A fun, fast, and romantic story.
A woman starts a new life on a small island…but soon finds herself in the middle of a hurricane.
Bree Beckham needs to start over. After her boyfriend’s best friend tries to sexually assault her, no one supports her—not even her mom or boyfriend. So Bree retreats to Little Bridge Island, the site of many treasured childhood vacations. She finds work as a waitress at the Mermaid Café and, after three months, feels like she fits in with the quirky locals. When Hurricane Marilyn heads straight toward Little Bridge, Bree decides to stay—despite everyone on the mainland encouraging her to evacuate. Like many residents, she has a good reason not to leave—her senior cat, Gary, who can’t travel. Bree and Gary ride out the storm at the large, generator-powered home of her bosses, who choose not to evacuate because last time they did, someone broke into their restaurant and stole an industrial meat slicer. Bree rides out the storm in relative luxury, but when it’s all over, she realizes that not everyone was so lucky. There’s significant property damage on the island, but worst of all, the storm took out the bridge to the mainland. When Bree finds out that many owners left their pets behind, assuming they’d be able to come back in a couple of days, she takes it upon herself to rescue them. With the help of her mother, a famous radio host, she instructs people to call her landline if they have stranded pets. But Bree doesn’t have to do it all alone—her bosses’ nephew, the hunky playboy Drew Hartwell, wants to help. After her bad experiences with men, Bree swears she’s on a man-cation…but Drew is pretty cute and obviously interested in her. Cabot (Bridal Boot Camp, 2018, etc.) creates a story that’s full of timely issues, most notably the tendency of 24/7 news channels to sensationalize big storms. Through Bree, Cabot encourages readers to avoid judging people who stay behind in a hurricane to care for loved ones or protect their businesses. And although animal-lover Bree is initially horrified that pets were left behind, she quickly learns that many people had good reasons for evacuating without their animals. Written in Cabot’s typically entertaining, breezy style, with tons of quirky side characters to liven up the story, this book will encourage readers to think compassionately about people who make hard decisions in the face of natural disasters.
A fun, fast, and romantic story.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289004-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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