Love story

Kelk (Love Me Do) explores the fine line between love and hate in this spicy and self-aware contemporary. Sophie Taylor, the daughter of a renowned editor and a famously ruthless literary critic, works as a primary school teacher while hiding from her snobbish parents that she is Este Cox, author of the wildly popular romance novel Butterflies. The only person who knows the truth is her editor, who helps her keep the secret from the publishing house's hunky creative director, Joe Walsh, during a drunken karaoke night in London. After this near-miss, Sophie is shocked when Joe turns up at her parents' country home for her father's weekend-long 60th birthday bash, accompanied by his own father, her dad's longtime rival. Sophie and Joe's sparring leads to them sharing a memorable night together, and Sophie even confesses her nom de plume. But their intense, heady romance is derailed when Sophie discovers that Joe has not been entirely honest about his relationship status, a twist that will disappoint some readers. Sophie is a wonderfully genre-savvy heroine who cheekily identifies the tropes playing out in her own life. The family drama, meanwhile, provides ample tension to keep the pages turning. The result is as riveting as it is emotional. (Sept.)