Simple and trite.
A reformed playboy settles into married life with his former maid.
Maxim Trevelyan, a London playboy and newly minted Earl of Trevethick, fell in love with Alessia Demachi in the first book of the series, The Mister (2019). Alessia was trafficked from Albania and later kidnapped and rescued by Maxim. This book picks up immediately following those events, with Maxim and Alessia at her family’s home in Albania, planning to marry. The plot focuses on domestic matters: planning the wedding ceremony, securing Alessia's citizenship status, and managing Maxim's problems with the Trevethick estate. The emotional arcs are simplistic and repetitive: Over and over again Maxim wonders how to keep his new wife happy, while Alessia worries that she isn’t beautiful and cultured enough to satisfy such a renowned playboy. His family and former lovers disapprove of the match and try to disrupt the couple's happiness with undermining comments and petty schemes. After the pair returns to London, there is very little of interest to fuel the plot other than Alessia’s sudden determination to find one of the younger girls who was trafficked with her. James’ writing is choppy and discordant, shifting rapidly between narrators with only the difference in point of view—Maxim in first person and Alessia in third—to indicate a change in speaker. Maxim’s voice is uncomfortably banal. Upon seeing his bride on their wedding day, he thinks, “Dude, don’t get emotional.” Even James completists looking for a last glimmer of Fifty Shades of Grey magic are bound to be disappointed.
Simple and trite.Pub Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 9781728290270
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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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