A pleasant-enough outing for fans of old-fashioned, relatively clean romance.
Two 20-year-old best friends enjoy their romances while trying to save the family farm in Tennessee.
Ciana’s great hope is to preserve her family farm, just as generations of her female forebears did. A developer wants to buy much of her land to build a major new housing tract, but she, nearly alone among her neighbors, refuses to sell, and many in the town turn against her. Jon, her heartthrob from The Year of Luminous Love (2013), arrives to help, firing up the old romance despite the temptations of an aristocratic Italian. Meanwhile her best friend, Eden, tracks down Garret, her Australian love interest from the previous book. The romances seem to be going well until a serious disaster strikes. In life-or-death situations, everyone tries to hold on to their dreams. McDaniel strikes interesting contrasts between Ciana and Eden. Ciana remains a virgin, waiting for her wedding night, while Eden has a past and enjoys sleeping with Garret (offstage). Despite its reliance on wild flukes to advance the plot, the story comes off as more realistic than many other romance novels. Additionally, the author throws in a little mystery: Who is responsible for trying to scare Ciana off her land? Despite its sequel status, the story stands well on its own.
A pleasant-enough outing for fans of old-fashioned, relatively clean romance. (Romance. 12 & up)Pub Date: July 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0385-74173-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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