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Hamilton Spectator
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
The 8 top beach reads of the summer, from Emily Henry's latest to a Toronto foodie romance
Sunscreen, hand-held fan and refreshing beverage of your choice? Check, check and check. Permission to leave the world behind, albeit briefly? Granted. A sizzling summer read that feels like the literary equivalent of sinking into cool water on scorching hot day? Awaiting you — almost certainly on bended knee, and with a naughty twinkle in its eye — in the roundup below. With happy endings and high-velocity page-turning guaranteed, these are our eight best summer beach reads for 2025. Emily Henry Berkley, 544 pages, $41 If you're looking for the ultimate blend of heart and humour, look no further than the genius behind 'Beach Read,' the No. 1 bestseller that kicked off a new golden age of the genre when it was published in 2020. 'Great Big Beautiful Life,' by Emily Henry, Berkley, $41. This time, Emily Henry whisks us to coastal South Carolina, where a reporter has stumbled onto the scoop of the century: After decades out of the public eye, an infamous heiress is looking for someone to write her memoir — and it's going to be juicy. (Cross the tragedy of the Kennedys with the wallets of the Vanderbilts and spritz in some Evelyn Hugo-era Hollywood intrigue.) There's a small problem. The reclusive heiress is auditioning someone else at the same time, giving them both a month to prove who's the right fit to tell her story. Naturally, said rival is irritating and attractive in equal measure, with a rumpled charm that would be irresistible if he didn't stand between our heroine and her big break. You'll love this if you liked: 'People You Meet on Vacation,' 'Funny Story' and anything else by Henry, the thinking woman's romance writer. Spice level: Low. A few steamy moments, but this one's all about the banter and the slow burn. Tropes: Grumpy man, sunshine woman; the one-bed trope, but instead of a single place to sleep, they're stuck on a tiny island and can't help bumping into each other. Jessica Stanley Doubleday Canada, 336 pages, $26 Sometimes you can suspend your disbelief and believe that fairy tales really come true. Other times, you need a book that's clear-eyed about the limitations of human relationships while still managing to tell a joyful story that affirms our faith in love, even the imperfect sort. 'Consider Yourself Kissed,' by Jessica Stanley, Doubleday Canada, $26. If you're not in the headspace for a gloriously fantastical tale of happily ever after, may we introduce you to Jessica Stanley's charming, wise debut novel? Set across the years of a long-term relationship, it tells the story of an Australian woman who moves to London to escape a predatory boss and quickly falls in love with a Mark Darcy-esque Englishman. With wit and gorgeous prose, Stanley takes us through the stages of their relationship — and all the life that happens along the way, including grief, growing apart, even a trial separation — to tell a story that is somehow all the more romantic for feeling so realistic. You'll love this if you liked: Helen Fielding's ' Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy' and its pitch-perfect mix of light and shade. Spice level: Low. A pinch of cayenne, but honestly, you're more likely to cry than anything else. Tropes: Bookish-but-also-hot British man. Cecilia Edward Saga Press, 320 pages, $25.99 Finding love in 2025 is baffling enough when you aren't a late medieval witch who accidentally brewed a true love potion that catapulted you forward several centuries and directly into the path of a cute-and-kind man who looks as though he's about to trap your feline familiar (who journeyed with you) for nefarious purposes, but turns out to be a vet who provides charity medical care for stray cats. 'An Ancient Witch's Guide to Modern Dating,' by Cecilia Edward, Saga Press, $25.99. Delightfully daffy — but with a deeper message about how real love often comes when you're not trying to cast a spell in order to manipulate the world into thinking you're something you're not — this is a bewitching beach read that gets bonus points for a heroine who is closer to 40, not the standard 28 (which is the new 23). You'll love this if you liked: 'Practical Magic' by Alice Hoffman . Spice level: Mild. It's G-rated enough that you can listen to the audiobook on a drive with your ultra-conservative Aunt Pearl Clutcher. Tropes: Time travel, like 'Outlander,' but much, much breezier in tone and with way fewer burning of witches. Brittney Arena Random House Canada, 448 pages, $38 Once upon a time, Vasalie was King Illian's favourite dancer, his 'Jewel' whom he showered with gifts and shared late nights, long conversations and more than one yearning glance with. Then, she was framed for a murder she did not commit and thrown into a cell, the king not lifting a finger to save her. 