Despite some flaws, this is a sweet, romantic confection that will have readers rooting for Sugarberry Island and all of its...
Kit and Morgan each come to Sugarberry Island for a fresh start, and despite some major valid reasons as to why they should keep their distance, they simply can’t get over the feeling that their new lives go together like frosting on a cupcake.
When Kit Bellamy’s sister and brother-in-law blindside her and sell the family company and home out from under her, she knows she needs a new start. A friend sends her in the direction of Sugarberry Island and a job with its local, expanding cupcake empire. Immediately embraced by the women who run the company and their friends (from Kauffman’s ongoing romance series, The Cupcake Club), Kit is swept into the friendly island community, finding friendship and new purpose. She also finds a new romantic interest in the handsome lawyer who’s recently moved to the island himself as the guardian of his orphaned niece. Trouble is, he’s a Westlake, of the wealthy, cutthroat family who strategized the legal battle that caused her to lose her family’s company. It quickly becomes clear that Morgan isn’t a “typical” Westlake, and his protective devotion to his ward is heart-melting, especially when it means standing up to the Westlake family in order to give Lilly a more normal childhood. Kit knows getting involved with a Westlake, any Westlake, is a bad idea, but Morgan believes their attraction is a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, and he’ll do anything in his power to convince Kit to risk everything again—with him. Throw in a sweet 5-year-old orphan’s obsession with sea turtles and the affectionate, not-so-subtle pressure of the Cupcake Club, and Kit may be up against a tide that’s simply too strong to fight. Kauffman has penned a sweet story that combines a number of engaging elements that give texture and emotional density to the story. While the book lacks breathtaking sexual tension or conversational zing—at times the pacing is sluggish; there are moments we are told of, more than shown, emotional intensity; and some of the characters lack cohesion or dimension (though, to be fair, the cast is large for the story’s length)—overall, it is touching and satisfying in a gentle, heartwarming way.
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7582-8050-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Brava/Kensington
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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