An entertaining thriller with some intriguing twists and turns.
In this romantic suspense novel, an event planner’s organized life gets thrown into disarray when her daughter becomes endangered.
After high school, Hazel Lavigne left her home in York, Maine, for college in Southern Florida. Everything was going according to plan until her senior year, when a one-night stand at a fraternity party left her with a surprise pregnancy. Ever since, she’s been careful to control her life and leave nothing to chance. Now in her early 30s, Hazel runs a very successful event-planning business, personally overseeing every detail of her clients’ shindigs. That doesn’t leave her much time to spend with 10-year-old Eleanor—Ellie to most, Lightning to the admiring players on her flag football team, where she’s the only girl. Gabrielle Davis is Hazel’s live-in nanny/lifesaver. Though Ellie has fun with Gabby, she wishes she had a dad and that her mother didn’t work so hard. (Hazel’s cover story is that she and Ellie’s dad met on a cruise and never saw each other again.) At a bar, Hazel meets Russell Cooper—and although her memory is foggy, he looks familiar. She’s sure he’s Ellie’s father; he was at the frat party, so he agrees it’s possible. When Ellie is kidnapped from school by a man claiming to be her father, Hazel suspects Russ. Although he’s innocent and Ellie is soon recovered, Hazel is deeply shaken. In addition, Gabby is missing, and the case has ties to organized crime. Hazel takes Ellie to Maine for safekeeping, giving her time to spend with her daughter and reassess her work-centered life. A new romance blooms, but past secrets and present schemes related to the kidnapping threaten mother and daughter. In the end, Hazel discovers what home really means to her.
In Book 2 of her Maine-set Nubble Light series, Lee offers skillful plotting that unveils several surprises readers won’t see coming, both in the thriller and romance departments. While certainly unexpected, these revelations are plausible and well paced throughout the story, giving an effective counterpoint to Hazel’s character arc as she stops trying to control everything and embraces a new romance. Less successful is an early subplot set in 1971 that gets more room than it needs, and although it does link up with present-day events, the book’s rhythm is somewhat thrown off. A few elements strike odd notes, such as a ’70s polyester leisure suit being considered “fancy” and 10-year-olds making that toddler specialty, mud desserts. Nevertheless, such moments are few, and the author generally chooses more telling details. She has a good ear for dialogue, for example, as when Hazel’s friend and wedding-cake baker, Franny Gilbert, reports that she “had a fight today with some chocolate fondant, but other than that, living the dream.” The Maine setting is appealing, and another plus is the novel’s varied points of view and differing voices, giving readers fresh takes on events.
An entertaining thriller with some intriguing twists and turns.Pub Date: April 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-89801-8
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Bailey hits it out of the park with her latest spicy romance.
Two ambitious athletes plus one fake-dating arrangement—what could go wrong?
Though it’s only his first season for the Boston Bearcats hockey team, Robbie Corrigan has a well-established reputation as a playboy. He’s got major skills on the ice, and he’s also much more likely to love ’em and leave ’em than he is to build any long, meaningful relationships. Naturally, he’s just met the one woman who seems completely resistant to his charm: Skylar Page, a Boston University softball pitcher. When they meet over a friendly Saturday morning baseball game, Robbie instantly makes a poor impression by bragging to his teammates about his latest conquest within Skylar’s hearing. He thinks she’s gorgeous, though, and when he sets his sights on her, he’s surprised that she doesn’t seem to know it. Despite her initial distaste for Robbie, Skylar grudgingly confesses that she could use his help. If they pretend to date, maybe her current crush—her brother’s best friend—will finally sit up and take notice of her in a romantic way. The timing is less than ideal, since Robbie will have to team up with Skylar in the Page family’s latest wilderness competition, but it turns out that Robbie’s willingness to play fake boyfriend stems from some very real feelings. He wants to prove to her that he’s a changed man, and redeeming himself in her eyes starts with making sure she knows that she can really trust him. The latest addition to Bailey’s Big Shots series is a sexy, feel-good romance brimming over with the author’s trademark humor and dirty talk. While Skylar and Robbie’s dynamic doesn’t quite reach the level of enemies-to-lovers—he’s so head-over-heels for her that there’s no room for any real mean-spiritedness—their playful snark doubles as a welcome dash of foreplay in the lead-up to some seriously steamy scenes. Robbie’s efforts to show Skylar that he’s turned over a new leaf also result in some of the book’s best moments, emphasizing his commitment to becoming the type of man he knows she deserves.
Bailey hits it out of the park with her latest spicy romance.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780063380837
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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
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