by Nadine Gonzalez ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2018
A spirited, sexy tale from a promising new author of contemporary romance.
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A rekindled connection becomes tested when lovers turn into business rivals in this debut novel.
For Leila Amis, a position at Kane & Madison Realty in Miami is the opportunity of a lifetime. Driven and ambitious, she dreamed from the time she was a child of leaving her hometown of Naples, Florida, for a major city like Miami. She never expects her new job to be anything more than a steppingstone until she meets her boss. Nicolas Adrian is a top associate at Kane & Madison with a reputation as a shark in both his professional and personal lives. Nicolas is impressed with Leila’s savvy and real estate acumen, and a mutual attraction flares between them, but they vow to keep their relationship strictly professional. Everything changes when Nicolas accepts a job transfer to New York and plans to leave Miami in eight weeks. Unable to deny her feelings, Leila proposes an eight-week, no-strings-attached fling. When Nicolas tries to turn their affair into something more substantial, Leila disappears from his life, leaving him devastated. A year later, he returns to Miami, determined to see Leila. They establish a business connection, but personal pressures and professional rivalries may keep them from what they desire. Gonzalez’s tale is a sleek and entertaining contemporary romance that offers vibrant settings, appealing characters, and a sexy and nuanced love story. The engaging narrative opens with Leila and Nicolas’ reunion and then traces the development of their relationship from colleagues to lovers. In less deft hands, this structure could be awkward; but the transitions from past to present are smooth, and the opening scenes effectively establish Leila and Nicolas’ romantic spark. Leila is a likable heroine who overcame childhood tragedy to build a career in real estate. She is complemented by Nicolas, a top realtor who never thought he would fall in love until he met Leila. Setting plays a key role in the story, and Gonzalez successfully captures the milieu of the high-end Miami real estate market, from glamorous open houses to exacting clients.
A spirited, sexy tale from a promising new author of contemporary romance.Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-335-21660-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harlequin Kimani Romance
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Christina Lauren ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2018
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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by Christina Lauren ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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