An enjoyable but uneven Hollywood-set love story that calls out racism in the film industry.
A short-lived college romance is rekindled years later when exes reunite to make a movie.
Kaliya Wilson has always wanted to be a filmmaker, but after years of facing racist and sexist gatekeeping as a Black woman, she has almost given up on that dream. So when her first boyfriend, Danny Prescott, walks into the studio where she’s a receptionist and offers her a job on his new movie, she can’t resist taking him up on it. The talented young director comes from a storied Hollywood lineage and is making a movie based on his parents’ interracial relationship, which began in the Jim Crow South, and their happy marriage. Kaliya is moved by the project, and not only that—she’s attracted to Danny again, and he seems to reciprocate her feelings. But his previous abandonment, his current personal life, and professional complications including their boss-employee relationship make her doubt they can have a happily-ever-after. The novel shines in its depiction of Danny’s parents’ story and in the scenes where the author weaves in Black joy and art, such as a call-and-response double Dutch jump-rope episode and the work of quilter and portraitist Bisa Butler. The flashbacks to the romance between Kaliya and Danny during their college years in New York effectively evoke the thrill of first love. The couple’s present-day relationship is weaker, however, because misunderstandings, separation, and obstacles both internal and external (including a clichéd female rival) abound, evoking old-school romance sagas. The third-act breakup and the fast-forward to a year later are meant to cement Kaliya’s newfound independence, but it feels like happiness deferred one time too many.
An enjoyable but uneven Hollywood-set love story that calls out racism in the film industry.Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780593640593
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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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