An intriguing but uneven tale about an interracial couple in 1960s Wisconsin.
Two college students fake an interracial relationship during the civil rights era in this debut novel.
Wisconsin Christian University, 1967. Stan Carlson and Cleo Jones have cooked up something daring for their “Senior Sociology Seminar Project.” For three months, the White farm boy from downstate Illinois and the Black city girl from Chicago will pretend to date each other. “We could act like an actual couple, go on dates, hold hands, maybe even kiss, and so on,” suggests Cleo. “We could study people’s reactions, take notes, and write our paper based on those notes.” The two are already friends, though their flirtatious relationship suggests each may have ulterior motives for suggesting such a bold project. At first, they are met with the expected uncomfortable looks, lewd comments, and hostility from both White and Black people. As the two begin to realize that their feelings for each other are not just for show, the stakes of the enterprise suddenly feel a lot higher. Are they prepared to deal with society’s reactions—and specifically, the responses of their families—if they start dating for real? The book’s premise is an intriguing one, and the way it unfolds is half rom-com, half social novel. Hendricks’ heart seems to be in the right place, but his treatment of race is sometimes clumsy. He identifies the race of Black characters (but not White ones) upon introducing them and describes the shades of their complexions. (He reflexively gives the height, build, and hair color of all his characters, regardless of their race.) The writing is often wooden, especially the dialogue, as in this back-and-forth between the protagonists. Cleo: “Even though it’s 1967, blacks are still discriminated against today. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be white.” Stan: “But if you were white, I wouldn’t have a black girl to call brown sugar….I was just getting ready to head back to the cafeteria for supper. You want to join me?” The story is surprisingly free of incident, and as it chugs toward a highly predictable outcome, some readers may lose interest.
An intriguing but uneven tale about an interracial couple in 1960s Wisconsin.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63710-299-2
Page Count: 406
Publisher: Fulton Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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