A charming and picturesque novel about love and new beginnings.
A newly single American woman takes an international teaching position and meets a handsome Italian man in this first romance in a series.
After getting a call from a fertility clinic, Sarah Flynn decides to take off work early and surprise her husband with the good news. Instead, she finds Philip home from work, packing his things. Just when Sarah thought they were going to start a family, he informs her that he’s leaving her. A few months afterward, Sarah’s best friend convinces her to sign up for an international teaching position, and Sarah ends up in scenic Rome, teaching English grammar at the all-girls Saint Theresa School. She was excited that room and board were included in the salary, but she didn’t expect such a tiny room—with a tiny bed to match. Before long, she finds herself slowly fitting into the social scene, befriending fellow teacher Anna. Sarah loves her classes and enjoys her occasional talks with Eduardo Rossini, a student’s father. However, she’s still getting over her divorce, and she’s not getting any better at learning Italian despite her immersion in the culture and language. Maybe some private tutoring lessons with handsome Eduardo will be just what she needs. Debut author Dass pens a charming novel that’s just as much a story of one woman’s journey to find herself as it is a search for love. Sarah is a particularly likable and empathetic protagonist, and readers will be able to identify with her feelings of displacement and loneliness. Some of the secondary characters are just as lovable, from the nosy but sweet Anna to the seemingly grumpy but kindhearted nun Sister Maria. But what truly makes this novel stand out are its vivid descriptions of beautiful scenery, which may make some readers homesick for a place they’ve never been: “Golden rays of light glistened on the rolling water. The water rippled and splashed against the embankment. Shadows of flags danced on the fortress walls.”
A charming and picturesque novel about love and new beginnings.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5092-3259-8
Page Count: 372
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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