Solid romantic suspense by a writer talented enough at weaving a yarn to get her readers ensnared in it.
Samantha Parker, a chemistry teacher, and Ethan McClane, a therapist, are attracted to one another right away, but they're both harboring deeply buried secrets. Circumstance has found both of them back in small, rural Hidden Falls, but is it fate that brought them together?
Initially, Ethan assumes that Sam's distance is because of past encounters with therapists, but he learns that her issues with relationships go much deeper than that. Sam has returned to her hometown to sell her late mother's house. No easy task since her mom's hoarder tendencies caused the place to fall into disarray. Realizing that she'd be there for a while, Sam takes a job at the local school, and that's where she meets Ethan. A reformed juvenile delinquent himself, Ethan has been hired to work with Thomas Adler, a bright but troubled kid wrestling with his own problems. Ethan and Sam meet, and sparks fly. After a few rocky starts, Ethan finally begins breaking down Sam's walls enough for her to let him in when they're interrupted in the middle of a steamy forest make-out session by Sam's dog, who's found a human skull. Now they're forced to deal with their pasts: Sam with the murder of her brother and Ethan with the crime that landed him in a detention center. The rest of the town can't help but wonder if the body belongs to a high school student who disappeared 18 years ago.
Solid romantic suspense by a writer talented enough at weaving a yarn to get her readers ensnared in it.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5039-3606-5
Page Count: 354
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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