Thoroughly mediocre.
The sixth in Ray’s Invincible Women Series (And Mistress Makes Three, 2009, etc.) stars a wealthy, widowed restaurateur with a past and a cop who specializes in defusing hostage situations.
Since her husband Martin passed away three years ago, Nathalyia has turned their Cajun restaurant Fontaine into one of the hottest watering holes in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Rich, gorgeous Nathalyia is impervious to men, until studly but upstanding cop Rafael walks into her bar and orders iced tea. Their chemistry is instantaneous, but genre conventions require that they circle each other and exchange smoldering glances for at least 130 pages before the obligatory sex scene. Luckily, other characters are willing to entertain us while we wait. Clarice, head waitress at Fontaine’s, disguises her low self-esteem (she’s worried about her weight) with smart-mouthed jabs at bartender Jake, an Iraq War veteran. Buff, bald Jake is a tough guy with a soft spot for Clarice he can’t let her see. Fiercely loyal to Nathalyia, he’s waiting for Rafael to give him an excuse for fisticuffs. All too occasionally, tense hostage situations of the cuckold-with-a-gun variety allow us to see Rafael at work as a negotiator. Nathalyia’s no-account sister Theresa, who shows up to extort money from her, also provides relief from the spectacle of the oh-so-holier-than-thou couple exercising impeccable self-restraint. When Nathalyia becomes pregnant, the lovers continue to strew obstacles in their own path. (She: I would never get pregnant just to trap a man like my mother and sisters did. He: My job is so dangerous it’s better not to have a family.) Anticipating rejection, Nathalyia tells Rafael that she was inseminated with Martin’s frozen sperm. Stung, he postures more. Inevitably, Rafael’s close-knit family brings him to his senses, while Nathalyia’s dysfunctional one reminds her of all she’s overcome and all she can still achieve.
Thoroughly mediocre.Pub Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-312-57369-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2010
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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