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
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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