A love story with disconcerting implications that are not fully explored.
In Aguilar’s debut novel, an accomplished Filipina is unable to resist the wishes of a wealthy CEO.
Elizabeth Agustin is a Filipina from a wealthy family, educated at business school and then at law school in the United States. After her father’s death, she returns to the Philippines to be closer to her mother. She establishes an investment firm and becomes quite successful. Elizabeth is completely focused on her company and career, taking little time for fun, until she meets Ronaldo Mendoza, a CEO living in the penthouse of a hotel. Ronaldo and Elizabeth spend an increasing amount of time together, but Ronaldo’s marital status at first keeps them from pursuing a relationship. Even though Ronaldo has been separated from his wife for over five years (his wife is making the annulment difficult), Elizabeth resists. After three years of dating, Elizabeth finally gives in to Ronaldo and agrees to move in with him and consummate their relationship. She even bears him a son. They’re happy until a sudden incident brings their comfortable life crashing down. Aguilar separates the novel into four parts: The first recounts the beginning of Elizabeth and Ronaldo’s relationship; the second follows the escalation of their relationship when they fully commit to each other despite not being able to marry; the third part begins after a tragic accident leaves Elizabeth alone with only the secrets of her past. In her foolishness to rebel against her father’s wishes, Elizabeth fell into the traps of a patriarchal society in which women have few options in life. The fourth part describes the aftermath of the terrible accident and brings to light the alarming past connection Ronaldo and Elizabeth share. The story doesn’t benefit from this organization, which favors a surprise ending over character development. Similarly, the first-person point of view limits the depth to which Ronaldo’s character can be explored, while awkward word choices add a few stumbling blocks. Aguilar weaves the history and culture of the Philippines into the story but abruptly glosses over some plot points, particularly the death of a main character. As a woman, Elizabeth is self-aware in some respects yet—even though she’s a business owner, educated and financially self-sufficient—incapable of resisting the wiles of Ronaldo.
A love story with disconcerting implications that are not fully explored.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-1496985415
Page Count: 258
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Thoroughbreds and Virginia blue-bloods cavort, commit murder, and fall in love in Roberts's (Hidden Riches, 1994, etc.) latest romantic thriller — this one set in the world of championship horse racing. Rich, sheltered Kelsey Byden is recovering from a recent divorce when she receives a letter from her mother, Naomi, a woman she has believed dead for over 20 years. When Kelsey confronts her genteel English professor father, though, he sheepishly confesses that, no, her mother isn't dead; throughout Kelsey's childhood, she was doing time for the murder of her lover. Kelsey meets with Naomi and not only finds her quite charming, but the owner of Three Willows, one of the most splendid horse farms in Virginia. Kelsey is further intrigued when she meets Gabe Slater, a blue-eyed gambling man who owns a neighboring horse farm; when one of Gabe's horses is mated with Naomi's, nostrils flare, flanks quiver, and the romance is on. Since both Naomi and Gabe have horses entered in the Kentucky Derby, Kelsey is soon swept into the whirlwind of the Triple Crown, in spite of her family's objections to her reconciliation with the notorious Naomi. The rivalry between the two horse farms remains friendly, but other competitors — one of them is Gabe's father, a vicious alcoholic who resents his son's success — prove less scrupulous. Bodies, horse and human, start piling up, just as Kelsey decides to investigate the murky details of her mother's crime. Is it possible she was framed? The ground is thick with no-goods, including haughty patricians, disgruntled grooms, and jockeys with tragic pasts, but despite all the distractions, the identity of the true culprit behind the mayhem — past and present — remains fairly obvious. The plot lopes rather than races to the finish. Gambling metaphors abound, and sexual doings have a distinctly equine tone. But Roberts's style has a fresh, contemporary snap that gets the story past its own worst excesses.
Pub Date: June 13, 1995
ISBN: 0-399-14059-X
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s...
The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.
The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can't forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-57720-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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