'A Dance of Lies,' by Brittney Arena, Random House Canada, $38. Two years later, Vasalie — broken by captivity and isolation; barely able to walk, let alone dance — is summoned and given a choice: She can spy for the king at a gathering of rulers, or she can die. Despite the damage done to her physically and mentally, Vasalie seizes her chance — and finds herself caught up in a dark game of revenge, courtly intrigue and mysterious prophecies. And the most dangerous part of all? The feelings she develops for someone we won't name because it's a spoiler, sorry. Not only is this a particularly beautifully written romantasy, it's got a lovely backstory: Brittney Arena lives with several chronic illnesses and wrote this book as a 'declaration that our limitations do not define our worth or limit our ability to live wonderfully romantic and impactful lives.' Bring on book two … You'll love this if you liked: 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' by Sarah J. Maas . Spice level: Medium. Green chili with the seeds scraped out, as in just a few hot-and-heavy kisses, but not nearly the sort of action you'd see in, say, 'Fourth Wing.' Tropes: Forbidden romance with a splash of enemies-to-lovers. Meghan Quinn Bloom, 432 pages, $28.99 This book has a wonderfully silly premise: Newly divorced Scottie works at a golf putter manufacturer where everyone is married and obsessed with their spouses. To fit in, she pretends to have a husband. 'Till Summer Do Us Part,' Meghan Quinn, Bloom, $28.99. As lies tend to do, this snowballs into her recruiting her best friend's brother — who has nothing better to do now that he's sold his app for zillions — to join her for an eight-day couples camp run by her boss's therapist husband. Cue the forced-proximity tingles, amplified by the fact that Wilder Wells is not only up for anything, but he's also perceptive, kind and has a lip piercing that makes Scottie (frustratingly, thrillingly) weak at the knees. As with all Meghan Quinn books, it's very funny, with just the right amount of heart to ground it from absurdity. You'll love this if you liked: 'It Happened One Summer' by Tessa Bailey . Spice level: Scotch bonnet. Tropes: Fake dating, although in this case it's pretending to be a long-term married couple with a host of fabricated issues. Its amplified by some classic forced proximity in their camp cabin and kitted out with various erotic accoutrements prescribed by their therapist to help save their relationship. Amy Rosen ECW Press, 280 pages, $24.95 If you want a book that feels like diving into a buffet stacked with everything you love, immediately pull up a chair to the glorious smorgasbord served up by Amy Rosen, one of Canada's most talented food writers, making her romance debut. 'Off Menu,' by Amy Rosen, ECW Press, $24.95. Our heroine is Ruthie, a professionally adrift 20-something who inherits a nice chunk of change when her beloved grandmother (and noted dispenser of life advice, like 'Never buy green bananas, and never wear banana yellow') dies in a Jet Ski accident. It's enough money for her to quit her job and follow her bliss — that would be food — all the way to a year studying at Toronto's French cooking academy. On her first day, she's partnered with Jeff, a dreamy musician who irritatingly has a girlfriend who has the temerity to be both pretty and nice. The fallout from this — and all the hijinks in between — are told to us by Ruthie, chatting away Bridget Jones-style in her diary. The real love story here, of course, is the food. Whether Rosen is shouting out fictional Toronto spots — pistachio sandwich cookies from Cafe Forno, tofu with garlic sauce from Legendary Asian — or writing about dishes Ruthie prepares so vividly the smells practically waft from the pages, this is a book filled with good eating. Come for the giggles and mishaps (accidentally icing a carrot cake with cocaine!), stay for a lemon meringue pie made with tea biscuits and condensed milk that sounds so easy and delicious you actually wrote down the recipe to try this weekend. You'll love this if you liked: 'Julie & Julia' by Julie Powell. Spice level: Habanero, but only in small, infrequent doses. Tropes: Unrequited love. Noreen Nanja Random House Canada, 368 pages, $26 If you've already gobbled up (even reread) this year's Carley Fortune (very good, maybe even her best yet), we've got just the Canadian debut to fill that emotional-romance-on-a-cottage-country-lake-shaped hole in your heart. 