Strong characterization and a layered universe provide both an erotic charge and an enjoyable story.
A roguish starship captain and an intrepid librarian discover more than just a conspiracy in this erotic SF adventure, the eighth book in the Sexy Shipwreck series.
The story starts as Doctor Verity Force, an agent for the Biblio Services Agency, a group of “esteemed knowledge keepers, fact finders, and truth seekers,” is shot down on her way to a secret meeting at Detritus Station. Escaping in her souped-up pod, she reaches her rendezvous and arranges to meet up with her contact Cyfrin Cariad, a pirate captain and secret agent for the Ministry of Interplanetary Security for the planet Na Krom. What is originally intended as a sub rosameeting in a BDSM pleasure club takes a turn as Cyfrin and Verity need to make a quick escape, starting a five-day voyage to find a woman Verity must interview to defuse a political timebomb on the planet Ratlar Big. On the way, Verity and Cyfrin explore a dominant-submissive sexual connection that deepens in a surprising way. But as the mission’s danger mounts and Cyfrin’s ship is shot down, leaving Verity with memory loss, the survival of their relationship is very much in doubt. Landon obviously knows how to please readers, so it’s no surprise that the sex scenes are strongly written and provide the charged writing fans crave. Fortunately, the author provides an involving story to go along with the spicy stuff. The environmental details, particularly around the dive-bar setting of Detritus Station and Cyfrin’s made-for-the-modern-outlaw ship, are well developed, and the characters feel rounded enough to provide a sense of lives lived beyond the page. By alternating the viewpoints between Verity and Cyfrin, Landon gives readers a look into the minds of two characters who grow beyond the erotic stereotypes into realized people.
Strong characterization and a layered universe provide both an erotic charge and an enjoyable story.Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781963219012
Page Count: 130
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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