A delectable and drama-filled thriller.
When a young lawyer takes on a case involving a wealthy Korean American family, she enters a world of deception, seduction, and betrayal.
All Jia Song ever wanted was an Hermès bag. For years after a customer strode into her family’s bodega with that exclusive purse, Jia knew what to work for: “a future kissed by the Midas touch.” The daughter of Korean immigrants, Jia dreamed of a life beyond the bodega where she could provide for her family with ease and buy a mega-expensive purse as an afterthought. At 34, Jia has never been closer to her goal. She’s a junior partner at a prestigious New York City law firm with a senior role already waiting in the wings—barring any mishaps with her newest clients. All that comes between Jia and complete financial security are the Parks, billionaires with a vendetta against their family patriarch. Sora, Suzy, and Minsoo Park are convinced that their father, Chilsoo “Seven” Park, is concealing his wealth and cheating their dying mother, Jeeyun “Jenny” Park, in their divorce settlement. The three siblings, amid incessant bickering, can agree on only one thing: Their father is a scam artist, and they want their mother to live her final days in peace—with justice served. Jenny gives Jia 30 days to uncover Seven’s con, a feat made almost impossible by the Park children’s raging animosity and the way Seven’s spies thwart Jia at every turn. With the help of the Parks’ handsome house manager, Darius Rohani, Jia jets from New York to Seoul, the Cayman Islands to Paris, hoping to find clues about Seven’s funds. In search of her own success by proving the Parks’ suspicions, Jia might be in way over her head. Ahdieh’s debut adult novel is a striking tale of deceit set behind the glamorous facade of Park Avenue’s riches. Jia is a strong heroine with everything to lose but even more to gain, and fans of Crazy Rich Asians, Schitt’s Creek, and White Lotus will get more than their fix of backstabbing and danger.
A delectable and drama-filled thriller.Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781250897954
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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