An engrossing story of finding happiness in unexpected places for those who enjoy offbeat romances.
A trip to Scotland and an unexpected inheritance throw lives into disarray in McConnell’s novel.
Jenna Hamilton is unhappy both in her career and her marriage. One day she receives a fateful call from the lawyer of Lady Madeleine MacDonald. As it turns out, Jenna has inherited the Lady’s estate at Glenfraoch in the Scottish Highlands, which feels a million miles from Jenna’s home in Missouri. To her, Lady MacDonald was simply “Maddie,” her childhood best friend. Upon her arrival in Inverness, Jenna is surprised by the offer of a lift from Quinn MacGregor, a man she almost had an affair with 12 years earlier when they were witnesses at Maddie’s wedding. Quinn takes her to Glenfraoch, where Jenna finds herself in the middle of a small Scottish community of quirky supporting characters as well as on a slightly predictable course of a will-they, won’t-they romance with Quinn himself, which at times is overextended. The author, however, adds spice to the story with a few unique supernatural aspects. Jenna reveals that Maddie once believed in magic and spells. She loved horses and hoped she might return to Earth as one after her death; what follows is an adventure for Jenna and Quinn in which, to honor Maddie’s memory, they gather unique ingredients to perform a spell for her during an upcoming eclipse. It is a refreshingly eclectic storyline that primarily focuses on Jenna’s dealing with her Scottish inheritance and deciding whether to pursue her heart’s desire with Quinn. McConnell’s vivid descriptions of the lush Scottish setting are sure to dazzle readers: The depiction of Jenna’s surroundings, Maddie’s estate, and the excursions taken by Jenna are immersive and beautiful, making establishment of place one of the high points in this oddly intriguing novel. The author also does an admirable job of examining the enduring nature of a friendship “forged by the fire of adolescent pain and strengthened by time” and the processing of grief.
An engrossing story of finding happiness in unexpected places for those who enjoy offbeat romances.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 395
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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