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MUST BE CRAZY

From the Darling Cove series , Vol. 3

An enjoyable, family-focused contemporary romance and a satisfying continuation of the series.

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The relationship between an architect and an attorney is tested by a court case and painful secrets from the past.

Skye Mallory enjoys a successful law practice in her hometown of Darling Cove, a hamlet on the North Fork of Long Island. A case involving her police officer father, Martin, is challenging, but she’ll help him any way she can. When her former boyfriend, musician Miles Benjamin, asks for her legal services in his dispute with a builder, she reluctantly agrees because she could use the money. Edward Mendelsohn, an architect and fire chief of the Darling Cove Volunteer Fire Department, is attracted to Skye, but he’s worried about making the first move. A single father to Julian, a 7-year-old boy, he hasn’t been in a relationship since Julian’s mother, Lauren, left three years earlier. After Edward rescues Skye from a fire at her home, they begin dating and discover a connection that is as immediate as it is passionate. But a legal conflict of interest and a surprise visitor from Edward’s past could potentially derail their chance for true and lasting love. The third installment of Garland’s (Must Have Faith, 2018, etc.) Darling Cove series successfully builds on characters and storylines introduced in the first two novels while maintaining the focus on the connection between Skye and Edward. Initially introduced as a supporting character in Must Love Fashion (2017), Skye emerges as a strong protagonist who must balance her ethical and legal duties to Miles with her desire to follow her heart and pursue a future with Edward. Her bond with Edward develops quickly, bolstered by scenes that are both tender and playful. A subplot involving a health crisis Skye experienced after graduating from law school is sensitively handled. Lead characters from the first two novels, including Gwendolyn Mallory and Faith Copeland, continue to play active roles in the series.

An enjoyable, family-focused contemporary romance and a satisfying continuation of the series.

Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-72905-472-7

Page Count: 264

Publisher: Time Tunnel Media

Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.

Pub Date: July 11, 1960

ISBN: 0060935464

Page Count: 323

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960

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SUMMER ISLAND

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...

Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.

Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.

Pub Date: March 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-609-60737-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001

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