper duchess with a proper fortune and she helps prepare the girls for their season. A series of dramatic incidents heighten the passion between them, but both have serious debts that loom over their budding love and might crush it entirely. The third Wallflowers vs. Rogues title focuses on another member of London’s proto-feminist Boadicea Club but doesn’t have quite the spark of earlier entries. Though the intimate scenes between Viola and Brandan are steamy, and there are the usual humorous moments readers expect from Bell, the plot is bland, and the frequent musical metaphors can be distracting. Brandan isn't quite as wicked as his nickname would suggest, though he's a serviceable rake archetype. But fans of the series will still find moments to love, including a first-class proposal, and the relationships between Viola and Brandan’s sisters are a particular high point.
A bland historical romance with occasional grace notes.Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-299348-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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