'The Summers Between Us,' by Noreen Nanja, Random House Canada, $26. 'The Summers Between Us' is the story of first love's second chance after a 15-year separation, told as a nuanced exploration of the cross-cultural differences that can sometimes make people go their separate ways. In this case, that means Lia — the high-achieving daughter of immigrant parents — dutifully dating someone her mother approves of, while secretly pining for the boy that she fell for during long, heady teenage summers at her cottage. She never thought she'd return there, but life has other plans — and that boy from Pike Bay turned into a rather dreamy man. You'll love this if you liked: 'Every Summer After' by Carley Fortune. Spice level: More sweet and yearning than spicy and steamy. Tropes: Your classic 'we fell in love as teenagers, but fate forced us apart and now here we are as adults who never quite got over that cataclysmic first love.' 'Only Between Us,' by Ellie K. Wilde, Simon & Schuster, $25.99. Ellie K. Wilde Simon & Schuster, 416 pages, $25.99 We couldn't compile this list without a sports romance. First draft pick on our roster? Canadian phenom Ellie K. Wilde's latest instalment in her series set in the small town of Oakwood Bay. This time, our heroine is a former WAG desperately trying to save her family's business and smart enough to realize that fake-dating one of the hottest football players of the century could be her ticket to turning things around. This scheme has something in it for our hero too, as he's trying to make a comeback and could use a bit of good publicity. We really aren't spoiling anything when we say things get complicated — feelings develop between two people who pretend to be married while being secretly attracted to each other (what a plot twist) — and, also not a shocker if you've read her other work, pretty hot. You'll love this if you liked: Tessa Bailey's 'Fangirl Down.' Spice level: What they refer to on romance subreddits as 'explicit door open' — meaning trés, trés chaud. Tropes: Fake dating.
Hamilton Spectator
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Emily Henry and Meghan Quinn lead our list of the 8 best beach reads
Sunscreen, hand-held fan and refreshing beverage of your choice? Check, check and check. Permission to leave the world behind, albeit briefly? Granted. A sizzling summer read that feels like the literary equivalent of sinking into cool water on scorching hot day? Awaiting you — almost certainly on bended knee, and with a naughty twinkle in its eye — in the roundup below. With happy endings and high-velocity page-turning guaranteed, these are our eight best summer beach reads for 2025. Emily Henry Berkley, 544 pages, $41 If you're looking for the ultimate blend of heart and humour, look no further than the genius behind 'Beach Read,' the No. 1 bestseller that kicked off a new golden age of the genre when it was published in 2020. 'Great Big Beautiful Life,' by Emily Henry, Berkley, $41. This time, Emily Henry whisks us to coastal South Carolina, where a reporter has stumbled onto the scoop of the century: After decades out of the public eye, an infamous heiress is looking for someone to write her memoir — and it's going to be juicy. (Cross the tragedy of the Kennedys with the wallets of the Vanderbilts and spritz in some Evelyn Hugo-era Hollywood intrigue.) There's a small problem. The reclusive heiress is auditioning someone else at the same time, giving them both a month to prove who's the right fit to tell her story. Naturally, said rival is irritating and attractive in equal measure, with a rumpled charm that would be irresistible if he didn't stand between our heroine and her big break. You'll love this if you liked: 'People You Meet on Vacation,' 'Funny Story' and anything else by Henry, the thinking woman's romance writer. Spice level: Low. A few steamy moments, but this one's all about the banter and the slow burn. Tropes: Grumpy man, sunshine woman; the one-bed trope, but instead of a single place to sleep, they're stuck on a tiny island and can't help bumping into each other. Jessica Stanley Doubleday Canada, 336 pages, $26 Sometimes you can suspend your disbelief and believe that fairy tales really come true. Other times, you need a book that's clear-eyed about the limitations of human relationships while still managing to tell a joyful story that affirms our faith in love, even the imperfect sort. 