A delightful, warm romance with an exciting, sports-filled, wintry setting.
Fake dating leads to real feelings during the 2026 Winter Olympics.
It’s the first time Great Britain’s women’s hockey team has made it to the Winter Games, but when an injury means their star player will have to sit it out, Arikoishe Shumba is expected to take up her mantle. At a New Year’s Eve party in London, Ari retreats to the roof and meets Drew Dlamini, an American photographer and recent college dropout. Expecting they’ll never meet again, they share their biggest relationship red flags and ring in the new year with a kiss. But when the Games begin in Switzerland, they run into each other. Ari wants her snowboarder ex-boyfriend to leave her alone and Drew needs insider access among the athletes to prove himself as a photojournalist during this gig, so they agree to a fake-dating scheme—just until Ari’s final game ends. They know the attraction between them is real, but they also agree they wouldn’t work as a couple, so pretending is a simple, mutually beneficial business transaction. The line between fake and real quickly starts to blur as the Games get underway, but there’s a secret connection between them that could tear them apart before they get the chance to make a real go at a relationship. Ari and Drew are endearing characters with fun, sparkling chemistry. Their honesty and vulnerability with each other about their emotions make them relatable and easy to cheer for, while their professional growth throughout the Games adds excitement. Both also deal with realistic family drama which plays into their insecurities and creates additional tension. The back-and-forth about whether this relationship is real or pretend gets a bit tedious as the story progresses, but their happy-for-now ending is refreshing and satisfying.
A delightful, warm romance with an exciting, sports-filled, wintry setting.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781250425256
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.
A happily engaged woman is pulled back to her hometown—and her first love—when tragedy strikes.
Billie Wright is living her dream, running a thriving fertility clinic in New York City and engaged to a wonderful trauma surgeon named Dean. Her happily-ever-after meant giving up her life in Wisconsin, where she left behind many friends as well as her high school sweetheart, Mick. Although they’d been deeply in love, when Billie’s ambition pulled her away from home and toward the city, Mick couldn’t handle either the distance or her busy schedule. Billie has finally moved on from that heartbreak—but then she receives a phone call from Mick, the first communication between them in years. Her best friend, Erin, died in a car accident, leaving behind an 11-year-old daughter, Phoebe. Now Billie must return home to help sort Erin’s affairs and provide some kind of comfort to Phoebe while grieving the loss of her best friend. Of course, being back home also means being in close contact with Mick. Their feelings for each other may not have ever gone away, and their proximity leads to big decisions for Billie. Can she ever reconcile her current life in Manhattan with her past in Wisconsin? And which one will be her future? Giffin knows how to do drama, and she ratchets up the stakes with every page as she continues to reveal new obstacles for Billie. The ending wraps up quite neatly, but the nostalgia-filled ride is full of twists and turns that will keep readers flipping the pages.
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780593600320
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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