A powerfully told story of the choices behind changes.
A story of an unlikely friendship between two women offers a snapshot into the realities of addiction, trauma, and homelessness.
When well-to-do socialite and philanthropist Claire Anderson attends the annual fundraising luncheon for Portland Promise, an agency focused on supporting the unhoused, she comes to the realization that simply donating money doesn’t solve a problem. The trouble is, she arrives at this conclusion during her speech as the agency honors her as one of its top donors of the year. Claire’s epiphany forces her to confront her own privilege and ignorance. Inspired by the selfless work of her recently deceased husband, Chris, Claire soon finds herself wanting to do more to help the unhoused. Portland Promise outreach worker Erica Ford, who’s seven years sober, watched from the crowd as Claire gave her speech, surprised and impressed. Feeling hamstrung by the complexity of the issue of homelessness, Erica often finds herself at odds with her boss, Bruce Bishop. Claire and Erica are drawn together by their mutual desire for change, and they hatch a plan to create innovative women’s transitional housing using Claire’s money and Erica’s skills. However, they soon realize that, in addition to coordinating the project and building it, they must contend with intolerant neighbors, a city council reluctant to trying a new approach, and the complexities of working with marginalized women. Over the course of this novel inspired by the lives of real people, Lentz highlights “how expensive it is be to be poor,” as a young, unhoused woman named Wendi notes: “I’ve met so many people who get ticketed for something a regular person wouldn’t even get noticed for….I knew one guy who didn’t have a phone to set an alarm to wake him up on time, and he missed his hearing and got a fine.” Overall, the novel offers insight into the stories of the unhoused and articulates both the complexity of systemic issues, as well as the importance of making sure that policy changes involving a specific group shouldn’t be made without their input.
A powerfully told story of the choices behind changes.Pub Date: June 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781960573896
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Sibylline Press
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
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