An uneven portrait of difficult love.
Caleb, a fictional Coast Guardsman, falls in love with Caribé, a Dominican woman he rescues, and they attempt to relocate during her illegal escape from the Dominican Republic.
Set within the rough confines of poverty, Caribé’s story—though fictional—addresses the experience of Caribbean citizens who risk their lives to reach the promise of a better life in the U.S. After losing her family at sea when a previous escape attempt goes awry, Caribé is more determined than ever to leave behind the Dominican Republic and its looming threats to her safety. As she struggles to raise enough money to both survive and fund her escape, Caribé continues to dodge violent intimidations from Raul, a drug trafficker bent on using her for the trade. Once able to pay for the next yola headed for America, she struggles with the fear, starvation and filth that accompany illegal immigration. Days later, the U.S. Coast Guard stops her boat after it loses engine power, and the dehydrated passengers are transferred to the Coast Guard’s cutter to be transported back home. Amid the chaos, Caribé meets Caleb, a young member of the Coast Guard responsible for rescuing her yola; upon returning to Dominican shores, they bond over the rescue. Caleb’s crew regularly returns to the port, so he begins to see Caribé for meals, drinks and travel, before they exchange contact information and make plans for future visits. As Caleb falls for her, despite mocking from his crew, Caribé works to maintain an image that hides her hardships from him. Their love growing, the couple faces challenges to their relationship from forces greater than themselves—the complex, tragic systems of nationality and privilege that govern the world. Yet the story becomes rather one-dimensional, as the omniscient narrator focuses too much on romance, foregoing the realistic depiction of the disproportionate struggles they face. Although the narrator lingers on the details of Caleb’s life aboard his ship, readers will lose a sense of Caribe’s life as a Caribbean woman dealing with impressive hardships: potential poverty, national unrest, complex racial structures, etc. Although at times the dialogue can be overworked, the rewarding passages artfully capture love confronting the region’s unavoidable ethnic and national stigmas.
An uneven portrait of difficult love.Pub Date: June 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-1470113469
Page Count: 352
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.
A happily engaged woman is pulled back to her hometown—and her first love—when tragedy strikes.
Billie Wright is living her dream, running a thriving fertility clinic in New York City and engaged to a wonderful trauma surgeon named Dean. Her happily-ever-after meant giving up her life in Wisconsin, where she left behind many friends as well as her high school sweetheart, Mick. Although they’d been deeply in love, when Billie’s ambition pulled her away from home and toward the city, Mick couldn’t handle either the distance or her busy schedule. Billie has finally moved on from that heartbreak—but then she receives a phone call from Mick, the first communication between them in years. Her best friend, Erin, died in a car accident, leaving behind an 11-year-old daughter, Phoebe. Now Billie must return home to help sort Erin’s affairs and provide some kind of comfort to Phoebe while grieving the loss of her best friend. Of course, being back home also means being in close contact with Mick. Their feelings for each other may not have ever gone away, and their proximity leads to big decisions for Billie. Can she ever reconcile her current life in Manhattan with her past in Wisconsin? And which one will be her future? Giffin knows how to do drama, and she ratchets up the stakes with every page as she continues to reveal new obstacles for Billie. The ending wraps up quite neatly, but the nostalgia-filled ride is full of twists and turns that will keep readers flipping the pages.
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780593600320
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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