An often frothy romance that manages to expertly combine emotional heft with pure escapism.
In Ready’s novel, a young woman receives a magical watch and then, after she falls in love, fights to make her dream life a reality.
The third book in Ready’s Ghosted series introduces Moonbeam Clover Fiona Abry (who’s insisted on going by “Fiona” ever since she was 8 years old). After inheriting her family’s Swiss watch business in Geneva following her father’s death, she and her brother, Daniel, have managed to pull the business out of near-bankruptcy. Fiona, a single mother, decided long ago to never open herself up to love, mainly because her own flighty mother intermittently abandoned her as a child. Her best friend, Max,still tries his hardest to woo her nevertheless. Fiona’s mother gives her a long-lost family heirloom—a watch from her heretofore unknown Uncle Leopold. When Fiona wears it, the watch gives Fiona dreams of her greatest desire. Fiona finds herself on a tropical island where everyone calls her “Becca”; she’s married to a handsome man named McCormick and has two delightful young children. Fiona decides to settle back and enjoy her recurrent dreams, since she feels her heart is protected from truly caring about this “fantasy”; then she unexpectedly begins to fall hopelessly in love with her sensitive, thoughtful dream husband. Although Fiona attempts to try her hand at romance with Max in reality, she can’t stop thinking about McCormick. A series of shocking twists make Fiona question everything she thought she knew—including herself.
Readers of conventional romances come to expect certain genre elements, and Ready does indeed deliver them over the course of this novel, but her real talent comes in subverting such familiar beats just enough so that readers begin to question how (or even if) certain events will come to pass. Although the book has plenty of swoonworthy romance—McCormick is basically a beach god—the author also hits on heavier themes that are less common in the genre, including abandonment, infidelity, motherhood, and duty. Ready has a lot to say about each, and she does so with wit and empathy. At one point, for example, when Fiona explainshow she fell in love with McCormick in her dreams, she describes it as “a gradual thing, like the flow of the gentle tide washing over a softly sanded golden beach. At least that’s what I tell myself when I’m lying….Well, we don’t lie in dreams, do we? Everyone knows that dreams are where we tell ourselves the truth.” The dialogue feels pleasantly natural throughout, and almost all the characters are well developed. That said, a few people, such as McCormick’s supposed best friend, Robert, veer into caricature. Fiona’s and Max’s attempts at moving their nine-year friendship into romantic territory is particularly earnest and realistic—so much so that readers might even have trouble deciding whether the very real Max or the very dreamy McCormick is the best match for Fiona.
An often frothy romance that manages to expertly combine emotional heft with pure escapism.Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781954007772
Page Count: 492
Publisher: W.W. Crown
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2024
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
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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