A fluffy confection that rings in Christmas in tried-and-true Macomber style, with romance and a touch of heavenly magic.
Four well-intentioned angels step in where they should not tread, and send a destined romance into messy territory, then must figure out how to make it right.
On New Year’s Eve in Times Square, angels Shirley, Goodness and Mercy decide to take their apprentice, Will, on an excursion to mingle with humans. But Goodness is distracted by the bright lights, and the friends get separated in the crowd. Will can’t help himself and pushes two lonely strangers to notice each another. Lucie Farrara and Aren Fairchild connect like magnets, but both are starting new careers—Lucie as a restaurant owner and Aren as an undercover restaurant critic—and neither really has time for a romance. Aren, determined to see Lucie again, sets up another meeting in a week’s time at the top of the Empire State Building. It doesn’t work, and without any other way to get in touch, the relationship fails to get started. In heaven, though, the angels are in trouble. Aren and Lucie were meant to be together and were scheduled to meet at a later date. Having previously interfered, it’s now their responsibility to make sure the two have a chance at love, but the more they try to force a romance, the more trouble they cause—and get themselves into. Nearly a year later, during the Christmas season, when wishes are met and prayers answered, Lucie and Aren might just find their happily-ever-after, with a little heavenly help. Macomber is practically a Christmas staple, and this short, sweet holiday story is like a quick kiss under the mistletoe after a hectic day. Macomber brings back the popular trio of Christmas angels, Shirley, Goodness and Mercy (introduced in A Season of Angels, 1993) and lets them loose again on the streets of New York. Not Macomber at her best—there are a number of details that stretch the reader’s credulity even beyond the normal Christmas miracle storyline, and the characters aren’t quite as well-drawn or textured as usual—but likely good enough for her many devoted fans.
A fluffy confection that rings in Christmas in tried-and-true Macomber style, with romance and a touch of heavenly magic.Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-345-52887-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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