Copious historical details cannot mask a pointlessly slow pace. Might have worked better as a novella.
A reformed rake has to win the trust of a skeptical lady before he can woo her in this first of a traditional Regency trilogy.
Lady Adeline Wivenly is enjoying her first season in London when she attracts the attention of handsome flirt Frederick, Lord Littleton. “Frits” Littleton’s bloodline, wealth, and title make him a catch, but he is known as a rake. Worse, last year, he jilted Lady Dorie Calthorp, one of Adeline’s closest friends, after leading her on all season long. Frits knows he made a mistake with Dorie, but now he's ready to settle down, and Adeline has caught his fancy. Adeline avoids him as much as politeness allows, in deference to Dorie’s feelings, so Frits finds creative ways to cross her path during the usual social activities of the ton—carriage rides, plays, and balls. As Frits’ basic decency reveals itself, Adeline begins to question Dorie’s perspective. When she overhears another lady scheming to trap Frits into marriage, Adeline decides to warn him, throwing them together even more. In the meantime, Adeline is the target of an unscrupulous suitor who will stop at nothing to win her. Quinn (The Seduction of Lady Phoebe, 2019, etc.) creates a richly detailed traditional Regency world whose social rules dictate much of the characterizations and plot. Frits and Adeline are likable enough—they bond over their love of country life, especially animal husbandry—but their relationship moves at a glacial pace. Worse, they seem to have little effect on one another. While Adeline’s inexperience explains some of her naiveté, she is frustratingly bad at understanding basic human psychology. So many characters are crowded into the storyline that readers may need a chart to sort them out. A late and unwelcome incursion of politics and violence adds no excitement to the romance.
Copious historical details cannot mask a pointlessly slow pace. Might have worked better as a novella.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4201-4967-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Zebra/Kensington
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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