Fans have been waiting a long time for Joe Travis’ story, and they will celebrate this book.
Wedding planner Avery Crosslin meets Joe Travis—of the Houston Travises—at a society event and convinces herself that he’s good for business but a bad romantic bet; rebel Joe has other plans, however, and he usually gets what he wants.
When Avery confuses Houston society favorite Joe for a wedding photographer, she catches his attention, and they have a one-night stand. Avery never expects to hear from him again, but he follows up, genuinely interested. She resolves to keep the popular bachelor at arm’s length, convinced that he's way out of her league and only intrigued because he doesn’t like rejection. Meanwhile, Avery’s company is on the rise, and when Joe’s family hires her team for some event planning, she sees his down-to-earth nature and sincerity. Avery falls for him, but she mistrusts love. She tells herself she's focused on her career and keeps people at arm's length, but Joe wants her to acknowledge that she's both worthy of his affection and more connected to people than she will admit. After some unexpected professional opportunities arise and family secrets are revealed, Avery must decide what really matters and take a stand for her own happiness, jeopardizing her career and risking her heart in order to win the life she can’t quite believe she deserves. To a skeptic, the plots of romance novels might sound formulaic, and that's true to a degree. But, really, it’s the journey more than the destination that makes each book unique. Kleypas is among the crème de la crème of romance authors, and this novel illustrates why. Avery’s complex reasons for resisting Joe falter against the trademark Travis combination of hardscrabble Texan and urbane playboy, to which Joe adds his own artistic sensibility. Kleypas’ characters manage to be both larger-than-life and friend-next-door accessible, and it's hard not to be seduced by her breathtaking romance, believable yet wrenching plot twists, and pitch-perfect worldbuilding.
Fans have been waiting a long time for Joe Travis’ story, and they will celebrate this book.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-312-60537-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015
PROFILES
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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