A richly detailed story with an appealing mix of action and intrigue.
In Cordon’s historical romance, an assignment reunites a young Scottish spy with a childhood friend who harbors secrets of his own.
In the autumn of 1747, England and Scotland are locked in fierce conflict as the British Army seeks to enforce England’s dominion. Despite the dangers posed by the conflict, the Jacobites are willing to risk their lives to fight the English. Phoebe Dunbar assists the cause by acting as a spy in the home of the English general Bolingbroke. Phoebe’s dedication is personal—after a Redcoat named Faye Ross brutally attacked her, the Jacobite movement gave her a sense of purpose (she’d experienced a “bleak blackness of a life until she signed up with the Movement and started fighting”). One afternoon, Phoebe is surprised to see Col. Slade MacLean of the Royal Scots Greys, a friend from childhood and close confidant of her brother, Egan, at Bolingbroke’s manor. Their reunion sparks an instant attraction, although Slade is still grieving the death of his fiancée, Sylvia. When Phoebe discovers that Bolingbroke’s involved in a plot to violently enforce the abolition of “heritable jurisdictions” in the Highlands, she turns to Slade for help. Their plan to warn friends and family of the danger grows complicated when they’re forced to marry to avoid a scandal, and the threat intensifies when they encounter an enemy from Phoebe’s past. The first installment in Cordon’s Scottish Highland Warriors series is a fast-paced and emotionally nuanced romance replete with well-drawn characters and lavish historical detail. Phoebe Dunbar is an amiable hero who channels the trauma of her past into a plan to fight for her family and country. She is well complemented by Slade MacLean, a longtime family friend with a secret agenda; their relationship develops slowly and methodically as their youthful friendship evolves into adult passion. Cordon grounds the novel in English and Scottish history, with the Heritable Jurisdictions Act and Phoebe’s attempt to warn her family about its enforcement a central focus of the action. The result is a thoughtful, well-developed yarn that deftly balances history and romance.
A richly detailed story with an appealing mix of action and intrigue.Pub Date: Dec. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9798900430263
Page Count: 388
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
