A warmhearted romance with a satisfying ending.
Sparks fly in a small town’s Little Free Library in a beachy tale inspired by the beloved 1998 rom-com film You’ve Got Mail.
Lucy Sullivan was born in coastal Heron Isle, Florida, where she lives and owns a bookshop, thanks to an inheritance from her close family friend Annie. She’s also the president of the Downtown Business Owners Council, and when consultant Logan Lancaster arrives, she thinks that he must have plans that will wreck the charm of the little town. But she won’t let a big-city type come in and ruin the place she calls home. Logan, for his part, is intrigued by Lucy, and even more taken by the Little Free Library she opened when the town’s public library closed. In it, people leave behind notes with recommendations for voracious readers, and Lucy and Logan soon begin an anonymous correspondence using the pseudonyms “Island Girl” and “Gatsby’s Ghost.” Carlisle has a minor character allude to the similarities between this plot and another romantic comedy’s: “It’s just so romantic. It’s like You’ve Got Mail but in a Little Free Library.” Lucy responds, “Yeah, well hopefully he’s not here to open a chain bookstore and drive me out of business.” Lucy even begins to draft a novel using her notes to Gatsby’s Ghost as partial inspiration. Carlisle’s novel is thoughtful, with well-developed characters who move beyond common small-town girl and big-city boy tropes. Instead, she pulls together two characters who turn out to have far more in common than they think. Although the plot floats along at a predictable pace, readers who believe in the power of storytelling are likely to find the narrative heartwarming and affirming. As Lucy’s mentor suggests, “Let this book take you away, and when you come back, you’ll be someone new.”
A warmhearted romance with a satisfying ending.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 309
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2024
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
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
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