A charming debut filled with cocktails, chocolate, and comedy.
It’s a battle of the best men in screenwriter Karger’s debut romantic comedy.
Max Moody is not what most people think of when they hear the phrase “gay best friend,” and he’s fine with that. No, he’ll never call you “fierce” or gush about Britney Spears, and so what if he unironically wears New Balance sneakers and has a soul-sucking HR gig? Max’s best friend, Paige, has been perfectly content with his basic take on being a GBF...that is, until she gets engaged. Paige enlists Max to be her best man, her “gay of honor,” and, much to his chagrin, her wedding planner. Max always assumed he’d be first of their duo to get married, but the closest thing he has to a relationship is hooking up with his ex or embarrassing himself with strangers in dark corners. Unable to deny Paige, though, Max reluctantly agrees to help her wrangle up her dream wedding in just three months. It turns out that Paige has also recruited her fiance’s brother and best man to help, and sexy chocolatier Chasten Benchley is the ultimate example of a gay best friend. He curbs Paige’s indecision with ease, throws her a fabulous Fire Island getaway with homemade brunch, and hobnobs with New York’s finest in their penthouses. Not only is Chasten a wedding planner extraordinaire, but he’s also one of Max’s embarrassing dark-corner hookups...so basically, he's enemy No. 1. And yet, Max can’t help but hate to love Chasten: He’s hot, thoughtful, and genuine—and yeah, Max wouldn’t mind staring at his “perfect” lips a little while longer. Try as he might to resist Chasten’s charms, when Paige’s indecision threatens to turn into cold feet, the two best men must band together to save their bride. Karger’s debut is laugh-out-loud funny, and Max is the epitome of millennial dry humor: “What’s a group of bridesmaids called? A school? An army? Let’s go with a cackle.” Max and Paige’s friendship is ultimately the star of the show, and readers will find their banter reminiscent of fan favorites like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey or Dan Levy and Annie Murphy.
A charming debut filled with cocktails, chocolate, and comedy.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780593439487
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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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