by Aubrey Cartwright ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 11, 2017
An uneven erotic tale.
A young woman becomes drawn to an attractive, wealthy, and dominant man in this debut novel.
Beautiful Evelyn “Eve” James, a painter, photographer, and blogger, has just moved to Boston, where her brother, Nick, a successful businessman, lives now that he is about to get married. In a park, Eve catches sight of an intriguing black-haired man, who she soon discovers is her brother’s close friend Malcolm Preston Lynch, 24, one of Boston’s most eligible bachelors. Eve can be hard to sympathize with, considering her eye-rolling disdain for the women who stalk Malcolm; she characterizes them as gold-digging bimbos. She’s unnecessarily snarky, too, criticizing commenters on her public blog for their curiosity. Up close, she’s struck by Malcolm’s gorgeous green eyes and the hurricanelike power he radiates, which sends her into over-the-top physical reactions. Malcolm hires Eve to paint his office walls and arranges outings that display his influence and wealth. Despite her love of independence, she enjoys Malcolm’s bossiness and the feelings he awakens. He appreciates Eve’s beauty and dislike of presents. Both Malcolm and Eve have painful memories that explain their difficulties with intimacy, but as the story continues, the couple’s feelings grow and find thrilling erotic expression. Eve discovers that she enjoys being pampered and exploring kinky scenarios—but will a threat from the past and a misunderstanding shake the pair’s newfound trust? In her novel, Cartwright offers standard romantic tropes: a rich, powerful man whose seeming coldness protects deep psychic wounds; a young woman who gives up her autonomy for a dominant and sexy guy, as when Eve feels she must ask permission to call Malcolm, her brother’s friend, by his first name even when speaking of him to a third party. The strong erotic scenes have heat for those who like in-charge men. But here (as elsewhere), clumsy writing can detract: “Malcolm’s hips moved, rubbing against Eve’s clitorises.” In general, the book needs a sharp editor to correct some errors involving spelling, tense, word choice, and grammar (“She almost stumbled to the ground from him powerful pull”; “I rather have a drink”).
An uneven erotic tale.Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-973521-79-2
Page Count: 338
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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