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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Michaels's second in her highly touted trilogy (Vegas Rich, 1996) is more like Vegas lukewarm: Far too many characters' personalities flip-flop 180 degrees, and an overabundance of fatal illnesses, vicious betrayals, reunions with never-before-met relatives, and general excess dilute the story instead of intensifying it. Fanny Thornton is following in the footsteps of her mother-in- law Sallie, the intrepid hooker-turned-entrepreneur of this series' equally jam-packed opener. Not that Fanny's turning tricks; she's just taking Vegas by storm as the most powerful woman in the state of Nevada. When Ash, her manipulative ex-husband, falls ill and learns that he's dying, he insists that Fanny, now married to Ash's brother Simon, take over Babylon, the booming casino that maintains and builds the Thornton family fortune. But Simon can't deal with sharing Fanny with either her family or the Vegas business world, so he files for divorce, leaving Fanny alone again. Meantime, Fanny and Ash's sons, twins Sage and Birch, are also in the picture, as are their daughters: Billie, who remains a shadowy figure throughout, and Sunny, who develops multiple sclerosis but seems more like a schizophrenic with all the inconsistencies her character exhibits (one minute she's an angel, the next a child abuser; one minute she's on mom's side, the next on dad's, etc.). Suddenly Ash—out of nowhere it seems—becomes the good guy, helping Fanny mend her messy relationships with her children, and Simon becomes the villain, trying to steal Babylon and make Fanny's life generally miserable. Michaels sets the stage for book number three with Fanny's purchase (at Ash's request) of land in Atlantic City (wonder what they'll build there?), her newfound ``friendship'' with the mysterious and handsome Marcus Reed, and the introduction of a new and (of course) suspect branch of the family.
Pub Date: March 1, 1997
ISBN: 1-57566-138-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1997
Bridget Cross has come to one of those rough spots. Her husband Kip, Mr. Creative Genius of Pandora Software, is resisting her efforts to take Pandora public even though he gave her control of the company; now she's found out that he's been sleeping with her onetime secretary, Toni Burton; and as she ponders divorce proceedings, she's worried that somebody's been following her. No wonder her friend Alexa Platt tells her that Kip might kill her. But then, in the first of many surprises, it's Alexa who gets killed, attacked shortly after her warning to Bridget. It's only afterwards that Bridget gets shot down in front of her daughter Brianna, five, who identifies the killer as Slade Slayer, the cartoon hero of Pandora's breakthrough game. Bridget's troubles, at least, are over; but when investment counselor Iris Thorne learns that Bridget's left her shares of Pandora in trust to Brianna, and named Iris as the trustee deputized with tossing rapacious corporate raider T. Duke Sawyer out of Pandora's tent as she shepherds Pandora's initial public offering to market, Iris realizes that her own troubles are just beginning. Pugh's fourth (Fast Friends, 1997, etc.) juggles computer gamesmanship, securities fraud, and murder most foul, seasoning the mix with her trademark office plotting, to come up with another winner that makes all manner of skullduggery look as natural as vanity and greed.
Pub Date: March 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-671-01424-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
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