A charming story about logic, love, and labs.
A tech genius and a professional hockey player test their compatibility in this heartfelt romance.
Twenty-nine-year-old Harriet Smythe has created the next big thing in AI—a hopeless robot romantic. The Empirical Machine for Maximizing Athletics, E.M.M.A. for short, is expected to help coaches make informed training decisions and optimize an athlete’s performance...if only it would stop playing matchmaker. When Harriet’s boss at TrainTech, a Texas-based AI startup, asks her to find a real-life guinea pig to test E.M.M.A.’s capabilities, she knows that sooner or later she’ll have to contact Gale Knight. Gale is a struggling member of the Austin Regals starting lineup, and he’s also the kid brother of Harriet’s best friend, Brooke. Though at 25, he isn’t so little anymore, with muscles even a STEM geek like Harriet can’t help but appreciate. Out of respect for Brooke, Gale has always been off limits to Harriet, even if she’s always harbored a crush on him. Enter the AI! E.M.M.A. predicts that Harriet is the perfect match for Gale, the solution to his problems on and off the ice. Unluckily for Harriet, Gale is all too willing to work with her, making it harder and harder for her to keep things strictly professional. Can Harriet continue to deny the scientific proof in front of her, or will she finally accept that the algorithm doesn’t lie? Riley’s romance is a treat for fans of Ali Hazelwood and Elle Kennedy, and readers will appreciate the modern nod to Jane Austen’s beloved matchmaking heroine. Harriet and Gale’s friendship evolves throughout the story in a vulnerable, heartfelt way, with the just the right amount of spice to make the ice melt. Eerily sentient E.M.M.A. is a standout character, offering plenty of sass in her aptly named “Duchess mode” voice.
A charming story about logic, love, and labs.Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780063412361
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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