A satisfying offering for fans of this romantic series.
A lawyer and her FBI handler struggle to evade a serial killer in this installment of Anderson’s Cold Justice romantic thriller series.
Assistant District Attorney Hope Harper was not always a prosecutor. Earlier in her career, she was a Boston defense attorney on the rise, already on the verge of making partner at a prestigious law firm before the age of 30—then her world came apart. After she successfully defended accused serial killer Julius Leech, the man repaid her by murdering her husband and daughter. In the seven years since, Hope has dedicated herself to making sure violent men go to jail for as long as the law allows. When Julius manages to escape from prison during a winter storm, exacting revenge on Hope—whom he blames for his incarceration—is the first thing on his mind. Aaron Nash of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team is tasked with keeping Hope safe until Julius is apprehended, a job that Hope makes infinitely more difficult by refusing to go into hiding. She’d rather help catch Julius: “Putting him back in prison for the rest of his miserable life would be my absolute pleasure,” she tells Aaron upon meeting him, “but it doesn’t mean I need protection.” With Aaron bunking in Hope’s apartment, the two spend a lot of time together, and their initial bickering soon leads to grudging respect and eventually something more. For the first time in seven years, Hope is finally making some good memories. But will the monomaniacal Julius, already adding substantially to his body count, find a way to cut them short? Anderson has a talent for capturing the way people move around one another, as during this early dance between Hope and Aaron: “Their gazes collided as their fingertips brushed. Her pupils widened and his breath locked in his chest. He stepped away. Moved to the window to ease the blind aside and check the street outside.” The suspense elements are as taut as the sexual tension, with many welcome twists along the way.
A satisfying offering for fans of this romantic series.Pub Date: May 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781990721663
Page Count: 436
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight.
Three siblings on very different paths learn that their family home may be haunted by secrets.
Eldest daughter Beth is alone with her fading mother as she takes her final breath and says something about Beth’s long-departed brother and sister, who may not have disappeared forever. Beth is still reeling from the loss of her mother when her estranged siblings show up. Michael, the youngest, hasn’t been home since their father’s disappearance seven years ago. In the meantime, he’s outgrown his siblings, trading his share of the family troubles for a high-paying job in San Jose. Nicole, the middle child, has been overpowered by addiction and prioritized tuning out reality over any sense of responsibility, much to Beth’s disgust. Though their mother’s death marks an ending for the family, it’s also a beginning, as the three siblings realize when they find a disturbing videotape among their parents’ belongings. The video, from 1999, sheds suspicion on their father’s disappearance, linking it to a long-unsolved neighborhood mystery. Was it just a series of unfortunate circumstances that broke the family apart, or does something more sinister underlie the sadness they’ve all found in life? In chapters that rotate among the family’s first-person narratives, the siblings take turns digging up stories and secrets in their search for solace.
Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9798212182843
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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