A slow-burn romance with some topical, though unfulfilling, suspense.
An investigative reporter and her office’s new intern must pose as a couple to get the scoop of a lifetime.
Award-winning podcaster Bel Macauley recently joined the staff of a prominent British newspaper, but she’s tucked away at its small Manchester office. Her only coworkers are fellow journalist Aaron Parry and a rotating cast of interns. Things quickly sour with newest intern Connor Adams, who’s in his early 30s and is looking for a career pivot from finance to journalism. Bel is surprised that they’re around the same age, and her dealings with Connor often make him feel patronized. Meanwhile, Connor writes Bel off for her unprofessional outfits and has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to women due to his crumbling relationship. When Bel uncovers evidence that Manchester’s mayor is exhibiting predatory behavior toward young women and Connor accidentally jeopardizes her surveillance operation, she’s forced to do some quick thinking and introduce him as her boyfriend. With Connor now officially roped in, the two take on the assignment together while maintaining their fake romance. Both characters are prickly, which leads to some sizzling banter and adds an enemies-to-lovers element to the story, but there are times when things skew more mean than moody. Connor’s early judgments about Bel feel indicative of a larger distaste toward women, an off-putting introduction to the character that takes quite a bit of time to redeem. McFarlane’s romances, such as You Belong With Me (2024), tend to feature darker elements, and this is no exception, with themes including suicide and stalking. The journalism story adds great tension, and the scenes of Bel and Connor working to collect evidence are some of the most compelling in the book—more so than the romance. That being said, readers may feel disappointed that not everything in that plotline wraps up neatly.
A slow-burn romance with some topical, though unfulfilling, suspense.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063292574
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.
A heartbroken man lusts after his therapist while seeking revenge on a drug kingpin and his enforcer.
Mitch Haskell’s wife, Angela, died two years ago of an apparent suicide, but Mitch has always believed the scene was staged. Certainly, she would never have willingly left their young son, Andrew, behind. Consumed with a thirst for vengeance, Mitch—a former Marine and undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and currently a police detective—is struggling with alcohol dependency and uncontrolled rage. Andrew is living with his in-laws, who are making not-so-subtle suggestions that they might apply for permanent guardianship if Mitch can’t get it together. So his boss and best friend, John Bowie, mandates that he go into therapy, which puts him in the path of sexy Dr. Dylan Reede. Within a few days, Mitch makes a connection between two new murders and the death of his former partner; finds a big clue that points to the truth about Angela’s death; goes undercover as a homeless man; takes on a vicious drug cartel; and obnoxiously bullies Dylan with a charm offensive that leads them inevitably to bed. While Mitch seems to lean into the stereotype of the ex-soldier/cop with deeply buried trauma who believes that the ends justify the means—at least in law enforcement—Dylan offers the strength and sweetness to help him start breaking down his walls, allowing herself to be vulnerable in turn. Is passionate sex enough to ground a relationship and a family for the long term? For these characters, and the breakneck speed of this thriller, it’s as good a foundation as any.
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781538743027
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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