Sensitive and knowing exploration of the trickiness—and value—of meaningful relationships.
Two sisters with very different lifestyles come together, then fall apart, when they team up to try and lose weight.
Anxious to shed pounds after the birth of her first child, New Jersey stay-at-home-mom Stephanie Cunningham recruits her New York restaurant critic sister Meredith to go on the Zone diet with her, figuring they can support each other, as they always have. City gal Meredith, who, unlike her sister, has been heavy her whole life, is anxious to slim down, especially after seeing an ex-flame whom she suspects dumped her because of her weight. But this quest is especially daunting for Meredith, who loves—and needs—food so much. She is, after all, very good at her job. The two begin well enough, but issues much bigger than dieting rear their head after Stephanie discovers that her enviably handsome and athletic husband Aubrey has a prescription drug habit. Devastated by this information, but not ready to share it with the somewhat self-absorbed Meredith, Stephanie has a falling out with her sister. This hiatus forces both to face stark realizations about themselves. Stephanie wonders if, even after rehab, she can still love her husband, and Meredith discovers how her type-A habits and unrealistically high expectations have been exacerbating her loneliness. Stephanie also goes on Weight Watchers, while Meredith adopts a remarkably soulful little dog and asks out her equally adorable new yoga instructor Gary. That Gary is a far cry from the lawyers and “junior tycoons” Meredith has long hoped for feels less important than finding someone who accepts her as she is. That the girls cannot stay estranged forever is a forgone conclusion, but it is still gratifying when “perfect” older sister Stephanie admits that she is anything but, then reaches out to her long-time confidant. Shot through with the melancholy of having to make adult choices, Pace’s latest (Pug Hill, 2006, etc.) has its share of bright spots.
Sensitive and knowing exploration of the trickiness—and value—of meaningful relationships.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-425-21561-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2007
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
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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