Opposites attract with predictable ease but not without some surprises.
A dog-show judge is forced to reconsider his beliefs when confronted with a former beauty queen and her awkward canine.
As a favor to a lovable woman in her care, nursing home assistant Ruby Taylor registers Wheezy, the patient's spectacularly uninterested golden retriever, in the prestigious West Coast Canine Classic. After having spent her childhood training for beauty pageants, Ruby has firmly distanced herself from competitions as an adult. But when veterinarian Spencer Wilson, founder of the Canine Classic, haughtily dismisses the lazy dog’s chances at his show, Ruby resolves to apply her previous experience to ensure that Wheezy wins the contest—even hiring Spencer’s twin brother, Caleb, to help train the dog. At first, Spencer is convinced that Ruby’s beauty is only skin deep, but eventually he comes to appreciate the dedication and determination with which she tries to discipline her friend’s intractable dog. Skepticism and judgment give way to attraction on both sides, but if Ruby and Spencer are to have a chance at happy companionship, they must both work on their complexes. Gilmore leverages the differences in Ruby's and Spencer’s personalities to ensure that their interactions—in bed and outside—are consistently entertaining. But it is Wheezy’s willful resistance to convention that is a thing of real beauty: He bridges the gap between the straight-laced veterinarian and the adventure-loving pageant queen. Since Gilmore refuses to engage with the difficulty of arriving at an objective assessment of qualities such as beauty and breeding, though, she misses the chance to fully unleash Ruby and Spencer’s potential for introspection and change.
Opposites attract with predictable ease but not without some surprises.Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-72822-600-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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
A deep and moving portrayal of first love.
Two college students rekindle their relationship as they unravel the truth behind their breakup.
On the outside, college senior Bennett Reiner has it all. A goalie for Waterfell University’s hockey team, he lives with a group of friends in a luxurious off-campus house. He and his best friend, Rhys Koteskiy, have fathers who are retired hockey legends. But on the inside, he’s falling apart. Struggling with OCD, a shaky friendship with Rhys, and second thoughts about pursuing a future in hockey, the only thing keeping Bennett afloat is also the one thing breaking his heart: Paloma Blake. All dyed-hair and attitude, Paloma has built a bad reputation on the hockey scene since their relationship ended freshman year—but Bennett knows the real P. Underneath her promiscuous facade lies a scared and lonely girl running from a childhood of abuse. When they were together, it seemed like their romance was perfect, until Paloma broke it off without warning. Since then, Bennett has run to Paloma’s side whenever she needed him, whether she was drunk, lonely, or hurting, and now he’s determined to win her back. For Bennett, Paloma is his antidote, the cure for his compulsions; for Paloma, Bennett is her protector, her safe space. And though Paloma yearns to be with Bennett again, she’s not sure she’s willing to open old wounds and reveal the truth about her painful past. In the third installment of the Undone series, Corinne spotlights familiar characters as they navigate trauma, heartbreak, and first love. Bennett and Paloma’s relationship is raw and vulnerable, and their journey of relinquishing control is both necessary and inevitable. Their romance evolves as they open up to one another, and in return, the reader is rewarded with a love story that’s as lyrical, evocative, and emotional as poetry.
A deep and moving portrayal of first love.Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781668219423
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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