Publishers Weekly
07/03/2023
It’s a summer of second-chances in Lopez’s sparkling standalone second Milagro Street romance (after After Hours on Milagro Street). After Gillian, a bruja and the eldest Armstead sister, divorces her rich East Coast husband of 10 tumultuous years, she finds herself broke, unemployed, and unable to access her magic, and returns to her family home in Freedom, Kans., for the summer with her two children in tow. Gillian hopes to lie low, but she’s almost immediately roped into a part time job with the Freedom Historical Society—where she’s forced to share her workspace with the gorgeous Nicky Mendoza, her childhood friend and ex-lover, now a famous artist planning a mural in town. The longer the pair works together, the harder it is to deny their rekindling attraction, and Nicky’s support may be just the spark Gillian needs to regain both her magic and the life she wants. Gillian and Nicky’s slow-burning relationship is sprinkled with sporadic yet steamy love scenes, and the injection of some supernatural elements into the series adds fun. Gillian reclaiming her brujeria forms the empowering heart of this tale, but there’s unfortunately little room to develop Nicky as thoroughly, leaving him feeling comparatively two-dimensional. Still, there’s plenty here to draw in small-town romance fans. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"Full Moon Over Freedom is a layered, complex look at love and identity and the complications of starting over when you're haunted by both the near and distant past. Gillian is a fully realized heroine—fierce, flawed, wounded, and so determined—and readers won't soon forget her and the magic she brings to the page.” –Kate Clayborn, author of Georgie, All Along
“A masterfully crafted second chance love story that aches as deliciously as it burns. With its deft blend of history, inspired social commentary, phenomenal character development, and scorching chemistry, this book reads like Laura Esquivel’s and Susan Elizabeth Philips’s perfectly sexy love child... The kind of book that reminds me why this genre owns my heart. –Adriana Herrera, USA TODAY bestselling author of A Caribbean Heiress in Paris
"Small town childhood friends to lovers, with a dash of second chance and a generous helping of heat? Yes, please! Full Moon Over Freedom is luscious and magical and unapologetically grown-up. Lopez is remaking the romance genre one gorgeously sexy book at a time." —Sierra Simone, USA Today bestselling author of Priest
“It’s a summer of second-chances in Lopez’s sparkling standalone second Milagro Street romance. [...] There’s plenty here to draw in small-town romance fans.” —Publishers Weekly
"This book is everything you want in a contemporary romance —the sexiest cinnamon roll of a hero, a heroine willing to take a good hard look at herself, and a little bit of magic." - Elizabeth Everett, author of A Lady’s Formula for Love
"Both spellbinding and sexy, this romance is an adventurous tale of the cursed and the blessed, and the community that raised them." —Library Journal
“This is the work of a writer who knows and celebrates her community and her culture. It’s also a love story that embraces the unusual, celebrates the unsung and makes you believe the words of another famous Kansan: There’s no place like home.”—BookPage
Entertainment Weekly
An author worth returning to again and again.”
USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone
Angelina Lopez is the new queen of small-town romance—and of our hearts!”
Library Journal
★ 08/01/2023
Magical Gillian Armstead-Bancroft returns to her Mexican American family broken, unemployed, and ashamed. The husband who she flaunted turned out to be abusive and a cheater, and her stake in the family bar is now part of the divorce blackmail that also includes a nasty battle for custody of their two children. Returning to her large and boisterous clan in Freedom, KS, also means returning to her childhood flame Nicky Mendoza and the knowledge that her magic is gone and she is the curse ruining everything around her. Gillian will have to try to calm the ghosts, who seem to block her magic and good sense, and see if she can find her place with her family—and Nicky. Both spellbinding and sexy, this romance is an adventurous tale of the cursed and the blessed, and the community that raised them. VERDICT In this second installment of the "Milagro Street" series, Lopez (After Hours on Milagro Street) interweaves history, Hispanic culture, magic, and passion in a modern-day love story.—Judy Garner
OCTOBER 2023 - AudioFile
Stacy Gonzalez's fierce narration of Lopez's second-chance romance is a stormy yet satisfying listen. Fleeing an emotionally abusive ex, Gillian Armstead-Bancroft returns to her hometown of Freedom, Kansas, where she has an awkward reunion with her first lover, Nicky Mendoza. They then spend the summer working together on a downtown mural project. Gonzalez flexes her narrative power as the story moves from soft, revelatory passages to scenes of their shared past and the visceral punch of trauma and loss. She teases out Gillian's connection to Latin American folk magic in a gentle, compelling fashion. Gonzalez tracks the rising tension with Gillian's Mexican American family and impeccably delivers the dialogue between the couple. Gonzalez's boundless sensitivity to the longings of the heart completely transforms the story through her audio performance. C.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
