A perfectly escapist rom-com.
A heartbroken video game designer who’s determined to remain single ends up at a tropical resort with a man who might be able to break her resolve.
Sloane Cooper is nursing a broken heart after having been cheated on by the man she thought was the love of her life. She tries to avoid her feelings by focusing on her career—she’s gunning for her dream job at Catapult, a top video game company. At her first interview, the all-male team seems to doubt that she can focus on work instead of her personal life, so she promises she’ll remain single and devote her life to work. That’s no big sacrifice for Sloane—until her neighbor Charlie invites her on a trip to an all-inclusive resort in Turks and Caicos. She barely knows Charlie, but he’s desperate to win back his ex and thinks having a mysterious new girlfriend will make her jealous—especially if said mysterious girlfriend is in all the photos he posts of the trip his ex was supposed to go on with him. Sloane eventually agrees, figuring she can use some distraction-free time in paradise to work on the game design Catapult asked her to submit. What she doesn’t count on is discovering how great Charlie is—he’s supportive, funny, and sexy. But he’s on this trip to get his ex back, and Catapult is counting on her to stay single and deliver her best work. “What happens in Turks and Caicos stays in Turks and Caicos” might wind up being harder for Sloane to stick to than she thought. Tubati Alexander proves herself a master of the slow burn as Sloane and Charlie try to fight the feelings they have for each other. Their chemistry leaps off the page, and the tropical beach setting is delightfully romantic while leading to funny moments like a scavenger hunt with other resort guests. Sloane and Charlie are both well-rounded characters, and watching their relationship slowly build is incredibly fulfilling. But the story is just as much about Sloane’s personal growth, and it’s satisfying to see her fight the sexism in the gaming industry.
A perfectly escapist rom-com.Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780063292949
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper Perennial/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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