This fantastical romance provides an expert mix of magic, love, and adventure.
Love blossoms unexpectedly between a prince from a magical seafaring kingdom and an outsider princess who is last on his matchmaking list.
Prince Dilys Merimydion of the Calbernan Isles longs for the day he can settle down and get married. As son of the Isles’ queen, he’s destined to carry on his family’s powerful bloodline and secure a royal bride from the kingdom of Summerlea. With three princesses to choose from, Dilys knows he's supposed to make a beneficial match with one of the two more powerful princesses. The only match that would be frowned upon would be a union with the middle princess, Gabriella Coruscate, also known as Summer, whose mystical talents are weak at best. But though her skills as a weathermage haven’t manifested as strongly as her sisters’, Summer is known throughout her kingdom for being kind and gentle. When the eligible men of the Calbernan Isles sail up to Summerlea to find wives for themselves, she knows a betrothal to a prince isn’t in her future—but then she sees Dilys. Enter a murderous band of pirates terrorizing the Calbernan sea trade lines, led by a mysterious figure known only as the Shark, and this fantasy romance goes from sweet to adventurous in a heartbeat. While the book gets off to a slow start, with page after page of infodumps, things settle into a charming rhythm once Dilys leaves his island in search of a woman fit to be his eventual queen. Wilson’s (The Winter King, 2014, etc.) careful crafting of the various fantasy kingdoms makes them come vividly to life, especially Calbernan’s mighty matriarchal society, in which men have to earn the right to marry by serving years as sea mercenaries and protecting the kingdom. Summer shines as an underestimated heroine with plenty of untapped talents, and Dilys' earnestness in wanting to start a family is a surprisingly adorable trait in a romance hero.
This fantastical romance provides an expert mix of magic, love, and adventure.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-201898-4
Page Count: 597
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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