The hero switches roles between father and lover in this lackluster venture.
From Spencer, another single-word–titled, sexually explicit romance, this one with a 30-something earl and a feisty teenage heroine.
Godric Fleming, a boilerplate rake, is about to kidnap and compromise the wife of Gabriel Marlington, who he believes has caused the death of his entire family (nine of them). Gabe's sister Eva and her best friend, James, turn the tables and kidnap the earl instead. War hero Godric, 36, wakes up in a carriage with the 19-year-old heroine, “barely out of the schoolroom,” and in a show of force, turns the tables and regains the upper hand. Since Eva has now been compromised by spending multiple unchaperoned days with him, society dictates they will have to wed. Eva doesn’t want to marry; she wants to breed horses. Godric blames himself for the brutal deaths of his wife and child during the Napoleonic wars, and in the ongoing romance trend, he resolutely refuses to father a child: copulation yes, babies no. Thrown together on the road to Scotland for quick nuptials and often compelled to be inside a carriage or an inn, since it never seems to stop raining, they find their mutual lust growing. Spencer describes sex in educationally anatomical detail. Like her stepmother, the wise Mia, Eva clearly believes that young women should know what will give them pleasure. Eva’s father, the marquess, catches up with the happily deflowered Eva and tells her she need not marry if she doesn't want to. It’s her choice. Godric, who believes he can never give her the love and children she deserves, lies and says he doesn't want to wed Eva because her mother was mad and madness may run in the family. Then, as she works at her father’s home breeding horses, Eva finds that she too is breeding.
The hero switches roles between father and lover in this lackluster venture.Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4967-3285-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.
A collegiate diver and swimmer secretly pursue kink together, and risk falling in love along the way.
Scarlett Vandermeer is struggling. Despite a successful recovery from the injury that almost ended her Stanford diving career, she hasn’t been able to get her head together, and it’s affecting her performance. Plus, she’s trying to stay focused on getting into medical school. A relationship would be out of the question. By comparison, Lukas Blomqvist is a swimming idol, a record-breaker who wins medals as easily as breathing, and Scarlett has long been convinced he would never look in her direction—until one fateful night when a mutual friend lets slip that they have something unexpected in common: Scarlett likes to be submissive in the bedroom, while Lukas prefers to take a dominant approach. Now, they both know a big secret about each other, and it’s something neither of them can stop thinking about. It’s Lukas who suggests they have a fling—purely physical, just to take the edge off, so Scarlett can get out of her own head and stop overthinking her dives. Initially, their arrangement is easy to stick to, but the more time they spend together, the more Scarlett starts to realize that what she feels for Lukas is more than physical attraction. Complicating the situation is the fact that Scarlett’s friend Penelope Ross used to go out with Lukas, and the longer Scarlett keeps mum about her true feelings for him, the more difficult it is to keep the situation hidden from another person she really cares about. While Scarlett and Lukas’ relationship does begin as a physical one, their deeper psychological connection takes a little too long to emerge amid all the other storylines, resulting in a somewhat rushed resolution. However, Hazelwood’s latest is proof of the depth and maturity that has emerged in her writing over the years, and it highlights her embrace of sexier, more emotional elements than were present in her original STEMinist rom-coms.
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593641057
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
