An engaging romantic tale that also calls for equality.
An American student at the University of Oxford in 1919 falls in love with a dynamic women’s rights activist in this debut novel.
Amelia Cole, called Lia by her friends, is the daughter of immigrant restaurateurs in Brooklyn. Young and somewhat unsure of herself, she boards a ship for England and becomes one of the first women to study at Oxford. She stays with a couple called the Watsons in the quiet, upscale enclave of Spindly Oaks, where Lia is concerned that Mr. Watson may have a drinking problem. On her way to class, Lia runs into an effervescent student named Scarlett Daniels. Lia thinks she is like a movie star: beautiful, posh, and concerned about women’s rights at Oxford. A group has formed on campus that is fighting for women to be able to matriculate along with the men. Scarlett urges Lia to join the band, thinking (correctly) that administrators will listen to an outside American voice. Entranced by the group’s secret home, a cabin called Wonderland, Lia finds herself joining the cause and falling in love with her new friend. Scarlett is similarly inclined, and the budding romance evolves into a passionate affair, complete with a glamorous Christmas trip to London. But Scarlett abruptly ends the relationship, fearing the world won’t accept a lesbian couple. A distraught Lia leaves Oxford early and enrolls at New York University. As the years roll by, Scarlett becomes a well-known actress, and Lia turns into a pioneering woman in journalism. Still, Lia has never truly given up on Scarlett. As the action moves to the 1940s, Lia follows the actress to Hong Kong in one final bid to secure her love. Wong’s novel succeeds in creating congenial characters with an undying commitment to women’s liberation in education, careers, and relationships, particularly those bonds that are stigmatized. But with only vague, passing references to Lia’s career and obvious details about the various time periods, the story works best as a romance. The on-again, off-again dynamics of Lia and Scarlett’s relationship are convincingly described, and the added pressures of a same-sex bond in a hostile time period resonate very well. The prose is spare though somewhat plain (“Divorce was a big deal”). The years fly by quickly, but the emotion of the book flows toward a moving conclusion.
An engaging romantic tale that also calls for equality.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63152-284-0
Page Count: 220
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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