WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 57Review_FICTION
for Me) sees the sweet reunion of a pair of
single parents. Childhood best friends
Teagan Berkeley and Derek Hartz never
disclosed their mutual crushes before
Teagan’s unplanned pregnancy with her
college boyfriend, Derek’s marriage, and
his wife’s dis-
comfort with
their friendship
put them out of
contact for over
a decade. But
when Derek and
his daughter
move back to
Chincoteague
Island, Va., fol-
lowing his wife’s
death, the pair reunite amid small-town
gossip and the clashing personalities of
their two teenage girls. Flashbacks to the
mutual pining of their teen years and
subsequent falling out slowly build the
reader’s understanding of the emotional
baggage and miscommunication beneath
the surface of their present-day interactions,
making their eventual love confessions
that much more satisfying, though the
subsequent sex scenes are disappointingly
bland. Some readers will find the relatively
painless conflict resolution unrealistic, but
most will enjoy the wish fulfillment of a
story that sees long-broken hearts heal
with barely a scar. This poignant story will
gratify hopeless romantics. Agent: Kimberly
Brower, Brower Literary & Management Inc.
(Mar.)
His Secret Mistress:
A Logical Man’s Guide to
Dangerous Women Novel
Cathy Maxwell. Avon, $7.99 mass market
(368p) ISBN 978-0-06-289726-8
A painful misunderstanding comes to
light in this delightful Regency series
launch from Maxwell (The Duke That I
Marry). Brandon Balfour, a 36-year-old
bachelor, is a prominent member of the
anti-marriage Logical Men’s Society and
still smarting from a heartbreak in his
youth. When Bran’s sister, the Dowager
Duchess of Winderton, insists he pay off
the older actor that her son has grown
infatuated with to convince her to leave the
boy alone, Bran laughs off her concern—
until he learns the actor in question is
Kate Addison, his own former lover. Bran
demands that Kate immediately leave the
town of Maidenshop or he’ll send the
magistrate after her. Surprised at seeing
Bran again, spunky Kate refuses to go and
confronts Bran about just how badly the
disastrous end of their relationship hurt
her. Bran is stunned by her anger, believing
he is the one who was jilted 15 years ago.
As the dark truth of what really happened
comes to light, the couple’s verbal sparring
and well-matched wits hide their deep
emotional vulnerability and make for
electric chemistry. Readers will find it
easy to root for their happy reunion.
Agent: Robin Rue, Writer’s House. (Mar.)Swipe Right for a Cowboy
Karen Foley. Tule, $3.99 e-book (258p)
ISBN 978-1-951786-15-1
Foley (the Glacier Creek series)
launches her Riverrun Ranch series with
this sweet, slight romance about finding
love and family in unexpected places. City
girl Emmaline Claiborne’s ex-boyfriend is
getting married to her sister and she turns
to a dating app to find an escort to the wed-
ding. When her first choice falls through,
Emma asks hunky bull rider Cort Channing
to pose as her boyfriend, accompanying
her from New York City to her father’s
ranch. Though a cowboy is the last thing
glamorous Emma thought she wanted,
the pair quickly uncover an authentic
connection beneath the deception. The
couple’s scenes as Emma’s rediscovers the
joys of her hometown of Last Stand, Tex.,
are charming, but the compressed time-
line of the wedding weekend cuts short
the romantic tension. Also frustrating is
Emma’s reluctance to confront her sister
and ex, an attempt to save face that registers
as a lack of agency. And when obstacles to
Emma and Cort’s happiness eventually
arise, Emma’s confident brothers and
domineering mother do more to steer the
narrative than Emma herself. The presence
of these commanding characters is good
news for future installments, but readers
will wish Emma showed more backbone.
Still, Last Stand’s inviting atmosphere will
have readers eager to return. (Mar.)Great and Precious Things
Rebecca Yarros. Entangled Amara, $15.99
trade paper (400p) ISBN 978-1-64063-816-7
Yarros (The Last Letter) successfully
weaves an emotionally fraught story of aveteran’s reluctant homecoming and his
reunion with the woman who has always
held his heart. Camden Daniels blames
himself for the death of his younger brother
Sully while both were deployed in
Afghanistan. Upon his return home to
Alba, Colo., he discovers everyone else
blames him for the death, too, and he leaves
town after Sully’s funeral. Six years later,
Cam ventures back to help his brother
Xander care for their father, who has
Alzheimer’s. Upon arrival, Cam is reunited
with Willow Bradley, the only woman he
has ever loved. But Willow was Sully’s
girlfriend, and Cam is convinced he will
never be worthy of her. But as they work
together on a project for the historical
society, Cam and Willow confront their
shared past and uncover secrets in Cam’s
family that drastically change their rela-
tionship. The pathos of Cam’s story is
heavy-handed, but Willow’s self-confidence
and compassion, along with Yarros’s frank
confrontation of the realities of war and
memory loss, ground this story in emotion
and keep the tone from growing maudlin.
With sharp characterization and slow-
building revelations, Yarros crafts a moving
story that’s sure to please romance fans.
Agent: Louise Fury, the Bent Agency. (Mar.)I’ll Be Watching You
Leslie A. Kelly. Forever, $7.99 mass market
(384p) ISBN 978-1-5387-3514-5
Kelly’s Hollywood Heat series launch,
previously self-published as Watching You,
entices with looming danger and sizzling
attraction between a Hollywood director
and an aspiring screenwriter. Reece
Winchester, a former child star from a
showbiz family hiding some long-buried
secrets, left acting to become a director.
While visiting his aunt’s art gallery in
Venice Beach, Calif., he becomes enamored
with Jessica Jensen, a beautiful redhead at
the gallery to promote her artist sister, Liza.
Reece introduces himself at Liza’s subse-
quent show, and the instant attraction
between him and Jess leads to a steamy
encounter that is cut short when a gunshot
intended for Reece shatters the gallery’s
window. Determined to keep Jess close and
safe, Reece offers her the internship she
needs to complete her screenwriting degree.
Jess accepts, resolving to keep their relation-
ship professional from that point on, but
their chemistry proves impossible to ignore,