Sparks fly when a Type A professional organizer ends up at a B&B run by a grumpy single dad.
Paige Parker needs a vacation. As a busy professional organizer, she centers her entire life around work. So when she discovers the charming Copper Lantern Inn on the Outer Banks of North Carolina while taking an online quiz, she thinks it looks like the perfect retreat. But she doesn’t count on Lucas Croft, the inn’s owner. He’s a widower with a small child, and he hasn’t maintained the B&B since his wife died two years ago. It was their dream to fix up the old house, but without her around, he sees no use in hosting guests…or cleaning, cooking, or doing anything but taking care of his 4-year-old daughter. But when his sister, Sophie, books Paige for a stay, Lucas has no choice but to welcome her with extremely sullen arms. Paige is alarmed to find clutter everywhere, and her meals consist of frozen pizza and near-empty boxes of Froot Loops. But as Lucas and Paige get to know each other, they realize they might actually be a perfect match. Walker excels at creating a cozy, charming setting—the picturesque island and ramshackle inn seem like an appealing escape. The characters’ actions occasionally seem a bit forced, though, and Lucas is sometimes overly unpleasant, even for a classic grumpy hero (he refers to Paige as an “uptight bitch” for no real reason). But romance lovers looking for forced proximity, characters overcoming tragedy, and a movie-worthy setting may be willing to overlook those flaws in favor of a warm and cozy read.
Ideal for readers looking for the book version of a pleasant Hallmark movie.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-72821-649-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Categories: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE
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With her promotion to vice president of digital inventory at a Sonoma winery, Natalie Harper finally has the financial security she's always wanted, but a sudden tragedy sends her home to rescue her late mother's charming bookstore.
Once in San Francisco, Natalie moves back into her childhood home, an eclectic set of apartments above the bookshop, a home she shares with her grandfather Andrew, who is suffering from dementia and other mysterious ailments. Blythe, Natalie's mother, loved books, but she was not a savvy businesswoman. Natalie arrives to find unpaid bills and back taxes. Housed in the historic Sunrose Building, the bookshop certainly has stories of its own to tell: Originally a saloon and brothel, it was eventually bought by Natalie's great-grandparents, who converted it into a home and apothecary. Luckily, “hammer for hire” Peach Gallagher shows up. Strong and gorgeous, the contractor catches Natalie's eye, and he certainly is drawn to the curly-haired proprietress. But Peach doesn't date clients, and Natalie is gun-shy from her previous relationship. Plus, she's already met Peach’s adorable little girl, Dorothy. Natalie isn't about to break up a marriage, but she doesn’t know Peach is actually divorced. Wiggs skillfully manipulates the stock in trade of a master romance novelist as she orchestrates Peach and Natalie's inevitable love story. To challenge Peach, enter Trevor Dashwood, a gorgeous and wealthy children's book author, whose books have already won Dorothy's heart. Hosting a book signing with Trevor might help the store’s bottom line. Meanwhile, Natalie, Peach, and Andrew find historical artifacts hidden in the Sunrose building’s walls. Will it be enough to save the store?
A gentle love story perfect for anyone looking for love amid personal, family, and financial crises.Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-291409-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Categories: FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | ROMANCE
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A clever, romantic, sexy love story.
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The much-loved royal romance genre gets a fun and refreshing update in McQuiston’s debut.
Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of the American President Ellen Claremont, knows one thing for sure: He hates Henry, the British prince to whom he is always compared. He lives for their verbal sparring matches, but when one of their fights at a royal wedding goes a bit too far, they end up falling into a wedding cake and making tabloid headlines. An international scandal could ruin Alex’s mother’s chances for re-election, so it’s time for damage control. The plan? Alex and Henry must pretend to be best friends, giving the tabloids pictures of their bromance and neutralizing the threat to Ellen's presidency. But after a few photo ops with Henry, Alex starts to realize that the passionate anger he feels toward him might be a cover for regular old passion. There are, naturally, a million roadblocks between their first kiss and their happily-ever-after—how can American political royalty and actual British royalty ever be together? How can they navigate being open about their sexualities (Alex is bisexual; Henry is gay) in their very public and very scrutinized roles? Alex and Henry must decide if they’ll risk their futures, their families, and their careers to take a chance on happiness. Although the story’s premise might be a fantasy—it takes place in a world in which a divorced-mom Texan Democrat won the 2016 election—the emotions are all real. The love affair between Alex and Henry is intense and romantic, made all the more so by the inclusion of their poetic emails that manage to be both funny and steamy. McQuiston’s strength is in dialogue; her characters speak in hilarious rapid-fire bursts with plenty of “likes,” “ums,” creative punctuation, and pop-culture references, sounding like smarter, funnier versions of real people. Although Alex and Henry’s relationship is the heart of the story, their friends and family members are all rich, well-drawn characters, and their respective worlds feel both realistic and larger-than-life.
A clever, romantic, sexy love story.Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31677-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | LBGTQ
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