by Amanda Forester ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 5, 2016
While the heroine’s transformation in a few short weeks is just a bit too extreme to be believable, the book is well-written...
An earl’s sister lives in isolation after a difficult childhood until a friend of her brother’s helps her overcome her bitterness.
Forester (The Highlander’s Bride, 2015) returns with the first book in her new Regency series, The Daring Marriages. Lady Katherine Ashton has come back to England after a long absence. She and her twin brother, Robert, the Earl of Darington, have recovered from their childhood penury and become quite wealthy, thanks to Kate’s financial acumen and Robert’s daring career as a privateer for the English crown. When they meet with a group of investors to repay them for helping finance Robert’s sailing career, Kate is dismayed to find that a certain investor has appeared in person to collect his money. John Arlington, the Earl of Wynbrook, had a steamy encounter with Kate the last time she was in England. Now years of hardship and loneliness have taken their toll. Kate is a grim, unhappy woman, dressed in severe black because masquerading as a widow makes it easier to avoid drawing attention to herself. Although Kate and Robert would like to keep to themselves, a series of mishaps soon makes it clear that they’re being pursued by an unknown enemy. They’re forced to accept the help of the Arlington family, which means Kate and John have to reckon with their past and figure out how to get along. The book is a dramatic tale of debtors prison, kidnapping, gunshot wounds, and runaway maidens. The story is well-paced and absorbing, the characters complicated and likable, and the prose straightforward and clear.
While the heroine’s transformation in a few short weeks is just a bit too extreme to be believable, the book is well-written and most readers will be entertained.Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4926-0549-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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by Christina Lauren ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2018
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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by Christina Lauren ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019
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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