Designed to be melodramatic and full of angst but veers into overwrought.
A pregnant woman plans to make a new life for herself by returning to her hometown in the Berkshires.
Sydney Collins has a complicated relationship with Rose Bend, Massachusetts. When she was young, her sister died of cancer, and her parents' grief left Sydney feeling like an outcast in her own family. Her innocent teenage rebellions branded her the town troublemaker, and she left home at 18 vowing never to return. Now 26, she’s newly divorced and 18 weeks pregnant. Her ex-husband is the father and is pressing to reconcile, but Sydney knows she could never return to her suffocating marriage. She goes home, instinctively knowing it’s the best place to raise her child and hoping to mend fences with her emotionally distant parents. Cole Dennison has lived in Rose Bend his entire life and is the newly elected mayor. Cole’s younger sister and Sydney are best friends, and he's disturbed by the unexpected and unwelcome attraction he feels for Sydney. Two years earlier, Cole’s wife and son died during childbirth, and he can’t move past his overwhelming grief. His attraction to Sydney fills him with a complicated tangle of emotions: shame and guilt for desiring Sydney coupled with a powerful urge to protect and care for her and the unborn baby. Every time Sydney gets closer to Cole, he pulls away again, unable to let go of the past. The characters are full of angst and longing, but packing this much emotional turmoil and agony into a romance requires a commensurate amount of progress and healing. The ratio feels out of balance here, and although Simone addresses the emotional needs of all her characters, it’s hard to believe years of disappointment and anguish are so easily resolved.
Designed to be melodramatic and full of angst but veers into overwrought.Pub Date: April 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-335-50298-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.
A heartbroken man lusts after his therapist while seeking revenge on a drug kingpin and his enforcer.
Mitch Haskell’s wife, Angela, died two years ago of an apparent suicide, but Mitch has always believed the scene was staged. Certainly, she would never have willingly left their young son, Andrew, behind. Consumed with a thirst for vengeance, Mitch—a former Marine and undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and currently a police detective—is struggling with alcohol dependency and uncontrolled rage. Andrew is living with his in-laws, who are making not-so-subtle suggestions that they might apply for permanent guardianship if Mitch can’t get it together. So his boss and best friend, John Bowie, mandates that he go into therapy, which puts him in the path of sexy Dr. Dylan Reede. Within a few days, Mitch makes a connection between two new murders and the death of his former partner; finds a big clue that points to the truth about Angela’s death; goes undercover as a homeless man; takes on a vicious drug cartel; and obnoxiously bullies Dylan with a charm offensive that leads them inevitably to bed. While Mitch seems to lean into the stereotype of the ex-soldier/cop with deeply buried trauma who believes that the ends justify the means—at least in law enforcement—Dylan offers the strength and sweetness to help him start breaking down his walls, allowing herself to be vulnerable in turn. Is passionate sex enough to ground a relationship and a family for the long term? For these characters, and the breakneck speed of this thriller, it’s as good a foundation as any.
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781538743027
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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