The forecast predicts a 100% chance of heartfelt rom-com charm.
Co-workers scheme to get their bosses back together, falling for each other in the process.
Ari Abrams dreamed of being a meteorologist as a child, when she escaped from her mother’s stormy moods by watching Torrance Hale deliver the forecast on the evening news. Now 27, Ari covers the weather for local Seattle station KSEA 6, a dream come true. Having Torrance as her boss? The icing on the cake. At least, she thought it would be when she started the job three years ago. But KSEA 6 director Seth Hasegawa Hale is Torrance's ex-husband, and the two of them are at each other’s throats so often that it's made the atmosphere at the station perpetually overcast, leaving Torrance far too distracted to spend much time mentoring Ari. After Torrance and Seth cause a particularly dramatic scene at the station’s holiday party, Ari and sports reporter Russell Barringer bond over booze and their shared desire for better working conditions. They hatch a plan to turn their bosses’ passion from hate back to love through forced proximity—couples’ massages, dance classes, dinners—and in the process find their own friendship becoming much more. But Ari’s desire to keep her depression diagnosis hidden, along with Russell’s complicated home life, might put the kibosh on their burgeoning romance. The relationship between Ari and Russell is the main driver of the plot, but their connection is slightly underdeveloped. Their three years as co-workers are mostly unexplored, so the journey from friends to crushes to lovers feels rushed. But with a cast of interesting characters, sensitively explored topics of mental health and family dynamics, and enough steamy scenes to fog up the Seattle skyline, readers will no doubt be satisfied.
The forecast predicts a 100% chance of heartfelt rom-com charm.Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593200-14-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Deeply moving and emotional.
A hockey player falls in love with his tutor.
Matt “Freddy” Fredderic is the life of the party at Waterfell University. He’s a starter on the hockey team and can have any girl on campus—but he’s also in danger of failing out if he can’t improve his grades in math and biology. His ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia make him eligible for university tutoring services, and Ro Shariff is his newly assigned tutor. Ro had a crush on Freddy freshman year but convinced herself that she’s over it now, in her senior year. She’s been in an on-again, off-again relationship with a guy named Tyler for the past two years, but he’s manipulative, borderline abusive, and probably cheating on her. Ro is desperate for love and affection and still suffers from bouts of intense homesickness. She and Freddy develop a tentative friendship even though they couldn’t be more different on the surface—he’s a popular, gregarious athlete to her quiet, introverted academic. Ro sees beyond Freddy’s persona as a dumb jock, while he recognizes that she feels lonely and like an outsider. When Freddy swoops in to rescue Ro after an ugly disagreement with Tyler, the two admit that their feelings for each other are more romantic than friendly. Corinne’s second novel is an emotional powerhouse. Ro and Freddy share everything with each other: fears of not being good enough for their friends, details of their harmful previous romantic relationships, and the deep feelings of grief related to illness and loss of parents. They have to learn to trust themselves and each other in the midst of the pressures that come with transitioning from college to adulthood. Their evolution from friends to lovers is a classic slow burn, and it makes for an angsty and deeply affecting read.
Deeply moving and emotional.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781668068489
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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