A fun read filled with intriguing history and featuring an amusing final surprise.
Wilding offers a romantic historical novel that’s set against the backdrop of the 1715 Jacobite Rising to place James Stuart on the British throne.
In 1715, Elizabeth Hartwell is expelled from the court of the recently crowned King George I. After the death of her court physician father, she took over ministering to Queen Anne, but now Anne has died, and supporters of James, the pretender to the throne, are rebelling, and George has become suspicious of Elizabeth’s Jacobite lineage. Fortunately, Elizabeth’s Aunt Maude has received an invitation from her cousin Mary to reside with her at Holliston Castle, the estate of Mary’s brother, Ashton Wentworth, Earl of Haverdale. Elizabeth and Maude hastily escape London, headed for the North Country. Handsome, roguish bachelor Earl Wentworth, an early supporter of James, has been living in Paris in exile for years; now that he’s pledged his allegiance to George, he’s returned home, determined to refurbish his neglected castle and look after his farming tenants. He asks Elizabeth if she’d be willing to revamp its deteriorated dispensary. It’s the perfect opportunity for her to find her place and purpose, and to adjust to the more informal style of country life; plus, the attractive earl pleasantly upsets her equilibrium. The combination of political upheaval, dangerous adventure, conflicting loyalties, and potential romance keeps Wilding’s narrative moving at an entertaining pace throughout. Her attention to details of architecture, décor (“The pavilion was a pleasant respite from the afternoon sun and was luxuriously furnished with armchairs, sofas, benches and tables inlaid with floral patterns of wood and semi-precious stones”), fashion, and linguistic patterns will vividly transport readers to the early 18th century. Elizabeth is an engaging narrator who’s smart, witty, and independent. Although the bulk of the story centers on the developing relationship between her and Ashton, there’s a large cast of supporting characters—it may take readers some time to keep them all straight—with a few standouts, such as the intrepid stable hand known as Young Robbie, who repeatedly proves his mettle.
A fun read filled with intriguing history and featuring an amusing final surprise.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2023
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Business and personal proposals collide in Hazelwood’s strongest book yet.
Two people meet for a hookup before discovering they’re on opposite sides of a hostile business takeover.
Rue Siebert is used to approaching everything the same way—at a distance. Though she has good friends and professional success as a biotech engineer at Kline, a food science startup, her dating life is nonexistent. Meeting guys on apps for the occasional hookup keeps things uncomplicated, but it also means she’s never opened herself up to the possibility of a deeper connection. Enter Eli Killgore, whom Rue initially views as another one-and-done—except that he looks at her like she’s the best thing he’s ever seen. Just as Rue begins to reconsider her approach to dating, she discovers a problem she could never have anticipated. It turns out that Eli is leading a hostile takeover of Kline, and he has personal reasons for wanting to see this deal through to the bitter end. Neither expects to run into the other in the Kline office the morning after an unforgettable date, and Rue’s first instinct is to tell Eli to lose her number. Yet the harder they try to fight their mutual attraction, the more Rue and Eli keep giving in to it at the worst possible moments. Agreeing to a no-strings-attached affair is supposed to be a compromise, a way for them to get each other out of their systems, and other complications could throw a wrench into even the possibility of something deeper and more lasting. Hazelwood shows every indication of continually outdoing herself with this latest romance, her lush, evocative prose making Rue and Eli’s shared scenes dynamic and engrossing. While the story is set at a science company, allowing the author to incorporate her usual STEM backdrop, the plot is rooted more in boardroom warfare than in the lab. Dual perspectives also provide a change of pace from Hazelwood’s previous books, though having Rue’s sections narrated in the first person and Eli’s in a close third can feel incongruous. Still, this is a stirring romance.
Business and personal proposals collide in Hazelwood’s strongest book yet.Pub Date: June 11, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550427
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
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