A fun and heartfelt riff on an endearing ’80s comedy plot.
A series of mishaps unite two unlikely travel companions in this contemporary romance.
Cassidy Bliss is desperate to catch a flight from North Carolina to Los Angeles so she can help her sister, Isabelle, have the wedding of her dreams. The flight schedule is tight, and if Cassidy misses the plane, she risks the disapproval of their mother, Francesca. Just as she reaches the airport, her plan is nearly thwarted by a man who manages to steal her parking place and leave her stranded in the parking garage. That man, Luke Carlisle, works hard to support his unstable mother; his sister, Sophie; and his nieces in Southern California. When Sophie stops answering his questions about their mother, he decides it’s time to visit his family. The last thing he needs is an energetic, redheaded woman accusing him of stealing her parking space. When their plane makes an emergency landing in Joplin, Missouri, and Luke gets the last rental car, he impulsively asks Cassidy to share the drive. As they experience a car fire, train delays, and a drive through the desert, a connection develops between the pair that slowly turns romantic. As they approach their destination and more difficulties pile up, Cassidy and Luke wonder if it may be time to pursue their own happiness. Hart’s latest romance is a spirited, romantic update on the classic John Hughes–penned comedy film Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), featuring endearing protagonists, humorous detours, and plenty of heat. Luke and Cassidy are amiable characters whose rapport and romantic chemistry are consistently believable. In chapters that alternate between Cassidy’s and Luke’s perspectives, Hart deftly lays the foundation for their attraction and limns the family complications that keep them from acting on their feelings. Luke is revealed to be an avid cosplayer, and Hart frequently references his genre-fiction fandom (“Her insistence on getting closer to a burning, explosion-risk of a car is about to become my villain origin story”). Isabelle, Cassidy’s sister who has serious reservations about her pending nuptials, is also a well-drawn character.
A fun and heartfelt riff on an endearing ’80s comedy plot.Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781649373922
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
A heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love.
Two struggling authors spend the summer writing and falling in love in a quaint beach town.
January Andrews has just arrived in the small town of North Bear Shores with some serious baggage. Her father has been dead for a year, but she still hasn’t come to terms with what she found out at his funeral—he had been cheating on her mother for years. January plans to spend the summer cleaning out and selling the house her father and “That Woman” lived in together. But she’s also a down-on-her-luck author facing writer’s block, and she no longer believes in the happily-ever-after she’s made the benchmark of her work. Her steadily dwindling bank account, though, is a daily reminder that she must sell her next book, and fast. Serendipitously, she discovers that her new next-door neighbor is Augustus Everett, the darling of the literary fiction set and her former college rival/crush. Gus also happens to be struggling with his next book (and some serious trauma that unfolds throughout the novel). Though the two get off to a rocky start, they soon make a bet: Gus will try to write a romance novel, and January will attempt “bleak literary fiction.” They spend the summer teaching each other the art of their own genres—January takes Gus on a romantic outing to the local carnival; Gus takes January to the burned-down remains of a former cult—and they both process their own grief, loss, and trauma through this experiment. There are more than enough steamy scenes to sustain the slow-burn romance, and smart commentary on the placement and purpose of “women’s fiction” joins with crucial conversations about mental health to add multiple intriguing layers to the plot.
A heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0673-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Jove/Penguin
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK TO SCREEN
PERSPECTIVES
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