A romance with a scattered but charming plot and lovable characters.
Romance blossoms in surprising places in this novel, which follows a divorced woman who returns to her hometown.
Even though Cassie Linden’s home in New York City isn’t that far from her childhood house in Connecticut, she hasn’t been back to see her father in a while. Between her job as a lawyer and the disintegration of her marriage, Cassie’s been too preoccupied to realize that her dad’s been slipping mentally. As soon as she walks back into his house, though, “the nagging fear of dementia trailed her from room to room.” Since Cassie’s mother died of Alzheimer’s, even the slightest sign of forgetfulness sends her into a panic, so she’s quick to move back in temporarily, start organizing his house, and tend to his beloved bee hives. Enter professional beekeeper Glenn Marsden, whose impressive knowledge of the fuzzy insects and fit physique immediately stir Cassie’s admiration. It’s been eight years since Glenn’s wife walked out on him and their little girl, leaving the beekeeper to navigate life as a single father. Cassie is the first person in a long time to set his heart buzzing, but the timing couldn’t be worse; his ex has suddenly reappeared in town. Meanwhile, in addition to worries about her elderly father, Cassie has her own roadblocks to romance. Her son was suspended from college, and an unrelenting real estate developer is plotting to turn Cassie’s family home into a soulless housing tract. Avellar’s novel can start to feel like Cassie and Glenn are simply checking things off a laundry list of obstacles to their inevitable relationship (with very abrupt tonal shifts; some are deadly serious and others rather lighthearted). Still, while the storyline is a little diffuse, it’s hard not to fall for both Cassie and Glenn. Avellar excels at making her two leads both charming and relatable—thanks, in part, to her well-crafted dialogue that conveys both their bumbling beginnings and simmering passion. (The various family dynamics are also smartly observed.) Avellar’s subtle story of bees, illness, and suburban real estate may not continually sizzle, but her keen characterizations may just sweep readers off their feet anyway.
A romance with a scattered but charming plot and lovable characters.Pub Date: Dec. 30, 2025
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 326
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.
A heartbroken man lusts after his therapist while seeking revenge on a drug kingpin and his enforcer.
Mitch Haskell’s wife, Angela, died two years ago of an apparent suicide, but Mitch has always believed the scene was staged. Certainly, she would never have willingly left their young son, Andrew, behind. Consumed with a thirst for vengeance, Mitch—a former Marine and undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and currently a police detective—is struggling with alcohol dependency and uncontrolled rage. Andrew is living with his in-laws, who are making not-so-subtle suggestions that they might apply for permanent guardianship if Mitch can’t get it together. So his boss and best friend, John Bowie, mandates that he go into therapy, which puts him in the path of sexy Dr. Dylan Reede. Within a few days, Mitch makes a connection between two new murders and the death of his former partner; finds a big clue that points to the truth about Angela’s death; goes undercover as a homeless man; takes on a vicious drug cartel; and obnoxiously bullies Dylan with a charm offensive that leads them inevitably to bed. While Mitch seems to lean into the stereotype of the ex-soldier/cop with deeply buried trauma who believes that the ends justify the means—at least in law enforcement—Dylan offers the strength and sweetness to help him start breaking down his walls, allowing herself to be vulnerable in turn. Is passionate sex enough to ground a relationship and a family for the long term? For these characters, and the breakneck speed of this thriller, it’s as good a foundation as any.
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781538743027
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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