A poignant look at family lost and love regained.
An unlikely couple is brought together by their similar experiences of flawed parents in this Regency romance that's adjacent to Balogh's Westcott family series.
Lady Estelle Lamarr is content with a life involving her twin brother and their foster parents and cousins now that she and her sibling have reconciled with their once-absentee father, the Marquess of Dorchester. If she thinks of marriage, it’s with someone who has a blithe spirit. When a chance encounter with a dour man on a horse shakes her up, she shrugs it off only to encounter him again at a neighboring friend’s home—he is Justin Wiley, the mysterious Earl of Brandon. Justin has braved the suspicions and innuendos of high society after disappearing for years and then, upon inheriting his title, banishing his stepmother and half sister, Maria, to a smaller estate. With the dowager countess now dead, he wants to ensconce Maria in society and begins by bringing her back to their ancestral seat. Neither Maria nor her friend Estelle are happy with this turn of events, but Maria consents to the journey, with Estelle and her brother going along as moral support. Initially convinced of Justin’s boorishness and arrogance, Estelle reluctantly realizes that Justin is a kind, private man who loves his sister. As more family members congregate, she guesses at the secret that has kept him away and falls in love with his imperfections and virtues. Many of Balogh’s strengths are on display here—there's family drama staged in a nostalgic Regency country-house culture; the characters’ inner selves are carefully revealed through their actions; the reluctant attraction between Estelle and Justin crests as their surface incompatibilities fade; and there's a series of scenes peopled by a wholesome supporting cast. The off notes come from two missteps similar to those she has made in other recent novels: There's a villainous portrait of a woman, which feels retrograde, and a sentimental stereotype of a developmentally disabled character who largely functions to testify to Justin’s goodness.
A poignant look at family lost and love regained.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593335-29-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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