'Consider Yourself Kissed,' by Jessica Stanley, Doubleday Canada, $26. If you're not in the headspace for a gloriously fantastical tale of happily ever after, may we introduce you to Jessica Stanley's charming, wise debut novel? Set across the years of a long-term relationship, it tells the story of an Australian woman who moves to London to escape a predatory boss and quickly falls in love with a Mark Darcy-esque Englishman. With wit and gorgeous prose, Stanley takes us through the stages of their relationship — and all the life that happens along the way, including grief, growing apart, even a trial separation — to tell a story that is somehow all the more romantic for feeling so realistic. You'll love this if you liked: Helen Fielding's ' Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy' and its pitch-perfect mix of light and shade. Spice level: Low. A pinch of cayenne, but honestly, you're more likely to cry than anything else. Tropes: Bookish-but-also-hot British man. Cecilia Edward Saga Press, 320 pages, $25.99 Finding love in 2025 is baffling enough when you aren't a late medieval witch who accidentally brewed a true love potion that catapulted you forward several centuries and directly into the path of a cute-and-kind man who looks as though he's about to trap your feline familiar (who journeyed with you) for nefarious purposes, but turns out to be a vet who provides charity medical care for stray cats. 'An Ancient Witch's Guide to Modern Dating,' by Cecilia Edward, Saga Press, $25.99. Delightfully daffy — but with a deeper message about how real love often comes when you're not trying to cast a spell in order to manipulate the world into thinking you're something you're not — this is a bewitching beach read that gets bonus points for a heroine who is closer to 40, not the standard 28 (which is the new 23). You'll love this if you liked: 'Practical Magic' by Alice Hoffman . Spice level: Mild. It's G-rated enough that you can listen to the audiobook on a drive with your ultra-conservative Aunt Pearl Clutcher. Tropes: Time travel, like 'Outlander,' but much, much breezier in tone and with way fewer burning of witches. Brittney Arena Random House Canada, 448 pages, $38 Once upon a time, Vasalie was King Illian's favourite dancer, his 'Jewel' whom he showered with gifts and shared late nights, long conversations and more than one yearning glance with. Then, she was framed for a murder she did not commit and thrown into a cell, the king not lifting a finger to save her. 'A Dance of Lies,' by Brittney Arena, Random House Canada, $38. Two years later, Vasalie — broken by captivity and isolation; barely able to walk, let alone dance — is summoned and given a choice: She can spy for the king at a gathering of rulers, or she can die. Despite the damage done to her physically and mentally, Vasalie seizes her chance — and finds herself caught up in a dark game of revenge, courtly intrigue and mysterious prophecies. And the most dangerous part of all? The feelings she develops for someone we won't name because it's a spoiler, sorry. Not only is this a particularly beautifully written romantasy, it's got a lovely backstory: Brittney Arena lives with several chronic illnesses and wrote this book as a 'declaration that our limitations do not define our worth or limit our ability to live wonderfully romantic and impactful lives.' Bring on book two … You'll love this if you liked: 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' by Sarah J. Maas . Spice level: Medium. Green chili with the seeds scraped out, as in just a few hot-and-heavy kisses, but not nearly the sort of action you'd see in, say, 'Fourth Wing.' Tropes: Forbidden romance with a splash of enemies-to-lovers. Meghan Quinn Bloom, 432 pages, $28.99 This book has a wonderfully silly premise: Newly divorced Scottie works at a golf putter manufacturer where everyone is married and obsessed with their spouses. To fit in, she pretends to have a husband. 