Grade: A-
Tropes: second chance; forced proximity; forbidden; found family; workplace
I fell in love with Kandi Steiner’s romances through two books: On the Way to You and Black Number Four. When you consider the scope of her work, you might be surprised I didn’t lead with A Love Letter to Whiskey, one of her most popular and well-known romances. But it was those earlier stories that first hinted at the genius behind her writing. Those early characters, complicated in their characterization, were mixed with a manageable level of angst that grabbed my attention. Her way of creating self-aware characters with real foibles, characters who face the narrative’s difficulties with honesty and complexity, captivated me. There was something fresh about her voice that kept me coming back for more. I bring this up because her newest book, Love Overboard, reminds me of exactly that.
While the story of her FMC and MMC, Ember and Finn, is anything but simple, Steiner’s voice is. This romance calls to mind her popular Palm South University series in the way it is written. At the start of each chapter, Steiner anchors us in the book’s reality-show setting, and it also feels like a playful nod to her own past as she experiments with narrative form.
Another strength of Love Overboard is the way Steiner underscores the complexities of reality-show life. We are reminded throughout that editing determines public perception, and that perception has real consequences for the people living inside it. It would have been easy to treat the reality show backdrop as mere set dressing. Ember and Finn’s individual journeys are compelling enough on their own, but grounding the story in the impact of public perception on a relationship born of that world makes the book feel relevant and real in ways romance does not always aim to.
The heart of this romance, though, is the character journeys of Ember and Finn. Ember’s struggle as a people-pleaser, particularly her need to satisfy her father, is deeply relatable. It takes much of the story for her to recognize that pleasing him would ultimately require erasing herself, and it is Finn’s love that buoys her as she arrives at that realization. Finn’s journey is less prominent, partly by design since Love Overboard is told through Ember’s point of view. His challenge in owning a restaurant built on the memory of his grandmother is meaningful, but without his perspective on the page, his evolution feels secondary to hers and doesn’t carry the same emotional weight.
Love Overboard is the kind of romance that entertains and titillates in equal measure. There is something for everyone here, with a full cast of characters creating conflict while also championing Ember and Finn. And despite the strife they encounter, there is something wonderfully unproblematic about their journey together. Steiner’s ability to write about two people who yearn for each other and to bring them into a gorgeously drawn happy ending makes this book a genuine must-read.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 