A charming romance of seemingly mismatched partners rendered with wit and heart.
A Boston businessman and the operator of a horse rescue farm in North Carolina clash and connect in Dodd’s romance novel.
In Mimosa, North Carolina, Boston real estate developer Gideon West hangs on for dear life as a “marauding mustang,” which his local contacts suggested he ride to inspect some land, bucks wildly out of control. A mocking red-haired woman appears, saves him by grabbing the reins, and leaves without revealing her name. Gideon soon learns that she is Everest Kennedy, the daughter of Mimosa’s mayor, who operates Second Chance Farms, which takes in neglected and abused horses.Everest is looking to expand her operations, and Gideon’s interest in the area is particularly worrying to her. Visiting her father to learn more about the situation, Everest runs into Gideon again, kicking off a series of interactions that progress from wary banter (particularly on Everest’s part) to full-blown mutual attraction. Everest agrees to a short-term dating relationship, initially to keep abreast of Gideon’s plans and to fend off her friends’ urging that she get a life outside of work. The couple’s relationship moves to the next level when Gideon whisks Everest off to Boston and his amazing condo. She then faces a new crisis; Everest could never leave Mimosa, and she can’t imagine Gideon giving up his luxurious city lifestyle. Gideon becomes obsessed with an ill-fated grand gesture intended to prove his love before his business partners propose a wonderful solution.
The author unspools this tale in fast-moving short chapters that alternate between Gideon’s and Everest’s perspectives, yielding often amusing results; Everest, intoxicated by Gideon’s cologne when socializing with him in a bar, notes to herself, “I needed either to switch seats or learn how to breathe through my skin like a frog.” Gideon, used to swaggering about in tuxedos at Boston social events, wonders how “I had become the guy who, in a span of less than twelve hours, had been thoroughly emasculated by a runaway horse, shot beer out of his nose in public, and was now covered from the knees down in a different horse’s nose vomit.” The rescue and care of horses are key narrative elements, beautifully rendered in several touching and dramatic scenes that also become occasions for Everest and Gideon to further bond with and appreciate each other. The progression to love made by these very different people is presented believably, with each character’s epiphanies about their true feelings teased out in part by commentary from the colorful cohort of insightful secondary characters, including Everest’s best friend, Cammie Givens; her father, Mayor Jackson Kennedy; and Leroy, her second-in-command at the farm.Gideon’s transformation from a rather cocky eligible bachelor to gesture-making supplicant is a particularly sweet and engaging aspect of this story; even his partners, introduced as frat-boy types, reveal themselves to be surprisingly wise and loving as they help him to find happiness. Dodd also has fun with romance conventions (Gideon’s grand gesture being the chief example), which the story both follows and regards with a wink.
A charming romance of seemingly mismatched partners rendered with wit and heart.Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9798986288048
Page Count: 334
Publisher: Sugar Beaver Books, LLC
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.
An earnest grad student and a faculty member with a bit of a jerkish reputation concoct a fake dating scheme in this nerdy, STEM-filled contemporary romance.
Olive Smith and professor Adam Carlsen first met in the bathroom of Adam's lab. Olive wore expired contact lenses, reducing her eyes to temporary tears, while Adam just needed to dispose of a solution. It's a memory that only one of them has held onto. Now, nearly three years later, Olive is fully committed to her research in pancreatic cancer at Stanford University's biology department. As a faculty member, Adam's reputation precedes him, since he's made many students cry or drop their programs entirely with his bluntness. When Olive needs her best friend, Anh, to think she's dating someone so Anh will feel more comfortable getting involved with Olive's barely-an-ex, Jeremy, she impulsively kisses Adam, who happens to be standing there when Anh walks by. But rumors start to spread, and the one-time kiss morphs into a fake relationship, especially as Adam sees there's a benefit for him. The university is withholding funds for Adam's research out of fear that he'll leave for a better position elsewhere. If he puts down more roots by getting involved with someone, his research funds could be released at the next budgeting meeting in about a month's time. After setting a few ground rules, Adam and Olive agree that come the end of September, they'll part ways, having gotten what they need from their arrangement. Hazelwood has a keen understanding of romance tropes and puts them to good use—in addition to fake dating, Olive and Adam are an opposites-attract pairing with their sunny and grumpy personalities—but there are a couple of weaknesses in this debut novel. Hazelwood manages to sidestep a lot of the complicated power dynamics of a student-faculty romance by putting Olive and Adam in different departments, but the impetus for their fake relationship has much higher stakes for Adam. Olive does reap the benefits of dating a faculty member, but in the end, she's still the one seemingly punished or taunted by her colleagues; readers may have been hoping for a more subversive twist. For a first novel, there's plenty of shine here, with clear signs that Hazelwood feels completely comfortable with happily-ever-afters.
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-33682-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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