This decidedly filmable update of the classic romance—without zombies or vampires—will charm lovers of Jane Austen and chick...
Professor Anne Corey is stunned to learn that her ex-fiance has been hired as Fairfax College’s new president. Her troubles are only beginning.
In her debut novel, Sonneborn retells Jane Austen’s Persuasion, setting it in the rarified world of academia, where Anne’s brilliant teaching and love of 19th-century women’s novels—Persuasion is indeed her favorite—are threatened by the brutal circus of three-year contracts and the dangling sword of publish-or-perish. Supported by her best friend, Larry—a bracingly witty Henry James scholar who has embroiled himself in a clandestine affair with a married, rather dim, but gorgeous actor who's playing Rochester in a movie called Jane Vampire, based on the Brontë novel—Anne has embraced her career. Although it's nearly impoverished her, it has helped her forget Adam Martinez, her college sweetheart, whom she abandoned on the eve of graduation. Now that Adam has taken the reins at Fairfax, Anne will have to face her past: why did she leave him? And does she still have feelings for him? Meanwhile, brash Man Booker Prize–winning author Rick Chasen has swooped into Anne’s life. A motorcycle-riding bad boy with stories to tell of surviving an IED in Fallujah and fomenting rebellion among college professors, Rick has secured a writer-in-residence position at Fairfax, but he and Adam clearly have bad blood between them, and no one will tell Anne why. Sonneborn handily translates Austen’s tale into a modern context, creating a light, bright revision with quirkily compelling characters: Anne’s 98 overdue library books, her willingness to watch the movie Jane Vampire over and over with a besotted Larry, not to mention her patient explanation of all things Jane Eyre to Larry’s simple-minded lover, endear her to the reader, who eagerly awaits the famous words: “Reader, I married him.”
This decidedly filmable update of the classic romance—without zombies or vampires—will charm lovers of Jane Austen and chick lit alike.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-7518-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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
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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