There’s nothing revolutionary here, but Argeneau fans will enjoy the fast-paced and competent romance.
A strange series of events brings a human woman to the attention of a centuries-old vampire.
Sophie Ferguson is tired of gambling on love. When she was a child, her parents died in a house fire and she was adopted by the family of a friend. As an adult, Sophie had not one but two fiances die in freak accidents before the weddings could take place. When a blind date goes terribly wrong, she’s saved by a pair of handsome, mysterious men who are actually vampires. One of them, Tyberius Verde, asks her to be his plus-one at a large, exclusive wedding where he's the best man, and Sophie can’t help but say yes. Sophie is shuffled off to a table while Tybo takes care of wedding duties, and she's seated next to Alasdair MacKenzie. All the vampires at the wedding immediately realize that Alasdair and Sophie are fated to be life-mates, part of Sands’ vampire mythology. Sophie’s not sure why she has more chemistry with Alasdair than Tybo, while Alasdair is worried about the particulars of being mated to a human. The wedding functions as plot, with Alasdair’s twin brother and four Scottish uncles comically volunteering to help Alasdair woo Sophie, and also as fan service, with beloved couples from the previous 35 books in the Argeneau series making appearances. Sophie and Alasdair allow themselves to be pushed together, but when Alasdair survives several incidents—poisoning and a hit-and-run accident—that would have killed a mortal man, the couple realizes that Sophie isn’t suffering from bad luck, but is instead the victim of a stalker. The romance between Sophie and Alasdair feels a bit perfunctory, as everything falls neatly into place with only external forces threatening to keep them apart.
There’s nothing revolutionary here, but Argeneau fans will enjoy the fast-paced and competent romance.Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780063292109
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
A lovely and moving romance that examines what it truly means to live.
Opposites attract when a Grim Reaper clashes with a Guardian Angel in this whimsical paranormal romance.
Darcy Moore is in a bit of a tough spot; she’s a Grim Reaper who’s grown tired of death. When she’s given her next assignment, Darcy decides to go rogue. Rather than reaping, Darcy is determined to save her mark, which only upsets the balance kept by the Department of Hauntings and Spirits. Nothing good comes from a Grim Reaper who’s gone AWOL. Bartender Gabriel Aetos works as a Guardian Angel. He doesn’t take kindly to the fact that a Grim Reaper is slinking around his territory. His role is to protect people, while hers is to usher souls into death. To him, their very natures are at odds and his sudden attraction to Darcy won’t change that. This is very much a grumpy-meets-grumpy romance. Gabriel tries hard to keep Darcy at arm’s length and is open about his mistrust of her. Darcy’s standoffishness, though, is born out of her feelings of isolation and loneliness. Dealing in death has taken an obvious toll on her, and she’s traveling her own introspective path on what it means to be human. Darcy’s fragility is what slowly convinces Gabriel to get close to her, despite the heady yearning he keeps under wraps. However, both view their jobs as central to their existence, for better or worse. While Darcy is actively wondering what it would mean to break free of her Grim Reaper responsibilities, Gabriel has never seemed to ponder being anything other than a Guardian Angel. Borison’s romances—most recently And Now, Back to You (2026)—always strike an emotional chord, with deep-seated conflicts that tap into themes of identity, connection, and grief. This addition is truly the epitome of a Borison romance.
A lovely and moving romance that examines what it truly means to live.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9780063430464
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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