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
If you like your romance the darker the better, this one is for you.
A young mother returns to the gothic manor of her childhood to dust off the family secrets and face her old flame.
Maven Blackthorn hasn’t been home since her mom died under suspicious circumstances 12 years ago, but the death of her grandmother, Lorinda, forces her return to Solstice, Vermont. Maven’s daughter, Beatrix, has never seen where her mother grew up, but she quickly learns the Blackthorns have a reputation for witchcraft, largely fueled by a centuries-long feud with the powerful Croft family, whose heir apparent, Ronan, was Maven’s forbidden teenage love and “worst nightmare.” Maven hopes to bid farewell to her grandmother and visit with her aunts without running into Ronan, but he proves hard to avoid. Maven’s hatred for Ronan runs deep and she believes the feeling is mutual. From Ronan’s perspective, it’s clear their painful unraveling was full of misunderstandings. When Lorinda’s body goes missing from the funeral home, Maven is forced to accept Ronan’s help in discovering what happened. While Maven dives into her family history and the many unfortunate events befalling Blackthorn women, Ronan is forever in her ear, seducing her back to him. The push and pull of their romance feels immature, which isn’t helped by the first-person present narration. At times, it’s easy to forget Maven and Ronan aren’t still teenagers, until the erotica is punched up a thousand percent in the final third. Controlling lines from Ronan like “Don’t test my patience, woman” might read better if his perspective were explored more, though fans of Geissinger’s dark erotica, including Brutal Vows (2025), may not be fazed. Maven’s perspective dominates, and though her investigation into family lore and increasing paranoia are the most compelling arc, the million and one ways in which she threatens Ronan with physical violence—“What I really want to do is tie you to a tree, disembowel you with my bare hands, feed your guts to the wolves, and cut off your head”—is a bit one-note. Trigger warnings abound.
If you like your romance the darker the better, this one is for you.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781250379139
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
A top-notch, spooky Regency page-turner.
Two lady novelists are haunted—and not just by thoughts of each other.
Lady Georgiana Cleeve has had enough. She and her mother gave up everything to escape her abusive father, and her writing career keeps them afloat, but lately every time she writes a novel, it's plagiarized before it’s even published by someone calling herself Lady Darling. When, after staking out Belvoir’s Library one morning at dawn, she discovers to her horror that Lady Darling is none other than Catriona Lacey, the daughter of her family’s butler, with whom she was once “hopelessly infatuated.” It turns out that Cat—shocked to see the aristocratic girl she used to pine for—also depends on writing Gothic romances to support her family. Unfortunately, after they part ways in the worst of tempers, they almost immediately see each other again at their publisher’s office, and then at a haunted churchyard, and then, somehow, at a haunted house in Wiltshire where both expected to find inspiration for their next novel. They agree to stay out of each other’s way, but in just a few days, their chemistry has fully reignited. Their first kiss is the “most erotic” experience either has had, but after their second kiss, they find a dead body in the probably haunted garden—and things only get stranger from there. And despite the supernatural happenings and growing danger, they can’t keep their hands off each other, leading both to wonder if a future together might be possible. The third story in the Belvoir’s Library series starts in the bookstore and then, as the women face being haunted by both the paranormal and their pasts, comes alive against the eerie setting. Georgie and Cat are tempted into plenty of scorching-hot moments no matter where they are, and they forge a gripping emotional connection as well. The satisfying ending is topped only by the excellent author’s note, in which readers will be delighted to learn how much of the story was drawn from the historical record.
A top-notch, spooky Regency page-turner.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250910981
Page Count: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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