A romance novel that indulges the senses but its predictability and tidy resolutions can be wearying.
In Polanco’s (Finding Hope, 2017) romance, a glamorous New Yorker learns how to love again after a devastating breakup.
From the outside, Valentina Puig, a 30-something buyer for a successful company called Infinity Acquisitions, appears to have it all: beauty, health, career success, a gorgeous apartment, and an adoring pet. But her love life leaves something to be desired. The novel opens with an announcement in The New York Times that Dr. David Harrington—Valentina’s ex-boyfriend, who left her three weeks ago—is engaged to Diana Monroe, a wealthy philanthropist with tremendous social cachet. Shocked by this news and enraged by the betrayal, Valentina struggles to maintain a sense of normalcy in her life. Although she’s somewhat successful at hiding her suffering, there’s one colleague that isn’t fooled: Marcus Napier, a handsome, charming widower who also happens to be Valentina’s boss. Marcus has long been in love with her, and it pains him to see her grieve; however, it also excites him to know that she’s now single. In the week following the engagement, Valentina tells Marcus that she’s accepted a temporary acquisitions position in Madrid to take a break from New York City. Marcus—afraid that he might miss his chance—decides to invite her out for a lavish dinner, during which he confesses his feelings. Stunned, Valentina spends the rest of the novel struggling with her budding lust for Marcus, and the plot twists during her time in Madrid only further complicate matters. Throughout this novel, Polanco adeptly renders the atmospherics of glamorous, tumultuous life in the Big Apple and abroad; indeed, to read this story is to get lost in a luxurious lifestyle fairy tale: the players have champagne taste in everything that they wear, eat, and drive, as well as in everyone that they sleep with (the sex scenes are particularly steamy). However, the characters are also rather melodramatic; the swiftness with which they move through various conflicts feels a bit unrealistic, and the haste with which various plot turns resolve themselves sometimes makes for a lackluster reading experience.
A romance novel that indulges the senses but its predictability and tidy resolutions can be wearying.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5320-0447-6
Page Count: 198
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Nerve-wracking suspense leavened with romance and spiced with sex: another hit for the prolific Roberts (Blue Smoke, 2005,...
Murder mixes with anguish in steamy Savannah.
FBI-trained hostage negotiator Phoebe MacNamara is a lieutenant in the Savannah police department. Ever since Phoebe and her family were held hostage when she was 12, her mother has been agoraphobic, and Phoebe and her brother Carter still bear the psychological scars, but Phoebe’s used the memory to hone her skills. While talking a suicidal bartender off a ledge, she meets his boss, Duncan Swift. The charming millionaire coaxes her into meeting for a drink, and their relationship slowly deepens. But life takes a turn for the worse when a misogynist cop botches a hostage situation. Suspended, he blames Phoebe and retaliates by viciously attacking her in the precinct house stairwell. He loses his job, but his father’s connections keep him out of jail. Phoebe is physically and mentally injured, but her family and her blossoming relationship with Duncan help her cope until a dangerous pattern develops: A strange man keeps crossing her path. Dead animals begin appearing on her doorstep. A hostage taker is shot after she talks him into surrendering. Her ex-husband is brutally murdered by the mystery man, who phones her with sadistic threats. Is it the spiteful disgraced cop or someone from her past? Phoebe must identify the killer before he can carry out his final outrage.
Nerve-wracking suspense leavened with romance and spiced with sex: another hit for the prolific Roberts (Blue Smoke, 2005, etc.).Pub Date: July 10, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-399-15434-8
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2007
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