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
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.
Best friends confront feelings for each other when they take a honeymoon trip together.
Francesca Gardiner and George Saint James have always been best friends—just like Jo and Laurie from Little Women, which they both love. Frankie has a big, complicated family and George was the boy next door who’d moved in with his eccentric grandmother. Their friendship survived childhood, awkward teenage years, and living together as young adults without ever venturing into the romantic—well, except for one kiss, but they don’t talk about that. When Frankie gets engaged to an older professor named Nate, George isn’t happy and a huge fight ensues. Despite his misgivings, George shows up to be her best man, but Nate leaves Frankie right before the wedding with only a cryptic letter. Devastated, Frankie goes to a friend’s house to recuperate, but her honeymoon is already planned and paid for—so she decides to travel to Tofino, a picturesque town on the coast of Vancouver Island, with George taking Nate’s place. Frankie wants to fix her friendship with George, but now that they’re in a romantic suite in a beautiful location, things are more complicated than ever. She’d always thought a relationship would be a bad idea, but she’s slowly beginning to realize they’ll never be able to go back to being kids. Maybe the only way forward involves forging a new kind of relationship. Fortune, the author of romances like This Summer Will Be Different (2024), returns with another love story full of longing and intense angst. The many allusions to Little Women are charming, and Frankie is a delightfully headstrong, feisty character. She and George have explosive chemistry, and Fortune manages to make the “will-they-or-won’t-they” nature of their relationship feel like life-or-death stakes.
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593953242
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
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