A tumultuous, tension-filled romance that’ll leave your head spinning.
When an elite ballerina returns to her summer home to nurse an injury, she’s greeted by many ghosts from her past.
Everyone expects perfection from Alessandra Rousseau. How could they not, when she’s the daughter of the renowned dance teacher Sophie Langevin-Rousseau and sister to the ballerinas Lina, Anne, and Eva? At 27, Allie has landed a principal spot in New York’s Metropolitan Ballet Company. But perfectionism like hers can shatter in an instant, along with her Achilles tendon. Forced to return to the privacy of her Cape Cod summer home for rehab, Allie is suddenly confronted with memories she buried long ago. Ten years ago on the Cape, her sister Lina died in a car crash that Allie survived—and which her mother blames her for. Something else died with Lina that night: Allie’s relationship with Hudson Ellis. Hudson, now a rescue swimmer for the U.S. Coast Guard, was Allie’s best friend for two summers until he left for basic training without a word after the accident. Allie never thought she would see Hudson again, but his return brings an even bigger surprise: a niece she hadn’t known about, a child named Juniper whom Hudson’s sister, Caroline, had adopted as a baby 10 years ago. Juniper has the looks and the DNA test to prove that she’s not only a full Rousseau, but somehow Lina’s child. All Juniper wants is to practice ballet, but Caroline forbids her. Begrudgingly, Allie agrees to fake date Hudson to get on Caroline’s good side and help her niece train for a competition. Returning home proves more complicated than Allie could have foreseen: How could she have not known Lina had a daughter? Why did Hudson ghost her after Lina’s death? And even after all the hurt he caused her, how could she be falling for him? Yarros brings the heat with passion, drama, and page after page of plot twists. The Rousseau family weaves a twisted knot throughout the story, and Yarros inundates the reader with enough curveballs and steamy scenes to keep them interested (if not a little bewildered).
A tumultuous, tension-filled romance that’ll leave your head spinning.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781662514708
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
SEEN & HEARD
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