A flawed book that’s vibrant, didactic, and problematic, by turns.
In this romance, a middle-aged woman is wary of commitment to a younger man.
Amara Glazer is a 44-year-old Jewish woman living in Chicago, working as a dog groomer after a stint as an international development consultant in Malawi. She’s also in the middle of a yearslong romantic-relationship drought. Daler Singh is a 24-year-old Tanzanian-born Sikh and international pop star whose kohl-rimmed eyes, lithe physique, and suggestive hit “Don’t Hustle Me” make him People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. He and Amara have little in common, aside from a time long ago in a Kenyan resort, when Amara spent a week having sex with the teenage Daler. They meet again in the presentwhen Amara takes a six-month gig in Los Angeles as a live-in dog trainer to a Los Angeles Lakers player, and Daler arrives in the city on tour. They instantly fall into bed, and Daler soon proposes to Amara, declaring that she’s the only woman who ever satisfied him. Amara is equally avid, but bitter experience with men makes her wonder how realistic his ardor is. Michaels’ ambivalent novel veers between explicit sexuality and a cagey critique of it as a foundation for long-term happiness. Amara is also hard-nosed about the pitfalls of meshing their lifestyles, domestic arrangements, and bank accounts: “If you’re prepared to support me financially, I want proof you can do that if you want me to stop working and be with you,” she tells Daler. Dog training also pervades the book in the many scenes of Amara coaching and primping canines and in her ethos of integrity and responsibility. As such, the novel sometimes feels more like a lively, tough-talking self-help guide than a romance. For the most part, Amara is depicted as an appealing, quirky character, holding forth endlessly on such subjects as dogs, sex, African history, and musician Freddie Mercury. However, her troubling behavior in the section set in the past, when she’s 24, goes largely unexamined. Daler, who’s only 14 at the time, is depicted as instigating the sexual interaction, which is portrayed as an unproblematic liaison that both characters find blissful and edifying.
A flawed book that’s vibrant, didactic, and problematic, by turns.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64531-595-7
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.
A heartbroken man lusts after his therapist while seeking revenge on a drug kingpin and his enforcer.
Mitch Haskell’s wife, Angela, died two years ago of an apparent suicide, but Mitch has always believed the scene was staged. Certainly, she would never have willingly left their young son, Andrew, behind. Consumed with a thirst for vengeance, Mitch—a former Marine and undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and currently a police detective—is struggling with alcohol dependency and uncontrolled rage. Andrew is living with his in-laws, who are making not-so-subtle suggestions that they might apply for permanent guardianship if Mitch can’t get it together. So his boss and best friend, John Bowie, mandates that he go into therapy, which puts him in the path of sexy Dr. Dylan Reede. Within a few days, Mitch makes a connection between two new murders and the death of his former partner; finds a big clue that points to the truth about Angela’s death; goes undercover as a homeless man; takes on a vicious drug cartel; and obnoxiously bullies Dylan with a charm offensive that leads them inevitably to bed. While Mitch seems to lean into the stereotype of the ex-soldier/cop with deeply buried trauma who believes that the ends justify the means—at least in law enforcement—Dylan offers the strength and sweetness to help him start breaking down his walls, allowing herself to be vulnerable in turn. Is passionate sex enough to ground a relationship and a family for the long term? For these characters, and the breakneck speed of this thriller, it’s as good a foundation as any.
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781538743027
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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
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