'Till Summer Do Us Part,' Meghan Quinn, Bloom, $28.99. As lies tend to do, this snowballs into her recruiting her best friend's brother — who has nothing better to do now that he's sold his app for zillions — to join her for an eight-day couples camp run by her boss's therapist husband. Cue the forced-proximity tingles, amplified by the fact that Wilder Wells is not only up for anything, but he's also perceptive, kind and has a lip piercing that makes Scottie (frustratingly, thrillingly) weak at the knees. As with all Meghan Quinn books, it's very funny, with just the right amount of heart to ground it from absurdity. You'll love this if you liked: 'It Happened One Summer' by Tessa Bailey . Spice level: Scotch bonnet. Tropes: Fake dating, although in this case it's pretending to be a long-term married couple with a host of fabricated issues. Its amplified by some classic forced proximity in their camp cabin and kitted out with various erotic accoutrements prescribed by their therapist to help save their relationship. Amy Rosen ECW Press, 280 pages, $24.95 If you want a book that feels like diving into a buffet stacked with everything you love, immediately pull up a chair to the glorious smorgasbord served up by Amy Rosen, one of Canada's most talented food writers, making her romance debut. 'Off Menu,' by Amy Rosen, ECW Press, $24.95. Our heroine is Ruthie, a professionally adrift 20-something who inherits a nice chunk of change when her beloved grandmother (and noted dispenser of life advice, like 'Never buy green bananas, and never wear banana yellow') dies in a Jet Ski accident. It's enough money for her to quit her job and follow her bliss — that would be food — all the way to a year studying at Toronto's French cooking academy. On her first day, she's partnered with Jeff, a dreamy musician who irritatingly has a girlfriend who has the temerity to be both pretty and nice. The fallout from this — and all the hijinks in between — are told to us by Ruthie, chatting away Bridget Jones-style in her diary. The real love story here, of course, is the food. Whether Rosen is shouting out fictional Toronto spots — pistachio sandwich cookies from Cafe Forno, tofu with garlic sauce from Legendary Asian — or writing about dishes Ruthie prepares so vividly the smells practically waft from the pages, this is a book filled with good eating. Come for the giggles and mishaps (accidentally icing a carrot cake with cocaine!), stay for a lemon meringue pie made with tea biscuits and condensed milk that sounds so easy and delicious you actually wrote down the recipe to try this weekend. You'll love this if you liked: 'Julie & Julia' by Julie Powell. Spice level: Habanero, but only in small, infrequent doses. Tropes: Unrequited love. Noreen Nanja Random House Canada, 368 pages, $26 If you've already gobbled up (even reread) this year's Carley Fortune (very good, maybe even her best yet), we've got just the Canadian debut to fill that emotional-romance-on-a-cottage-country-lake-shaped hole in your heart. 'The Summers Between Us,' by Noreen Nanja, Random House Canada, $26. 'The Summers Between Us' is the story of first love's second chance after a 15-year separation, told as a nuanced exploration of the cross-cultural differences that can sometimes make people go their separate ways. In this case, that means Lia — the high-achieving daughter of immigrant parents — dutifully dating someone her mother approves of, while secretly pining for the boy that she fell for during long, heady teenage summers at her cottage. She never thought she'd return there, but life has other plans — and that boy from Pike Bay turned into a rather dreamy man. You'll love this if you liked: 'Every Summer After' by Carley Fortune. Spice level: More sweet and yearning than spicy and steamy. Tropes: Your classic 'we fell in love as teenagers, but fate forced us apart and now here we are as adults who never quite got over that cataclysmic first love.' 'Only Between Us,' by Ellie K. Wilde, Simon & Schuster, $25.99. Ellie K. Wilde Simon & Schuster, 416 pages, $25.99 We couldn't compile this list without a sports romance. First draft pick on our roster? Canadian phenom Ellie K. Wilde's latest instalment in her series set in the small town of Oakwood Bay. This time, our heroine is a former WAG desperately trying to save her family's business and smart enough to realize that fake-dating one of the hottest football players of the century could be her ticket to turning things around. This scheme has something in it for our hero too, as he's trying to make a comeback and could use a bit of good publicity. We really aren't spoiling anything when we say things get complicated — feelings develop between two people who pretend to be married while being secretly attracted to each other (what a plot twist) — and, also not a shocker if you've read her other work, pretty hot. You'll love this if you liked: Tessa Bailey's 'Fangirl Down.' Spice level: What they refer to on romance subreddits as 'explicit door open' — meaning trés, trés chaud. Tropes: Fake dating.
