An uncomplicated and sometimes-entertaining rewrite of Shakespeare's enemies-to-lovers play.
An anti-love cardiologist must reassess matters of the heart when he is attracted to a sharp-tongued lawyer seeking true love.
On her 30th birthday, Kareena Mann learns that her father has decided to put her late mother’s beloved house up for sale. When Kareena protests, her father agrees to give her the house if she gets engaged within four months. Determined to marry for love, Kareena is looking for prospective soul mates when she runs into Prem Verma. They quickly forge a connection, but Prem upsets Kareena when he leaves their date abruptly. He further courts her rage when, on an episode of The Dr. Dil Show, the talk show he hosts on a local South Asian television network, he launches into a cynical tirade against love. Prem, who hosts the show to court investors interested in funding a community health center for the South Asian diaspora, is appalled when he finds out that Kareena’s public display of anger could endanger his goals. After a brief conversation with her aunties, Prem sees that if he can convince Kareena to pretend to be engaged to him, they will both get what they want: Prem can secure his future, and Kareena can get her home. But matters become complicated when they begin to like each other despite their diametrically opposed views. A loose adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew, the inaugural installment of Sharma’s If Shakespeare Was an Auntie trilogy is replete with endearing references to Indian, specifically Punjabi, culture. Kareena and Prem are engaging protagonists, and the relationships they each share with their closest friends are fresh and fun. But because the ties that bind them to their families are underdeveloped and the depth of their intergenerational trauma remains unplumbed, Sharma’s sincere attempt to unpack South Asian stereotypes sometimes winds up unwittingly bolstering them; for instance, while Kareena's aunties have the potential to leap off the page as memorable characters, there is little more to them than their fervent desire to see Kareena married.
An uncomplicated and sometimes-entertaining rewrite of Shakespeare's enemies-to-lovers play.Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-300110-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This small-town romp has sexy main characters and a wacky, at-times exasperating crew.
A bad-boy photographer and a by-the-book businesswoman fall in love in a small town.
Nikolai Vulkov is taking some time off. Though he’s used to traveling the world photographing beautiful models and attending gallery openings in Manhattan, Niko hasn’t felt like picking up his camera in a long time. Looking for a change of scenery and maybe even a little inspiration, he decides to visit his friend Summer Pierce’s home in Blue Moon for a few weeks. Blue Moon is a quaint town in upstate New York teeming with quirky locals and acres of farmland, and is also the place where many inhabitants find their one true love. Take Summer’s husband, for example: Each of the Pierce brothers is happily married, perhaps with some intervention from the town’s “Beautification Committee,” a group of busybodies who meddle in the love affairs of Blue Moon newbies. Not that Niko is looking for anything serious—for all Blue Moon knows, he’s a died-in-the-wool, no-strings-attached bad boy. That is, until he meets Emmaline Merrill. New to town herself, Emma runs a tight ship as manager of the local brewery. Ever since her mother left when she was young, Emma has morphed into what her sisters call a control freak. It’s in her nature to take charge and want stability, but as soon as Niko walks into the brewery with his motorcycle boots and wolfish grin, she has to fight hard not to let him in. As Niko works to prove to Emma that he’s serious relationship material, could the town of Blue Moon start to feel like home for the two newcomers? In Book 4 of her Blue Moon series, Score excels at creating a setting full of antics, farm animals, and vibrant characters. Though the Pierce family and company can be a bit much, with overly precocious children and a lot of macho talk, the cozy location and elevated spice level will make this a quick and easy read.
This small-town romp has sexy main characters and a wacky, at-times exasperating crew.Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781728295251
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Escape to the lakefront with this entertaining romance.
A Canadian 30-something gets a second chance at love and career.
If Fern Brookbanks ever opened the Toronto espresso shop of her dreams, the first song on the playlist would be “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone. That could be the soundtrack of this upbeat, often very witty Canadian romance novel as well. Unfortunately, though, 32-year-old Fern will not be opening any espresso shops but instead must cope with managing the struggling cottage resort she's suddenly inherited on Lake Muskoka. She grew up on its grounds, and her only significant accomplishment so far in life is getting out of there. But then her mother, a 55-year-old powerhouse who's been running the place single-handedly all her adult life, dies in a car crash. Left to help poor Fern keep things going are her high school boyfriend, Jamie, and her mother's dear friend Peter, the resort's master baker, who helped raise Fern and nurtured her love of great playlists. Then Will Baxter, a handsome hunk her mother hired as a consultant to help save the hotel, turns out to be the very guy Fern had the most amazing night of her life with 10 years ago—only he broke her heart by failing to show up for their second date. Fortune fills her novel with food, music, and clothing descriptions and has some truly great one-liners: “I didn't know an apron could be sexy, but this apron is the lost Hemsworth brother of aprons.” The suspense is created by withholding information: What was Fern’s outrageous teenage transgression? What was the terrible thing she read in her mother’s diary? Why did Will stand her up 10 years ago? While this technique does feel a bit formulaic, it keeps the pages turning.
Escape to the lakefront with this entertaining romance.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780593438558
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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