66 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JULY 29, 2019
Review_FICTION
ship is Dutch
royalty, they
agree with port
authorities to
take him to
England to
meet his fate.
Sarah and
Martín keep
winding up in
compromising
positions,
unable to tame their desire for each other.
Martín wants to keep Sarah at a distance to
protect the secrets of his painful past and
true identity, but that doesn’t stop the
forgiving woman from getting under his
skin and arousing emotions he’s never
experienced. Blackmail makes its way into
the ballroom, but Martín is a formidable
adversary backed by powerful, loyal
friends. Spencer’s brilliant and original tale
of the high seas bursts with wonderfully
real protagonists, plenty of action, and
passionate romance. Agent: Jessica Alvarez,
BookEnds Literary. (Oct.)★ The Paris Orphan
Natasha Lester. Forever, $16.99 trade paper
(480p) ISBN 978-1-5387-6489-3
Lester (The Paris Seamstress) reveals secrets
from a WWII romance in this rich and
riveting novel. In 2004 France, Australian
art handler D’Arcy Hallworth has been
hired to pack up photographs at the French
estate of Lieu de Reves for shipment to
Australia for an exhibition. She meets
American Josh Vaughn, the photographer’s
agent, and discovers that her mother,
Victorine, may be the little girl in some of
the photos from the 1940s. Romance
blossoms between D’Arcy and Josh as she
seeks to uncover the truth behind her
mother’s appearance in the photos. In a
parallel 1942 narrative, Jessica May is a
New York model whose stalled career
leads her to become a photojournalist,
working as a war correspondent in Europe.
There she meets Dan Hallworth, a hand-
some, respected American officer. Lester’s
novel is modeled after real-life characters
and is imbued with realism, highlighting
the horrors of WWII and the discrimina-
tion faced by female correspondents.
Readers will become engrossed from the
very first page as mystery and romance are
expertly combined into one emotionallycharged, unforgettable story. Agent: Jacinta
di Mase, Jacinta di Mase Management. (Sept.)Love on Lexington Avenue
Lauren Layne. Gallery, $16 trade paper
(288p) ISBN 978-1-5011-9160-2
This strong sequel to Passion on Park
Avenue will appeal to slice-of-life romance
readers as well as fans of HGTV marathons.
A year after the unexpected death of Claire
Hayes’s cheating husband, she decides she
needs a change in her life and begins
renovating the home she and her husband
shared. When she hires contractor Scott
Turner to do the heavy lifting, she’s not
sure whether she’s up to dealing with his
gruff personality, and she also has no idea
how to handle the emotions his presence
inspires in her. At first glance, Scott and
Claire seem like opposites. He’s all flannel
and rough edges while she’s a wealthy
widow stuck in a rut. As the remodeling
continues, they realize that they have more
in common than anyone suspects. As in
the first book, the sticky slow-burn
romance focuses on healing after an
incredible betrayal. Layne’s fans will enjoy
this venture. Agent: Nicole Resciniti, Seymour
Agency. (Sept.)The Widow of Pale Harbor
Hester Fox. Graydon, $16.99 trade paper
(352p) ISBN 978-1-5258-3426-4
Fox’s passable sophomore effort (after
2018’s The Witch of Willow Hall) sits
squarely in the gothic romance genre. In
1845, Gabriel Stone moves to Pale Harbor,
Maine, in order to take the vacant position
of minister. He’s still grieving the death
of his wife, who died in childbirth a year
prior, when he meets the mysterious and
wealthy widow Sophronia Carver, who
never leaves her home. The townsfolk
believe she murdered her husband, and
children claim she’s a witch. As Sophy
and Gabriel become closer, strange
events with similarities to Edgar Allan
Poe stories threaten their burgeoning
relationship and the wellbeing of the town.
The inclusion of Poe elements elevates
the typical “mysterious threats” plot,
and Sophy is a strong gothic heroine.
However, she’s diminished by the bland
Gabriel, who falls for her a little too
quickly considering his supposedly all-
consuming grief. Fans of gothic
romances will find this one capable butnot exceptional. (Sept.)In Safe Keeping
Victoria Sue. Dreamspinner, $11.99 mass
market (314p) ISBN 978-1-64108-210-5
Sue raises the stakes from the very first
scene of her over-the-top but enjoyable
second Heroes and Babies contemporary
(after In Safe Hands). Owen Michaels was
drugged and held captive for years by
crime boss Damien. Damien murdered
Owen’s best friend, Mary, and thought it
would be a good joke to make Owen raise
Mary’s infant daughter, Mia. At the first
opportunity, Owen took the baby and ran,
pursued by thugs while the cops failed to
protect him. Firefighter Lucas Attiker has
spent three years lamenting his inability
to rescue his own son from a fire. His guilt
is assuaged somewhat by saving Mia and
Owen from a raging Colorado forest fire,
but then Owen flees the ER with Mia and
ends up in Lucas’s spare room. Lucas offers
help, protection, and the kind of love that
Owen has always wanted. But before they
can forge a family, Lucas and Owen must
outrun the killers on their trail and over-
come the guilt they both carry. Readers
willing to overlook some melodrama and
the absence of positively portrayed women
will find earnest heroes and a romance
that is refreshingly honest in its explora-
tion of love and desire after grief. (Sept.)Holding Out
Serena Bell. Jelsba, $3.99 e-book (308p)
ISBN 978-1-73289-483-9
Bell’s fourth Returning Home con-
temporary (after To Have and to Hold)
provides a super-steamy pairing of heart-
sore protagonists struggling to put their
painful pasts behind them. Becca Drake,
24, is determined to reinvent herself from
an insecure child into a confident, self-
assured woman. Part of her transformation
includes losing
her virginity,
but she can’t
find any man
capable of
helping her out,
until she
remembers her
brother’s best
friend. Divorced
Army veteran
Griff Ambrose