Paranormal elements blend with everyday experiences to add a dash of the unexpected to a traditional romance story.
A traumatized woman heals a weather-beaten security agent with a combination of supernatural powers and ordinary human compassion, discovering her own identity in the process.
Jenna has spent two decades in Texas as the isolated captive of a religious cult, exploited for her superhuman healing powers. She manages to flee the cult and is being pursued by a band of armed men when she encounters Isaac Washington, an employee of a private security firm, as she tries to steal his SUV during the course of her getaway. Isaac sympathizes with Jenna, who's obviously been beaten, and is just offering to buy her a meal when shots ring out and he's hit by gunfire. Jenna miraculously heals Isaac's sure-to-be-fatal wound with the touch of her hands, and he develops a fierce attachment to this at-risk woman. Moved by a strong sense of possessiveness, and deeply unsettled by how little Jenna knows about herself and the outside world, Isaac marshals the formidable clout of Devereaux Security Services to protect her from imminent danger. Since the cult has brainwashed Jenna into considering herself a satanic burden, she is initially wracked with guilt for putting Isaac and his friends in mortal danger but gradually begins to believe that she deserves his concern and affection. However, her journey toward self-discovery is threatened by the looming specter of a powerful man who desires sole command over Jenna’s powerful gift. The fifth installment in Banks’ Slow Burn series (With Every Breath, 2016, etc.) simmers with emotional tension and steamy sex but stops short of delivering a truly combustible climax. Jenna perfectly embodies the wounded bird archetype, and her plucky personality has just enough chutzpah to rescue her from blandness. Although Isaac’s internal transformation seems abrupt because Banks doesn't spend much time unraveling the threads of his past, his tortured musings about Jenna’s plight will tug at the heartstrings of romance readers. Strong secondary characters—and hints about their painful histories—enrich the novel's emotional palette.
Paranormal elements blend with everyday experiences to add a dash of the unexpected to a traditional romance story.Pub Date: May 23, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-241018-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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