Steel (Johnny Angel, p. 556) softens her style in this quiet, poignant romance, generally avoiding the glitzy excesses and...
Second-chance romance in a windswept beach town.
Ophélie, the French-born wife of an American physicist and inventor, struggles with depression after her husband and son die in a plane crash. Not that the marriage was perfect—far from it. Ted was a moody genius who did his damnedest to ignore 15-year-old Chad’s emotional problems and Ophélie’s timid complaints. At least she still has Philippa, her 11 year-old daughter, known as Pip, to console her, and group therapy to help her through what’s referred to delicately as “the grieving process” (yes, this is in California). When Pip, ignored in turn by her airhead babysitter, wanders the beach alone and meets an artist, Ophélie is frightened and comes to sudden life, fiercely scolding the man, who insists he meant no harm. Matt Bowles remembers his own daughter at that age, though his children are grown. He lost touch with them after a bitter divorce and his wife’s relocation to New Zealand. A likely story, thinks Ophélie, who is nonetheless drawn to the attractive painter. A relationship blossoms as they share life stories and walks on the beach with the family retriever and happy Pip. Ophélie is surprised to find joy again—but her best friend Andrea could have told her that. Andrea, a free spirit who loved and left many men, has finally settled down at 44, a blissful single mother to baby William, fathered by artificial insemination and an anonymous donor—these days, who cares? Not Ophélie, who dotes on the adorable tot. Eager to do something for others, she volunteers for a homeless outreach program and serves these lost souls with bravery and compassion. But a bitter betrayal awaits her, as the truth of little William’s parentage is revealed.
Steel (Johnny Angel, p. 556) softens her style in this quiet, poignant romance, generally avoiding the glitzy excesses and silly contrivances of some previous titles. Easy to read, easy to like.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2003
ISBN: 0-385-33630-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2003
A solid Regency romance and promising start to a new series.
A runaway bride meets a runaway lord.
Winnifred Humphries can’t bring herself to marry the awful man her father has selected for her, so she leaves him at the altar and climbs into a carriage with a man she believes to be her friend Jane’s cousin. But, as Winn discovers too late, he’s not Jane’s cousin; he’s actually Lord Asher Holt, whom her friends accidentally kidnapped and robbed in the name of research the week before. Asher just wants his money back so he can finally get away from his greedy father, but the situation spirals, and both of them need to leave London as quickly as possible. Though they expect to be parted after just a few days, when they reach Winn’s aunt’s house, the intimacy of their travel ignites a fierce chemistry, and it’s strong enough that they are easily able to pose as a married couple. After they finally admit that they don’t want to be parted, a series of misunderstandings and maliciousness on Asher’s father’s part threaten to part them permanently—unless Asher can get one more chance to talk to Winn. The first book in Lorret’s The Mating Habits of Scoundrels trilogy is convoluted at times, but readers will be pleased to see that Asher is less of a scoundrel than he initially appears. Given that Winn and her friends are ostensibly writing a book about scoundrels—hence the accidental kidnapping—this is unfortunate for their purposes, but that’s a fairly minor subplot anyway. A more charming subplot, a possible second-chance romance between Winn’s parents, adds a pleasing depth to the story, reminiscent of Eloisa James. Readers will also be grateful for the constant rain showers of England, which create several steamy opportunities for Winn and Asher to get out of their clothing to dry off and get close to stay warm. Though there aren’t many surprises in the story, Lorret (The Rogue To Ruin, 2019, etc.) does execute a historical romance well, and readers will look forward to learning more about Winn’s friends Jane and Ellie in future installments.
A solid Regency romance and promising start to a new series.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-297659-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another success for the publishing phenom.
An abused boy fights back, escapes, then returns as an attorney to his beloved hometown, but just as he’s falling in love with a transplanted landscaper, a series of attacks from shadowy enemies jeopardizes their happiness.
“From the outside, the house in Lakeview Terrace looked perfect.” Which of course means that it wasn't. We're introduced to the horrifying Dr. Graham Bigelow, who beats his wife and, increasingly as the boy gets older, his son, Zane. On the night of Zane’s prom, a particularly savage attack puts him and his sister in the hospital, and his father blames Zane, landing him in jail. Then his sister stands up for him, enlisting the aid of their aunt, and everything changes, mainly due to Zane’s secret diaries. Nearly 20 years later, Zane leaves a successful career as a lawyer to return to Lakeview, where his aunt and sister live with their families, deciding to hang a shingle as a small-town lawyer. Then he meets Darby McCray, the landscaper who’s recently relocated and taken the town by storm, starting with the transformation of his family’s rental bungalows. The two are instantly intrigued by each other, but they move slowly into a relationship neither is looking for. Darby has a violent past of her own, so she is more than willing to take on the risk of antagonizing a boorish local family when she and Zane help an abused wife. Suddenly Zane and Darby face one attack after another, and even as they grow ever closer under the pressure, the dangers become more insidious. Roberts’ latest title feels a little long and the story is slightly cumbersome, but her greatest strength is in making the reader feel connected to her characters, so “unnecessary details” can also charm and engage.
Another success for the publishing phenom.Pub Date: July 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-20709-8
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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