A mismatched romance with both too much and not enough going on.
An inventive entrepreneur mixes business with pleasure when she strikes up a flirtation with a client’s ex in this steamy contemporary romance.
Zora Nelson is the president of BURNED Inc., a company that specializes in giving its clients amicable ends to their relationships. When Zora lands Valerie Summers—a wealthy woman who values discretion—as a client, she personally handles her assignment by way of reading a Dear John letter to her soon-to-be-ex. Cyrus Hart is surprised that his girlfriend of six months has sent someone else to break up with him. He’s not entirely heartbroken, though his job as an entertainment lawyer requires him to network and Val helped with that. Zora and Cyrus share an immediate attraction, and, after running into each other soon after, they fall into a friends-with-benefits scenario without Cyrus knowing the depth of Zora’s involvement in the end of his last relationship. Cyrus assumes Zora is a friend Valerie convinced to read the breakup letter for her, and Zora doesn't bother to correct him. The fact that Zora was both paid to break up with him and is the president of the company hired to do so remains a secret for most of the book, like a storm cloud hanging over every sweet and sexy moment. Zora is characterized as the business-savvy president of BURNED Inc., having started the company with her two siblings. Despite initial doubts from investors, their parents, and even potential clients, Zora has proven them all wrong with plenty of satisfied customers. Her only minimal hesitation in getting involved with Cyrus and potentially jeopardizing her company's reputation feels out of character. As Zora’s leading man, Cyrus is fine but not distinctive. There are a handful of bright spots amid Zora and Cyrus’ lukewarm connection, mainly Zora’s interactions with her darling siblings both in and out of the office. A fake dating element emerges around the halfway point but feels very much half-baked.
A mismatched romance with both too much and not enough going on.Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-3829-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A dynamic rivals-to-lovers romance.
Two physicists get off on the wrong foot, but they learn to give each other second chances—in both work and love.
Elsie Hannaway is a people-pleaser. When she meets anyone, her first instinct is to give them the answer she knows they want to hear so as not to make waves. This trait has allowed her to model herself into the perfect fake girlfriend, working a part-time gig for an app where she gets paid to accompany single guys to excruciating family events. It’s easy money, and Elsie has managed to separate her fake dating world from her stressful (and badly paid) life as an adjunct professor of theoretical physics at three Boston universities...until now. When she comes face to face with Jack Smith, her current fake boyfriend’s older brother, she realizes that he’s also her professional nemesis, the experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and turned theoretical physics into the laughingstock of the science community. Naturally, he’s also standing in the way of what could very well be her dream job at MIT, since he’s on the hiring committee. Elsie’s first instinct is to battle Jack for the spot she wants, no matter the cost. What she's less prepared for are the lingering looks he gives her or the way he always sees right through the facades she slips on to make herself appear more likable. Fighting in increasingly close quarters, however, only helps Elsie see all of Jack’s hidden angles. Letting Jack, her enemy, get to know her might be the biggest test of Elsie’s willingness to let down her walls, too. Hazelwood’s latest STEM-set novel may be her best yet, addressing not only discrimination among different realms of physics, but the unconscious bias Elsie has to continually fight as a woman in her field. Elsie and Jack’s banter is electric and hilarious from the start, and Jack earns the mantle of a swoonworthy hero who keenly discerns the heart of his love interest even when Elsie doesn’t always represent herself genuinely. Their happily-ever-after is a standout, too—these two are content to take things at their own pace, a refreshing narrative choice that doesn’t conform to every assumption of the genre.
A dynamic rivals-to-lovers romance.Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780593336861
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
A Regency with old-school charm and newfangled sensibilities.
Proposing to the wrong earl leads to the right love match.
Those in London society who have met Miss Lydia Hope-Wallace know her only as a painfully shy, absurdly wealthy spinster. That’s because almost no one knows that she’s also responsible for the radical pamphlets published by her anonymous alter ego, “H,” on topics like universal suffrage and the right to divorce—not even the Earl of Strathrannoch, with whom H has been corresponding for several years. As a result, things are a bit awkward when she sneaks north to Scotland to propose to the Earl, only to find, when she arrives at his castle, that he actually doesn’t know Lydia or H, and someone else has been writing to her under his name. Arthur Baird, the earl, quickly realizes that his brother, Davis, has been masquerading as him. Though in her embarrassment Lydia tries to escape, the unexpected chaos of a stampeding herd of zebras provides her with a chance to reconsider, and she decides to help Arthur figure out the mystery behind his brother’s behavior. They are almost immediately attracted to each other, and though Arthur is loathe to get involved with a woman he thinks belongs to his brother, circumstances soon lead them to pretend to be newlyweds, which leads to a series of red-hot encounters and allows both to imagine what it might be like to actually marry. This sequel to Ne’er Duke Well (2024) brings more political intrigue and suspense to the world of the woman-run Belvoir’s Library, with a similar heat level and comedic sensibility. Though the plot is a bit disjointed, the almost-slow-burn chemistry between Arthur and Lydia—and the scorching scenes that follow—keep the pages turning. With the help of a lovely Scottish backdrop (and accents), Vasti’s fans, as well as those looking for a post-Bridgerton story, will be pleased.
A Regency with old-school charm and newfangled sensibilities.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781250910967
Page Count: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
© 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.
