Wholesome but unfulfilling.
In this debut romance, a middle-aged woman and a much younger playboy gain physical and mental health on a bike ride across the U.S.
Disappointed in love, 56-year-old virgin Martha Murphy decides to attempt a cross-country ride through every continental state as a way to heal (and lose weight) after her suicide attempt. Playboy journalist Jake Mason is, much to his distress, assigned to cover the story; he’s to find out what’s driving this overweight woman, ride with her and report what his editors assume will be failure. It’s also a change of scenery for depressed, suicidal Jake, who’s estranged from his coldhearted parents. The first night, they meet Barry, a Basalt Campground desk clerk and the first of many men and women (in addition to Jake) who begin to follow Martha’s blog. As their travels continue, they visit major tourist attractions (Little Bighorn Battlefield, etc.), meet mean bikers, work potato fields and find a dog. She and Jake become friends, share uncomfortable truths—“now that our secrets are no longer secret, their power over us will diminish”—and find true love (not with each other). After a disastrous accident almost kills Jake, he and Martha take out new leases on life. Finley’s heart is in the right place: Strong Christian faith and hard work help generous characters overcome obstacles, assist others and meet exercise goals. Unfortunately, insignificant details—a receptionist’s name, almost every meal, routine shopping trips, etc.—drag down the narrative. Meanwhile, nature’s force is mentioned but not felt; there’s little of what actually riding a bike cross-country would entail (i.e., sweat, muscle cramps, strains). And what about their poor adopted dog, who must run 20 or more miles a day? How do their electronic devices get power? Too conveniently, money problems are solved by rich relatives or new loves. Perhaps the sequel will right some wrongs and take the story to the next level.
Wholesome but unfulfilling.Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1500552602
Page Count: 346
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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