A comfort read for lovers of books, Richard Curtis movies, and romance with a touch of enemies-to-lovers.
An American consultant clashes with, and then falls for, the owner of a storied London bookshop.
Mari Cole helps indie bookstores become successful. Her latest gig is London’s Ross & Co., a once-famed family business with roots in pre–World War II Germany. She’s raring to fix the store’s problems but hasn’t counted on Leo Ross, the store’s manager and part owner, who’s grieving his charismatic grandfather’s passing. Leo is also mourning a two-year-old divorce, and despite Mari’s can-do attitude, he balks at making changes to the store. After some initial skirmishes—including Leo’s snarky comments about romance novels—and one particularly acidic exchange, they reach a détente when Mari has a severe bout of the flu, during which Leo nurses her back to health. The episode turns them into allies working together to bring the bookshop back to life, and sexual attraction replaces antipathy. But Mari’s childhood abandonment issues were aggravated by a breakup with a cheating girlfriend, and Leo has to recover from his own failed relationship and rediscover his youthful passion for art. There’s a subplot about the mysterious sense of familiarity Mari feels for another bookstore employee (the reveal is unlikely to be a surprise to the reader), and an obligatory dark moment that is quickly overcome after they both get past their hangups. The novel is a paean to independent bookstores, the movie Notting Hill, and genre fiction, with reading recommendations peppered throughout.
A comfort read for lovers of books, Richard Curtis movies, and romance with a touch of enemies-to-lovers.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250894748
Page Count: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
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
A deep and moving portrayal of first love.
Two college students rekindle their relationship as they unravel the truth behind their breakup.
On the outside, college senior Bennett Reiner has it all. A goalie for Waterfell University’s hockey team, he lives with a group of friends in a luxurious off-campus house. He and his best friend, Rhys Koteskiy, have fathers who are retired hockey legends. But on the inside, he’s falling apart. Struggling with OCD, a shaky friendship with Rhys, and second thoughts about pursuing a future in hockey, the only thing keeping Bennett afloat is also the one thing breaking his heart: Paloma Blake. All dyed-hair and attitude, Paloma has built a bad reputation on the hockey scene since their relationship ended freshman year—but Bennett knows the real P. Underneath her promiscuous facade lies a scared and lonely girl running from a childhood of abuse. When they were together, it seemed like their romance was perfect, until Paloma broke it off without warning. Since then, Bennett has run to Paloma’s side whenever she needed him, whether she was drunk, lonely, or hurting, and now he’s determined to win her back. For Bennett, Paloma is his antidote, the cure for his compulsions; for Paloma, Bennett is her protector, her safe space. And though Paloma yearns to be with Bennett again, she’s not sure she’s willing to open old wounds and reveal the truth about her painful past. In the third installment of the Undone series, Corinne spotlights familiar characters as they navigate trauma, heartbreak, and first love. Bennett and Paloma’s relationship is raw and vulnerable, and their journey of relinquishing control is both necessary and inevitable. Their romance evolves as they open up to one another, and in return, the reader is rewarded with a love story that’s as lyrical, evocative, and emotional as poetry.
A deep and moving portrayal of first love.Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781668219423
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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