A fun and hopeful romance, perfect for superhero fans and comics readers.
A closeted mega-famous American actor must keep his relationship with a British drag queen secret.
Patrick Lake is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood—as Captain Kismet, he’s the lead in a superhero movie that’s part of the Wonderverse (clearly modeled after Marvel). When Patrick and the rest of the cast and crew are sent to Birmingham, England, to do reshoots, he ends up going out with his co-star to a gay bar—which is a problem, given that Patrick is very much not out. His agent says he needs to present a facade of straightness to the American public so his career as a superhero will continue to grow, so being photographed onstage with drag queens isn’t exactly helping him stay undercover. One of those drag queens is Will Wright, who—while dressed as his drag alter ego, Grace Anatomy—helps Patrick and his friends escape the enthusiastic mob of clubgoers. When Will isn’t in drag, he works at a used bookstore, which is where Patrick runs into him again on his quest to find a rare Captain Kismet comic. As the two of them attempt to hunt down the comic, they become friends—and, slowly, more than friends. But Patrick can never be seen with Will, and even as they meet each other’s families and begin to fall for each other, their relationship is built on a foundation of secrecy and an NDA. Patrick might know how to save the day when he’s in costume as Captain Kismet, but he’s not sure he has the bravery needed to follow his heart. Ellis creates a winning world full of snappy banter, drag queens fighting for justice, and found family. Both characters’ lives are fully drawn out and feature an array of quirky, entertaining side characters. A subplot involving the creators of Captain Kismet drives home the point that queer creators have always been present in the comics world, and (much like Patrick and Will) they managed to find joy even when facing oppression and heartbreak.
A fun and hopeful romance, perfect for superhero fans and comics readers.Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9780593542491
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.
A Seattle woman meets a Chicago businessman as she flies home from a visit to a friend, and her small act of kindness blossoms into more.
Maisy Gallagher is barely making ends meet. With her father’s unexpected death a few years earlier, she dropped out of nursing school to help out in the family’s jewelry store, working with her uncle. Her older brother, Sean, also moved back home so he and Maisy could help their mother and their 10-year-old brother, Patrick. When Maisy offers a ride to a rude businessman who sat next to her on the plane, she’s just operating on the kindness her grandmother instilled in her. That businessman, Chase Furst, turns out to be an incredibly wealthy banker; he’s flown into Seattle to make funeral arrangements for his mother, to whom he hasn’t spoken in years. Sparks fly in this gentle and predictable romance that leans heavily on long-distance and class-divide tropes. As with many of the author’s books, Christianity and the characters’ reliance on God’s will—as they wait and see what happens next—play a large part, as do traditional gender roles where women cook, clean, and only work in paying jobs until they have children at home to take care of. The author does offer a lighter touch when it comes to the painful ways alcoholism can destroy family relationships, with an understanding of the regret that can weigh on every family member.
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9798217091676
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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