Los Angeles Times
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Looking for an escape? Here are 16 romance novels to read this summer
In a world of chaos, books offer an escape. Now, more than ever, we need novels that transport us into a great romance, whether it be set in a fantasy world of witches and pirates, a hotel on the Amalfi Coast, a country on the verge of revolution, in the cockpit of a plane or in a 17th century French castle. Whether you're in the mood for the comfort of instant love and happily ever after, romantasy with swords and sorcery, steamy historical fiction, literary takes on complex relationships or cheeky novels that set you tingling, the summer of 2025 offers all of that and more. To get you started, here are 16 books to read at the beach, in the bathtub, in the backyard or in stolen moments waiting in the school pickup line or on your lunch break. Consider Yourself Kissed By Jessica StanleyRiverhead: 336 pages, $30(May 27) Life in London is culture shock for Coralie after growing up in Australia. When she rescues a 4-year-old girl from drowning, it turns a traumatic incident into a meet-cute with the girl's dad, Adam. Their burgeoning relationship leads Coralie from Oz straight to happily ever after. But what happens in the 'ever after' part? When their relationship stutters at the 10-year mark, can they find their way to a new form of happiness? This novel invites you to eat Tim Tams as you sip comedic tea. Summerhouse By Yiğit KaraahmetSoho Crime: 352 pages, $29(May 27) A love triangle can sometimes put the spice back in a long marriage … or it can inspire a riveting murder plot. In Karaahmet's suspenseful marriage story, Fehmi and Şener have achieved the near-impossible: the gay couple has been together for 40 years in repressive Turkey. But simmering domestic tensions are set to a rolling boil by Fehmi's increasing fascination with the troubled teenager next door. 'Summerhouse' is redolent of the Mediterranean atmosphere of a Highsmith plot: sharp, spicy and humor black as night. Winging It With You By Chip PonsG.P. Putnam's Sons: 384 pages, $19(June 10) The quest for fame makes strange bedfellows and stranger reality show contestants. In this case, it's a bed shared by Theo Fernandez, who just lost his job as a pilot, and Asher Bennett, who just got dumped by his boyfriend. When the two sit next to each other at the airport bar, they decide to pose as a couple for 'The Epic Trek,' a round-the-world travel-competition reality TV show. What starts out as romantic roleplay becomes love that will upend their lives. Writing Mr. Right By Alina KhawajaMira: 304 pages, $19(June 10) Ziya Khan is living the life of most aspiring writers: She works a day job that pays the bills while spending her nights writing novels. Despite her hard work, her manuscripts are met with constant rejection (girl, same) and she vows to give up. Then she wakes up to find Aashiq, her writing muse made flesh. He has only one purpose: to inspire and push Ziya to keep writing and pursue her passion. When the two fall in love, the romance threatens to distract her from her art. Love, Coffee, and Revolution By Stefanie LederBlackstone: 282 pages, $29(June 10) Dee Blum is an idealistic student who drops out of college to lead eco-tours in Costa Rica, much to her family's disapproval. Dee is happy in her new life and when she meets two men, everything sizzles. But Dee's naive views of both romance and of doing right are complicated by a dangerous organization presenting itself as the 'good guys.' What will she do next and will the decision smother all of that romantic fire? Room on the Sea By André AcimanFarrar, Straus & Giroux: 272 pages, $28(June 24) Aciman, whose 'Call Me by Your Name' slow-burned the summer of 2007 (and again when adapted to the big screen in 2017), has written three romantic novellas, combined here into a single volume. 'Mariana' is about the passion between a nun and an aristocrat, based on a 17th century volume of correspondence. 'The Gentleman From Peru' takes place in a hotel where a group of friends are spellbound by a stranger's tale of thwarted romance. And 'Room on the Sea' follows a man and a woman thrown together in a jury pool who are drawn to its deeper ends. Each of the novellas are just the perfect length for a single afternoon. A Treachery of Swans By A. B. PoranekMargaret K. McElderry Books: 368 pages, $20(June 24) Poranek's sapphic twist on 'Swan Lake' is also a murder mystery and a fantasy. When Odile, the daughter of a sorcerer, is sent to steal the king's crown, she must first infiltrate his court. There, she transmutes noblewoman Marie d'Odette into a swan and assumes her identity. Odile woos the crown prince, but a murder at court forces her to seek out assistance from the muted swan. She unfurls her own wings of desire for the beautiful Odette. Hot Girls With Balls By Benedict NguyenCatapult: 