A pleasantly entertaining read.
After years of deriding the Duke of Rathburne with her scandal sheet, written under a pseudonym, Marlena Fast is stunned when he announces he’s been named her guardian, then flummoxed when she realizes she’s falling in love with him.
Marlena, who was orphaned in childhood, has detested the Duke of Rathburne since he and his friends played a devastating prank on London debutantes and wound up ruining a friend’s life. Seeking to shame the men, Marlena starts a scandal sheet which becomes very popular, then continues the work because it’s supporting two of her friends financially. She’s recently published a book to raise even more income: Miss Honora Truth’s Words of Wisdom and Warning About Rakes, Scoundrels, Rogues, and Libertines. When the Duke of Rathburne turns up on her doorstep, she’s at first convinced he’s discovered her secret, that “he was making it his purpose to take her straight to Newgate, the gallows, or worse—if there was worse.” Instead he’s delivering the surprising news that he’s her new guardian, taking over for his father's closest friend, who's ill. Rath opens aristocratic doors for Marlena and arranges for the sisters of his best friends to take her under their wings, preparing her for a long-delayed debut. Getting to know the people she’s been anonymously vilifying for years leads to conflicted feelings for Marlena when she realizes she likes them and is falling in love with the duke. But how to take care of her friends without the scandal sheet? Sacrificing her own happiness for the well-being of her friends becomes a pivot point, allowing her friends to come to her rescue, which in turn enables Rath to help them help themselves. Grey’s (To the Duke With Love, 2017, etc.) spirited heroine and layered plot keep the reader engaged, with writing that is generally lively but occasionally shifts into cliché.
A pleasantly entertaining read.Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-10253-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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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