A raucous, entertaining, New Age erotic yarn, by turns funny and soulful.
Massage therapists tangle in a physically and spiritually gnarly love triangle in this steamy romance.
Lilienthal’s debut novel follows Vera West, a single mom and massage therapist living in San Francisco. Vera enters into a business partnership and an affair with her massage therapy instructor, Ernesto Archer. That Ernesto is married causes Vera twinges of guilt, but her misgivings are swept away by world-shaking orgasms and shared erotic dreams that confirm that they were lovers in a past life in ancient Mongolia. Complicating things further are other women whom Ernesto has been involved with and who continue orbiting him, including rival masseuse Star Child. Almost blinded by Ernesto’s sexy charisma and praise for her empathic power to “transmute” feelings, Vera starts seeing cracks in his facade when his drinking escalates and he commits a professional betrayal. Almost everyone, especially her 14-year-old daughter, India, tells her to dump him. One woman who doesn’t is Ernesto’s wife, Jean, a shaman who remains outwardly cordial and plies Vera with essential oils. As Vera’s entanglement with Ernesto grows more fraught and annoying health problems erupt, she starts to suspect Jean’s potential for witchy malevolence. Lilienthal’s story is a finely observed portrait of the wellness industry in affluent Northern California, where virtually everyone has a retinue of massage therapists, astrologers, and doctors “of energetic medicine” to minister to their psyches. She winks at the excesses of this culture but takes seriously its metaphysical premises and healing aspirations, adding whispers of the occult to Vera’s experiences. The author’s sex scenes are lavish, but she keeps the novel grounded in comically tawdry concerns that play out in smart, zippy prose, whether Vera is mulling an assignation—“Am I really wearing black silk stay-ups, a very pretty, transparent black lace bra, and the skimpiest thong known to mankind in order to bring this married boss of mine a still-warm plate of chocolate chip cookies?”—or spoiling for a catfight. (“Instead of turning and skedaddling her big butt back down my pathway, she comes on in and closes the door behind her, thrusting her fake boobs out like a couple of headlights.”) Vera is a vibrant hoot of a hero as she wanders down the road to wisdom.
A raucous, entertaining, New Age erotic yarn, by turns funny and soulful.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-64742-383-4
Page Count: 216
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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