A clever, if flawed, love story.
A separated couple attempt to fool each other via online hijinks in this romance.
Hailie James’ marriage to lawyer Davin Garret is on the rocks: “Her husband had become a stranger to her, and whenever she tried to get him to discuss how to improve their relationship, he clammed up tightly and gave her the silent treatment.” She has decided to stay with her mother. She reasons that some distance apart will do them good—hopefully, it will force Davin to realize how much he misses her. But absence is not the full extent of her plan. An IT expert, Hailie leaves behind her MacBook Pro, a “Trojan horse” she intends to use to spy on Davin. She trusts it will prove or disprove her suspicion that Davin is carrying on a secret affair. Unbeknown to Hailie, Davin’s distance has been due to mental health issues that he has been reluctant to talk about. He quickly sees through Hailie’s ruse and soon turns the trick back on his wife by browsing sites he knows will upset her. (For example, he Googles “How do I take all my wife’s money when we divorce?”) Davin hopes he can lure Hailie back through his wily scheme, but his actions are unsurprisingly misinterpreted, and these two spouses who really want to get back together may be in danger of sinking their marriage forever. Tameem’s narration switches back and forth between the two characters, who worry and fume even as readers are able to assemble the entire picture: “She had been willing to overlook his searches on dating apps because the woman he was looking for was so blatantly an accurate description of her. Although she had been angry with him at first, on reflection she had been touched by it. She wondered if he knew that he had described her in minute detail.” The storytelling is lacking in some respects: Davin and Hailie are not quite as complex as they should be, and the world they inhabit feels a bit nebulous and nonspecific. Readers will know all along where things are going, but even so, there is some fun to be found in this modern take on “The Gift of the Magi” formula.
A clever, if flawed, love story.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 189
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An extremely fun, fast-paced, and unusual addition to the marriage-in-trouble romance canon.
A marriage on the rocks gets a second chance—with a science-fiction twist.
Dr. Emery Martín is happily married to her husband Luca…mostly. She’s been madly in love with him since the moment they met, but in the three years they’ve been wed, she hasn’t been able to focus much on him. To the world—including Luca—Emery’s job involves developing medical-grade lasers. In reality, she works at a supersecret San Diego lab that’s engineering a compound to bring mammals back from the dead. Although Emery doesn’t want to admit it, she can tell that Luca feels pushed aside, but she believes so deeply in her work that she has a hard time leaving the lab. When Emery is late for dinner—yet again—on their anniversary, she rushes home only to see Luca get hit by a car. She has the secret compound in her car, and she knows she could get in major trouble if she uses it—but what’s she supposed to do, not save her husband’s life? The compound has only been tested on animals so far, and there’s no guarantee it will even work for humans. It does, though, and Luca comes back to life—with one small caveat. He can’t remember most things, including his marriage to Emery. After almost losing Luca, Emery is now grateful for what she has, and she’s determined to show him that she can be a better, more attentive partner. While Luca may not remember her, their magnetic chemistry is still there. This may be the do-over they needed to save their marriage—that is, if Emery can keep the life-reviving measures she took hidden from everyone around them, including nosy neighbors and her own company. Lauren—the pen name of the duo behind rom-coms like The Paradise Problem (2024)—has created a unique hook that feels genuinely refreshing. Emery and Luca’s unconventional second chance is emotionally compelling, and the slight thriller edge as Emery tries to cover up her actions keeps the pages turning.
An extremely fun, fast-paced, and unusual addition to the marriage-in-trouble romance canon.Pub Date: July 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781668017753
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.
A happily engaged woman is pulled back to her hometown—and her first love—when tragedy strikes.
Billie Wright is living her dream, running a thriving fertility clinic in New York City and engaged to a wonderful trauma surgeon named Dean. Her happily-ever-after meant giving up her life in Wisconsin, where she left behind many friends as well as her high school sweetheart, Mick. Although they’d been deeply in love, when Billie’s ambition pulled her away from home and toward the city, Mick couldn’t handle either the distance or her busy schedule. Billie has finally moved on from that heartbreak—but then she receives a phone call from Mick, the first communication between them in years. Her best friend, Erin, died in a car accident, leaving behind an 11-year-old daughter, Phoebe. Now Billie must return home to help sort Erin’s affairs and provide some kind of comfort to Phoebe while grieving the loss of her best friend. Of course, being back home also means being in close contact with Mick. Their feelings for each other may not have ever gone away, and their proximity leads to big decisions for Billie. Can she ever reconcile her current life in Manhattan with her past in Wisconsin? And which one will be her future? Giffin knows how to do drama, and she ratchets up the stakes with every page as she continues to reveal new obstacles for Billie. The ending wraps up quite neatly, but the nostalgia-filled ride is full of twists and turns that will keep readers flipping the pages.
A deliciously dramatic look at how one woman’s past influences her future.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780593600320
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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