A chilling, addictive read with a powerful protagonist.
In Bergman’s queer Gilded Age gothic-horror novel, the supernatural powers of the Morrigan, a Celtic Phantom Queen, are unleashed against unspeakable evil.
Readers first meet Eve Kelly in 1883, when she’s 3 years old, living in upstate New York. She has begun to show signs that she possesses mystical abilities, which erupt suddenly and result in the death of her father. Her mother, Moira, takes Eve to an Irish spiritualist, who locks the child’s powers away in a magical pearl. In 1899, 18-year-old Eve and her mother are housekeepers in the Tarrytown Inn, north of New York City. Facing discrimination because they’re Irish, they’ve moved from job to job and place to place. Now, Eve must contend with the lascivious advances of the men of the Tarrytown Inn. She convinces her mother to apply for work with the ultrawealthy Rennard family, owners of the massive Greythorne Mansion, just outside Poughkeepsie. To Eve’s delight, their applications are accepted, and within a few days the Rennard coach arrives to pick them up. Inside the coach are the beautiful heiress, Saskia Rennard, and her aunt, Winifred Price, who are on their way home following a year in Europe. Much to her displeasure, Saskia has returned at her father’s command because it’s time for her to find a husband. She’s immediately intrigued by Eve, and soon Eve’s powers begin to break loose as Bergman pulls readers into a tale that combines a chronicle of a developing passionate relationship between two women and a graphically dark horror story, filled with malevolence. The profound wickedness that lurks within the stone walls of the massive estate emerges gradually. Alternately narrated by Eve and Saskia, the plot unfolds in a fashion that offers vivid lifestyle descriptions (“My attention drifted to the exquisite gold Lalique bracelet I had acquired from my Parisian admirer, the Marquis d’Limousin”) and well-developed portraits of the two vastly different women. When Saskia’s father hosts the Rennard family’s annual Ambrose Hunt, the sinister plot that is hiding behind upper-class graces and accoutrements unfolds in gripping detail.
A chilling, addictive read with a powerful protagonist.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798999627124
Page Count: 296
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.
Best friends confront feelings for each other when they take a honeymoon trip together.
Francesca Gardiner and George Saint James have always been best friends—just like Jo and Laurie from Little Women, which they both love. Frankie has a big, complicated family and George was the boy next door who’d moved in with his eccentric grandmother. Their friendship survived childhood, awkward teenage years, and living together as young adults without ever venturing into the romantic—well, except for one kiss, but they don’t talk about that. When Frankie gets engaged to an older professor named Nate, George isn’t happy and a huge fight ensues. Despite his misgivings, George shows up to be her best man, but Nate leaves Frankie right before the wedding with only a cryptic letter. Devastated, Frankie goes to a friend’s house to recuperate, but her honeymoon is already planned and paid for—so she decides to travel to Tofino, a picturesque town on the coast of Vancouver Island, with George taking Nate’s place. Frankie wants to fix her friendship with George, but now that they’re in a romantic suite in a beautiful location, things are more complicated than ever. She’d always thought a relationship would be a bad idea, but she’s slowly beginning to realize they’ll never be able to go back to being kids. Maybe the only way forward involves forging a new kind of relationship. Fortune, the author of romances like This Summer Will Be Different (2024), returns with another love story full of longing and intense angst. The many allusions to Little Women are charming, and Frankie is a delightfully headstrong, feisty character. She and George have explosive chemistry, and Fortune manages to make the “will-they-or-won’t-they” nature of their relationship feel like life-or-death stakes.
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593953242
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.
After purchasing a dilapidated, century-old starship called the Destitute, Torian Razner discovers that the moss covering it is, in fact, a deeply sarcastic sentient computer with abandonment issues.
Torian’s sister, Celise, is dying. Determined to save her life by getting her to a distant planet with air she can breathe, Torian ignores her former captain Amelia Perrosk’s warning that it’s an impossible task (along with any romantic feelings she might have for Amelia). Using the only ionite bars she has to her name, Torian purchases an ancient, moss-covered alien starship that appears to be on its last legs, so to speak. She hardly expected the moss to be a sentient computer or for it to hold a century-old grudge against its former alien captain. Moss quickly proves itself to be acerbic, intelligent, and rightly angry after being having been left behind for 100 years by its former captain. The two form a reluctant and surprising alliance, Torian proving to Moss that not all captains are “dog-turd fungus,” and they both gradually evolve into the best versions of themselves, human or otherwise. It’s obvious from the early pages that Thorne has crafted a story tailored to fans of Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot series and Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries. Falling somewhere between the two, this is a delightful mashup of romance, found family, and a touch of violence as Moss grapples with its feelings about its former captain and the unexpected kindness that Torian shows. Sweet without being overly saccharine, it’s a book for readers who want the adventure that comes with the vastness of outer space without its harsher realities.
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414144
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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