288 pages, $28(July 1) Two Asian American trans women — Six and Green — compete on the men's pro indoor volleyball circuit. When they're not together, they communicate on their very public social media accounts. Demanding fans, who scrutinize every relationship spike and volley, and jealousy complicate their love, and together they'll face a shocking act of betrayal. Get set for this funny and very sexy off-court romp. A Bomb Placed Close to the HeartBy Nishant BatshaEcco: 304 pages, $28(July 1) Love is its own act of resistance in repressive times. Here romantic passion combines with revolution in a historical fiction sure to light up readers' rebel hearts. Cora Trent, a graduate student in 1917 California, meets Indra Mukherjee, a revolutionary who has recently arrived from India. When America chooses to join World War I, the government prosecutes dissidents and silences protests. Harsh national policies lead to imprisonment and deportation for those caught speaking out. Will the lovers survive being made fugitives on the run? These Summer Storms By Sarah MacLeanBallantine: 400 pages, $30(July 8) Turns out that money and toxic families go together like peeled grapes and the finest Roquefort when MacLean combines them. Cast out of her family, Alice Storm returns to attend her father's funeral. She is forced to stay on her family's island estate as the patriarch's will stipulates conditions that must be played out before anyone can leave. Her father's second-in-command, the handsome Jack Dean, insists family members play fair in obeying their father's will. Alice breaks all the rules when she tests the family game's referee. Love Is a War Song By Danica NavaBerkley: 336 pages, $19(July 22) Opposites attract in this story of a spoiled pop princess and a cowboy. Posing on the cover of Rolling Stone while wearing almost nothing but a feathered war bonnet was supposed to mark Avery's national success and celebrate her pride as a member of the Muscogee tribe. The backlash makes her a laughingstock and scuttles her career. In exile at her grandmother's Oklahoma ranch, she meets Lucas Iron Eyes, who has been working since he was 16 and has no time for stroking her bruised ego. But when someone threatens the ranch, the two unite to save it. The romantic sparks set the whole prairie ablaze. The Game Plan By Kristen CallihanCanary Street: 352 pages, $18(July 29) Hot sex and feisty romance give readers a zing in the story of an NFL athlete who falls for the girl next door. Ethan Dexter looks like a mountain man hunk, but in his private life, he's lost in the wilderness when it comes to women. What folks don't know is that he's entirely focused on Fiona Mackenzie, who treats him like he's just another guy in their social group. When Dex makes his move, will Fiona block or punt? Once Upon a Time in Dollywood By Ashley JordanBerkley: 448 pages, $19(Aug. 5) Jordan's debut is an exhilarating climb through Tennessee's mountains and the depths of passion. Eve's increasing success as a playwright begins to short-circuit her life, so she seeks a quiet starlight writing retreat — or permanent exile — in the hills. Her neighbor, Jamie, wants his own life as a single dad after the end of a bruising custody battle. Will either one of them give up their peace to experience the pulse-pounding thrill of plunging into love? The Sun and the Moon By Rebekah FaubionBerkley: 368 pages, $19(Aug. 12) Cadence has found a happy life as a park ranger in Maine. It's a lot sunnier than the icy shadow of her celebrity psychic mother. When Madame Moira reaches out to Cadence to announce her upcoming nuptials, she reluctantly agrees to attend her engagement party. There she meets Sydney, the pilot daughter of her stepfather-to-be. Their plot to dig holes in their parents' love garden entangles them in the tendrils of their own blooming feelings. Love Is an Open Book By Chandra BlumbergCanary Street Press: 352 pages, $19(Aug. 12) Blumberg totally understood the assignment when she set out to write one of romance's favorite types of stories. Her tale of best friends — Mia, a romance novelist who is cynical about love and unable to write, and Gavin, who thinks he can help her get her mojo back — is a frisky delight. They create writing exercises in which they act out scenes based on different romance novel styles. Can the two tell the difference between playacting and following their hearts? The Sea Witch By Eva LeighCanary Street Press: 448 pages, $19(Aug. 26) Leigh has penned a pirate romantasy with an ultra-hot relationship at its center. Alys Tanner has been condemned as a witch in 18th century New England and escapes to captain an all-female crew of sorcerers. Taken prisoner and brought on board the ship the Sea Witch is Ben Priestley, a British naval navigator. Beset by monsters, chased by the Navy and attacked by other pirates, Ben and Alys battle together against the odds.
