This debut begs for an encore from Waxman.
Thirty-something Lilian Girvan, mother of two young girls, is a widow who saw her husband die in a car crash 50 feet from their home. But Waxman’s debut novel, far from sad and depressing, is full of wry humor and a cleareyed view of how life keeps offering good things.
After Lilian lost her husband three years ago, she had a breakdown, ending up in a treatment facility for several months while her devoted sister, Rachel, stepped in to help with the girls. But all this is in the past, and she’s back to making her living as an illustrator and picking her way carefully past the pitfalls of fresh widowhood and piles of toys in the living room. Her company is closing Lilian’s department, leaving her with one final assignment: to illustrate a series of vegetable gardening books for Bloem Company, obliging her to attend a six-week Saturday morning gardening class taught by Edward Bloem. The diverse group quickly bonds over the pleasure of planting seeds and the hope this inspires. And a tingle of interest begins between Lilian and Edward. For readers who see where this is headed, of course! But anticipating a happy ending is like waiting for dessert. There is much soul-searching on Lilian’s part and a number of side stories involving the other members of the group. Many life lessons are learned in the garden, and not just by Lilian. The plot is straightforward, but it is Waxman’s skill at characterization that lifts this novel far above being just another "widow finds love” story. Clearly an observer, Waxman has mastered the fine art of dialogue as well. Characters ring true right down to Lilian’s two daughters, who often steal the show.
This debut begs for an encore from Waxman.Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-58358-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Well-written women’s weepie from the author of many, now with her first hardcover.
Blindness, babies, bathos.
When photojournalist Jessie Ryder finds that she’s losing her sight to a rare retinal disease, it’s time to take stock—and, at last, meet the child she gave away years before. She rails against her cruel fate as she leaves New Zealand for the Texas town where she grew up. After all, she’d stayed away, kept her distance—and kept her side of the bargain she made with God. She’d provided the best possible home for her newborn by handing her over to her sister Luz and her husband Ian. Even now that she’s a teenager, Lila has no idea that she was adopted (and there’s another thing even Luz doesn’t know). Lila escapes serious injury during a joyriding car accident that shakes the family out of its complacency and forces them to grapple with the Big Questions. Why does Ian, a Death Row lawyer, always have time for his clients but not for his family? Must Luz always shoulder most of the burden of raising the kids and running the house? Luz pines for what she perceives as her sister’s freedom, but Jessie, of course, isn’t really free. She’s always been haunted by what she never told Luz: Lila is the product of a long-ago, whirlwind affair with Ian. Her vision dimming day by day, Jessie wonders whether she’ll ever find happiness. There’s hunky rancher Dusty Matlock, father of an adorable toddler, still fending off media attention ever since his pregnant wife, comatose after a stroke, gave birth by Cesarean and expired a couple of years ago. Should Jessie give in to Blair LaBorde, tabloid reporter, and photograph Dusty? Perhaps. But will Jessie even admit that she’s losing her sight? Yes, once she shares her story yet again at the world-famous center for the blind not far away.
Well-written women’s weepie from the author of many, now with her first hardcover.Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-55166-673-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Limited drama, minor angst, and mediocre writing.
There are too many packs of werewolves in the same Colorado mountains.
The Silver pack, well-manned and well-resourced, runs Silver Town and its surrounding territory. Eric Silver, park ranger and cousin to the pack leader, is on the hunt for a second pack, which may have been growing huge tracts of marijuana on the grounds of the local national park. But instead, he encounters a small, more agreeable pack led by the most beautiful she-wolf he's ever seen. Pepper Grayling is a perfectly capable alpha who's not interested in a mate, but she has to call on Eric and his family when a new danger threatens both of them. While Spear (SEAL Wolf in Too Deep, 2016, etc.) has written 18 prior books in the series, the worldbuilding is thorough enough that a reader can follow the pack structure and nature of the lupus garous without prior knowledge of the universe. There are certainly things a new reader can only guess at, but most of it is irrelevant to the story. A questionable number of alphas in various packs notwithstanding, the story is...readable. It's certainly a page-turner, but the entire story arc is little more than lukewarm. This is unfortunate considering the promise and importance of introducing an alpha female who is also a good pack leader. How many female alphas are there in paranormal romance? But the execution, from meeting to mating, as well as conflict and denouement, is just OK.
Limited drama, minor angst, and mediocre writing.Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4926-2186-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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