Readers return to the Great North Pack as Evie Kitwanasdottir fights for her fellow werewolves and struggles to maintain her position as Alpha.
Picking up from Forever Wolf (2019), the Great North Pack is trying to rebuild after a devastating attack and keeping several Shifter prisoners as the spoils of the barely won victory. Wolves and Shifters aren’t the same in Vale’s world; they’re enemies, and rightly so, as Shifters often align themselves with humans in their quest to conquer the wolves. Shifter Constantine, despite aiding the Great North Pack during the humans' assault, is one of the pack's prisoners, and since he seems the most dangerous, he's kept under Evie's personal supervision. This is more than just an enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance, though there would be nothing wrong if it were. Evie and Constantine are two people warring with a centuries-long history of mistrust and hatred between their species to find acceptance and love with each other. It’s heady and powerful and makes the external conflict seems small in comparison. Greater machinations are at play—who is controlling the Shifters and influencing the humans? Breadcrumbs are dropped sporadically, though don’t expect any full resolutions. There seems to be much more to come with the Great North Pack and its inhabitants. Evie and Constantine share the aspiration of wanting to do the right thing for those they see as family, even if right versus wrong has become skewed for both of them. Vale is a rare writer, getting to the heart of her characters—their fears, their motivations—without sacrificing any of the grander picture. She quickly catches up readers, new and returning, with what feels less like summary than like poetry; her writing has never been better.
A must-read.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-9521-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
Categories: PARANORMAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE
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PERSPECTIVES
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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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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