Woods' belief in the transformative effect of happiness is a bit fantastic, but the characters are heartfelt and charming,...
In her third novel, London-based author Woods (The Ex Factor, 2016, etc.) makes the case for intentional happiness in the face of tragedy.
Two years after the sudden death of her infant son, Annie Hebden is mired in sorrow and holding her life together by a thread. Divorced, she lives in a dingy flat with a roommate she avoids, works at a job she hates, and now must manage a new crisis: the hospitalization of her mother due to early dementia. It’s there that she meets Polly, a posh, outlandishly dressed 35-year-old who seems full of cheer, knows everyone at the hospital, and just happens to be dying of brain cancer. Woods makes it clear, as well, that there are romantic betrayals in each woman’s past. Somehow the sheer weight of their individual tragedies creates a balance between them, as does Polly’s commitment to positivity and Annie’s to anguish. With three months to live, Polly is determined to undertake 100 days of happiness and successfully drags a bewildered, resentful Annie along with her. Some mild hilarity ensues but more interesting is the push and pull between the women as they react against but benefit from each other’s tendencies. Along the way they build a small community: Annie’s roommate, Polly’s brother, and Polly’s grumpy Scottish neurologist, who, it is clear from his introduction, will be Annie’s love interest. The novel suffers slightly under the weight of all its misfortunes—in addition to its two leads, each of the aforementioned personae carries drama, the message being, of course, that no one’s life is perfect.
Woods' belief in the transformative effect of happiness is a bit fantastic, but the characters are heartfelt and charming, so the novel moves well and is moving, too.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5258-1135-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Graydon House
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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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