A fun romp in which everything feels more interesting than the romance.
In Dade’s first paranormal romance, two neighbors fight to stay alive as they hunt for answers during a zombie outbreak.
Set in a world where people have adjusted to the presence of zombies and supernatural beings, Eden Brandstrup has always assumed her neighbor Chad fell into the category of a hot space case. He’s pleasant to look at, but might not be a prime candidate for intellectual conversation. When a zombie appears in her yard, determined to make the oblivious Chad its next meal, Edie vows to save him. After having lost her parents to zombies 20 years earlier, she won’t allow another person close to her to suffer the same fate. However, the normally mild-mannered Chad drops the goofy personality and morphs into the stoic, prickly Gaston “Max” Boucher, a lethal vampire. He’s hidden his true identity from Edie, but it’s hard to keep up the ruse when threatened by a pack of zombies. As the two escape to shelter and notify the authorities, Edie barely has time to explore Max’s secrets as they discover that these zombies are only the start of a world-ending conspiracy. This is the classic romance formula in which a surly, protective hero spends most of his time intercepting the reckless heroine, who seems to have more courage than sense. For a zombie story, it’s quite light, with only a smattering of blood and guts. The couple’s banter and the slapstick scenarios sometimes border on cringe-worthy, such as when they try to defend themselves against a zombie attack with a burrito. Max and Edie’s growing contingent of allies is a bright spot—the book is filled with brilliantly quirky characters seemingly fated to star in subsequent books—and the mystery at the heart of the story keeps the momentum going. This over-the-top reading experience resembles a fever dream that works mostly if you employ the principle of “yes, and…” thinking.
A fun romp in which everything feels more interesting than the romance.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9780593818206
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A book that will wolfishly appeal to the most heated fans of omegaverse erotica.
Tess Covington is a talented, successful contractor who just learned that she’s a late-in-life omega wolf shifter. Her new boss, surly innkeeper Hunter Barrett, is an alpha who’s opposed to the remodeling she’s there to do.
Tess hasn’t made it public that she’s being considered for her own HGTV makeover show, but she runs her career like a well-oiled machine. She posts a lot of her remodels on social media, granting her a certain level of celebrity, and leans on her brothers to help run the business she took over after a stroke made it impossible for her father to keep working. Hunter’s last serious relationship with an omega 10 years ago left him deeply wounded, ending when his parents were killed in a car accident and he moved back home to take care of their lodge—hence his resistance to change. With few exceptions, Tess keeps her newly diagnosed omega status to herself. Unfortunately, as an alpha, Hunter sniffs her out and seems to be the only person capable of helping her with her sudden heats, so there’s a lot of very smutty caretaking. The specificity of omegaverse hierarchy might be new to some readers, but Ferguson’s worldbuilding is quick, easy, and deeply horny. General romance readers might enjoy the grumpy-meets-sunshine and stranded-in-a-snowstorm tropes, although for a book about shifters, the characters spend surprisingly little time in wolf form. There’s not much danger of character development or surprising plot elements here, but for fans excited to read about animalistic mating, that might be enough.
A book that will wolfishly appeal to the most heated fans of omegaverse erotica.Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593953693
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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