Insatiable Hunger

Love triumphs over obligation in this touching but belabored friends-to-lovers contemporary from St. John (Red Carpet Redemption). Jessie Acosta and Ryan Hathaway were childhood best friends, and, though they drifted apart as teenagers, Ryan has nursed feelings for Jessie ever since. After a devastating financial loss for the Acosta family while Jessie was in high school, Jessie’s father’s friend, Jack O’Malley, offered financial support, a kind gesture that inadvertently left Jessie feeling obligated to reciprocate when Jack’s son, Hugh, showed an interest in her. Jessie and Hugh have been together for a decade, but work keeps Hugh in London while Jessie remains in Falling Brook, N.Y., leaving little in the way of personal time, support, or passion. When Jessie reconnects with Ryan at their high school reunion, sparks fly as Jessie sees Ryan in a romantic light for the first time. Their chemistry is undeniable, but Jessie’s desire to follow her heart is complicated by her struggles to put herself before her family’s expectations and her sense of obligation to Hugh. Steadfast Ryan is a swoon-worthy hero, but Jessie’s indecisiveness and lack of backbone grates. Readers will need to put up with a lackluster love triangle to get to the satisfying happily ever after. Agent: Christine Witthohn, Book Cents Literary. (July)