A tale that initially seems poised to challenge Cinderella conventions but fails to fulfill that promise, as if it wanted a...
In the second novel in the Sins for All Seasons series, a duke looking for his runaway bride stumbles into the path of a Whitechapel businesswoman and finds himself rethinking his arranged marriage.
In a scene reminiscent of Lisa Kleypas’ beloved Dreaming of You, this Victorian romance by Heath (Beyond Scandal and Desire, 2018, etc.) begins with Antony "Thorne" Coventry being rescued from a mugging in the London slums by Gillie Trewlove. A tavern owner with a heart of gold and illegitimate parentage, she nurses the stranger back to health in her apartment. The reader is told that her solicitousness is partly due to her attraction to his naked (mostly unconscious) self, and he returns her feelings in between bouts of passing out. After a few discomfiting passages about this insta-lust and at least two in which the sole action consists of Gillie being startled by any move Thorne makes, it's a relief when he recovers and leaves. The plot is then padded by his decision to return to Whitechapel, which Gillie knows better than he does, and hire his new object of desire to locate his absconding fiancée—as one does. The nunlike, independent, workaholic Gillie, who has every reason to be wary of upper-class men, agrees to this scheme because she finds him inexplicably fascinating. Yet it's hard to like Thorne, who is not a rake but somehow shoddier—a good guy who is nevertheless more interested in sex than in thinking about its consequences for a single, working woman. Gillie, written as a gruff do-gooder, is more interesting at the beginning than after she gets involved with this bland romance-novel aristocrat. Nonetheless, the story might please fans of the “London slum” subset of historical romance, of which Elizabeth Hoyt’s Wicked Intentions is a notable example.
A tale that initially seems poised to challenge Cinderella conventions but fails to fulfill that promise, as if it wanted a claim to progressive politics but could not imagine a real alternative to gilded-cage tradition.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267604-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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