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
Likable characters trapped in a plodding, directionless romance.
A one-night stand slowly evolves into a long-term relationship in Guillory’s (The Proposal, 2018, etc.) third book featuring an interconnected group of friends.
Maddie Forest and Theo Stephens have never liked each other. Maddie thinks Theo is annoying and arrogant, and he thinks she’s a vapid party girl. However, having the same best friend, Alexa Monroe (heroine of The Wedding Date, 2018), means they have no choice but to see each other socially. After years of terse interactions, Maddie and Theo have a one-night stand after his birthday party. The beginning crackles with promise, but then they drift into a monotonous monthslong secret affair which consists solely of them hanging out in Theo’s apartment, eating pizza, and having sex. Neither Theo nor Maddie wants to tell Alexa they’re hooking up, and when she asks both of them to be members of her wedding party, they decide the wedding will be the end point for their affair. As time passes, they share with one another their professional hopes and aspirations about making the world a better place. Theo is working to pass a statewide pre-K initiative, and Maddie dreams of landing a gig as a TV stylist for women re-entering the workforce after having gone through homelessness or rehabilitation. When Theo’s pre-K rally takes an implausible turn, they double down on secrecy even though it's clear their feelings have changed. Ultimately, the characters display a perplexing lack of initiative as romantic partners: Everything happens to them, they rarely stop to examine their feelings, and they are too afraid to share the truth in their hearts. The sheer lack of action brings the romance to a grinding halt as Maddie and Theo wait for someone else to arrive and propel them into the next stage of their relationship.
Likable characters trapped in a plodding, directionless romance.Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-984802-19-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
A bittersweet tale of love, loss, and living with the memories.
Years ago, Sabrina did that old thing of imagining whom she'd invite to a birthday dinner if she could have any five guests, dead or alive. She never thought her fantasy dinner would really happen, much less turn into the most efficient therapy session of her life.
Guest No. 1 is, of course, her best friend, Jessica. For Jessica, a romantic at heart, relationships should lead inexorably to marriage and children. So she's watched Sabrina's great love affair with Tobias—a dramatic, whirlwind affair that never led to matrimony, never led to making their relationship part of their community—with a mixture of exasperation and delight. Tobias, guest No. 2, is also at the party. It's clear he still loves Sabrina. Serle (Famous in Love, 2014, etc.) alternates chapters of the dinner party with the story of Sabrina and Tobias’ romance, deftly, slowly revealing how and why they broke up, the dinner party itself the catalyst to understanding their past and offering hope for their future. Guests three and four also conjure up Sabrina’s past: Conrad, her former philosophy professor—the man whose field trip set Sabrina and Tobias’ fate in motion—and Robert , her father, who left her in the lurch to start a new family in California when she was only 5. Guest No. 5: Audrey Hepburn, idolized by everyone at the table except perhaps Jessica. It’s Audrey who brings magic to the table, making the impossible seem possible. As the evening progresses, Sabrina’s guests nudge the conversation toward family and love, pushing Sabrina to learn what really happened to Robert and to relive her relationship with Tobias, looking for a way back to both men. Some of the broken ties binding her to them may be mended by evening’s end, but others have broken for good.
A bittersweet tale of love, loss, and living with the memories.Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-29518-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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