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley review – a delightfully grounded romance
There are not many romantic novels that include Brexit, Boris Johnson's ICU stay and the 'Edstone'. Then again, not many political novels begin with a classic meet-cute. Jessica Stanley's UK debut, Consider Yourself Kissed, is – to misquote Dorothy L Sayers – either a political story with romantic interludes, or a romance novel with political interludes. It is also the kind of book that, for a certain kind of reader, will immediately become a treasure. That meet-cute, then: Coralie, a young Australian copywriter, and Adam, a single dad, swap homes for a single night. Adam looks like a shorter, younger Colin Firth; Coralie waits in vain for him to tell her that she looks 'like Lizzy Bennet, a known fact at school'. Coralie considers Adam's neat bookcase of political biographies, including – to her joy – those of Australian politicians. Adam considers Coralie's piles of 'those green-spine books by women'. They fall in love, books-first, fairly instantly. And the reader who knows immediately that battered green spines mean Virago Press, and that what is being implied by Coralie's careful collection is key to not just her character, but the character of this novel as a whole – that reader will also be irresistibly, hopelessly in love by chapter three. (If this meet-cute does nothing for you, you're in the wrong place.) This is a book for people who, like Coralie, love Nancy Mitford, the Cazalet Chronicles and The Line of Beauty. (Maybe also a hint of Kate Atkinson in the liberal use of ironic parentheses?) That these are Stanley's literary inspirations is so evident that her novel almost feels like a kind of homage: not just in the funny, brisk, tender texture of her writing, but also in the upper middle-class world she details with such care. There is a clear Elizabeth Jane Howard-ness to Stanley's fine latticework of family relationships and objects, and the way those objects – for example, the precisely detailed contents of Adam's daughter's backpack ('Five pens, two notebooks, a little skateboard … a fawn soft toy dog with enormous eyes, some shriveled conkers, and a slim work of Usborne nonfiction called Animals at War') - build up to a precise evocation of time and place. What Alan Hollinghurst did with a wedding-cake pile in Notting Hill, Stanley now does for a terrace house in Hackney. (Such is London. Such is inflation.) Adam's house – which becomes, practically if not strictly speaking financially, Coralie's also – is a lovely and enviable place. There are artistic lesbian grandmothers to paint scenes (from Animals at War, obviously!) on bedroom doors; vintage baby-changing tables; pink workrooms and yellow nurseries. And yet within this rarefied world, there are clear cracks: one might even say universal cracks, of the kind that not even adoring Adam and cautious Coralie can intellectualise. It is hard to write about the unfairness of Adam and Coralie's relationship without wanting to excuse it, somehow, on behalf of two fictional characters. Adam just wants to succeed! He's trying! When Coralie tells him to change, he tries! They make each other (and the reader) laugh; have great sex; are intellectual and emotional equals! I loved Adam; I loved Coralie; I loved their relationship and their family and their life. But when Coralie storms out to sleep in 'what used to be … the spare room, but which (somehow) … had become Adam's study', that '(somehow)' leaps off the page. (I have long noticed that in a house with one spare room and a heterosexual couple who both work from home, the spare room is where he works – with a door that shuts and perhaps even a designated desk – and she works somewhere else. Always for good reasons, but always.) Coralie knows all of this. She has 'read novels' about this. And yet it's happening to her. 'How could the world … be made fair,' she wonders, 'when two people who loved each other couldn't even manage a life?' This is a book about making a better world, globally and domestically – and whether, perhaps, those two might amount to the same thing. Stanley is clearly deeply interested in global affairs – her first novel, published only in Australia, detailed the death of a cabinet minister – and it does not always work seamlessly for the regular reader. Sentences that begin, 'Sadly, developments in 2020 …' can feel more lecture than pleasure: I hate to think about Brexit as much as Adam wants to mention Brexit. And yet by grounding the novel in such a specific time and place, Stanley makes us believe that at least for these two characters – and perhaps the rest of us, too – the political and personal are inextricably braided together. How can we make a better world? How can we be better to each other? Perhaps, then, Consider Yourself Kissed is neither truly a romance novel nor a political novel – merely a very human novel. And a very good one. Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley is published by Hutchinson Heinemann (£16.99). To support the Guardian and the Observer buy a copy at Delivery charges may apply. Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion
Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The politics of love — this summer's rom-com must-read
Forget Emma and Dexter, move over Marianne and Connell — the summer of 2025 belongs to Coralie and Adam. They are the protagonists of Jessica Stanley's Consider Yourself Kissed, a sparkily enjoyable romantic comedy that, like One Day and Normal People, leaves you feeling bereft at the final page. The couple meet when Coralie, a 29-year-old Australian newly living in London, rescues Adam's four-year-old daughter, Zora, from the pond in Victoria Park, east London, which she plops into while admiring the ducks. Coralie is a copywriter and aspiring novelist, funny and bookish. Adam is 37, divorced, a political journalist, and, in his own words (a red flag, this), looks 'like a young Colin Firth'. Over a decade, we follow them as they fall
