A gratifying romance despite some flaws.
When she tries to warn a marquess to stay away from her at a house party where they'll be guests for the next two weeks—because she knows her mother will try to set them up in some embarrassing way—Charlotte Highwood winds up compromised. In trying to prove her innocence, she falls in love with the man, who's sworn he'll never love anyone.
When Charlotte follows Piers Brandon, Lord Granville, into the Parkhurst library to warn him about her mother's schemes, the conversation is interrupted by another couple meeting for a tryst. Thinking quickly, Piers hides them behind a long curtain, where they endure listening to the assignation. They're discovered leaving their hiding place, leading people to think it was she and Piers making love. Piers quietly offers to marry Charlotte, who resists. She wants a marriage based on love and trust, not convenience. Convinced she can evade an engagement if she finds the “tuppers,” Charlotte embarks on an investigation even as she gives her heart and body to Piers, who finds himself incredibly willing to share long-held secrets with his would-be fiancee—considering he’s a spy who’s spent a lifetime learning how to hide them—without realizing he’s falling in love, too. Dare delivers another winning historical romance, with sparkling dialogue, an effervescent heroine, and an emotionally inhibited hero who falls for her even if he can’t admit it to himself. There is much to love in this title—which entwines the author's popular Castles and Spindle Cove series—and Dare brings her typical combination of humor (with an extra dose of lightheartedness thanks to Charlotte’s irrepressible spirit), unexpected yet spot-on matchmaking, and soul-satisfying romance. However, a few anachronisms and missteps mar the story. For example, wouldn’t Charlotte still be compromised if she uncovered the trysting couple?
A gratifying romance despite some flaws.Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234904-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A little uneven and with an abundance of detail that occasionally slows the pace, this is still an appealing story from a...
Nearly 20 years after bringing her serial-killer father to justice, a photographer begins to settle into a new life only to discover that a murderous stalker is after her—and may have been collecting his own victims along the way.
Just before her 12th birthday, Naomi Bowes followed her father into the woods and made the grim discovery that he was a serial killer, which sent him to jail for life. Naomi, her mother, and her brother, Mason, moved in with her uncle Seth and his partner, Harry, ultimately settling in New York City and changing their last name for anonymity. But her mother never quite recovered from her husband’s horrid influence, and the tragic aftermath of that relationship will have a long-lasting impact Naomi won’t recognize until she settles into a new home in Washington state and her past catches up with her in ominous ways. Thanks to new friends, a new lover, a rescue dog, and her FBI-agent brother, she might weather this dangerous situation, but discovering someone has been shadowing her formerly nomadic life gives her a new appreciation for her own strength, resilience, and many blessings. Naomi’s unique past makes her wary of strangers, so when she falls in love with a house and buys it, then is quickly enfolded into a group of new friends and, through them, meets the man of her dreams, she feels both embraced and nervous, but when her past threatens her and her new community, she knows she’s in the right place with the right people. Bestseller Roberts explores the experience of a serial killer’s family and, more subtly, the true natures of trust, friendship, and loyalty.
A little uneven and with an abundance of detail that occasionally slows the pace, this is still an appealing story from a romantic-suspense favorite.Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17516-9
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
With characters you care for, a smooth, engaging plot and an interesting reflection on values and success, romance/women’s...
Sonnet Romano has spent her adult years working hard to make a name for herself out in the real world, far away from her idyllic hometown, Willow Lake. But when life takes some unexpected turns, she may just realize that everything she’s been looking for is right back where she started.
Sonnet has checked off most of the big boxes on her "must-do-before-age-thirty" list, and she’s over-the-moon about her life in Manhattan, her job with UNESCO and the opportunities on the horizon from winning a prestigious international program fellowship. But everything comes to a screeching halt when she learns her newly married mother—who had Sonnet as a teenager and raised her as a single mom—is pregnant and sick. Forsaking the fellowship, Sonnet moves back to Willow Lake to be with her mother, risking disapproval from her father, who’s running for the U.S. Senate, and her fledgling boyfriend, who’s working on her father’s campaign. She accepts a job on a reality show being shot in the town, featuring an infamous female rapper and bunch of inner-city kids, and learns that her estranged best friend has been hired as the lead cameraman. Sonnet and Zach have been friends forever, but he is part of her past, and they are on different paths in life. Despite a sizzling newfound attraction between them, she wants her mom to get well, the baby to be born and the show to be wrapped, so she can get back to the city and her own fast track to the successful, prestigious future she’s always worked toward. But slowing down has a funny way of forcing Sonnet to take stock, and maybe her idea of a perfect life will alter with a little help from the old and new important people in her life and the picture-perfect town she grew up in.
With characters you care for, a smooth, engaging plot and an interesting reflection on values and success, romance/women’s fiction favorite Wiggs sends up another charming winner in the Lakeshore Chronicles series.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7783-1384-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
