An in-depth fairy tale by a master of the genre, delivering old-fashioned satisfaction with some up-to-date sparkle.
When a good-hearted gardener finds love with a royal, romance may sprout thorns.
Amy Wilde is more comfortable with a spade in her hand than a tiara on her head. When she meets the dashing Leo Wolfsburg, who fancies more than her roses, that's a plus. And when the charming banker is revealed to be the millionaire Prince Leopold, the world's ninth most eligible royal, Amy finds she can deal with the supermodel mom and the sprawling familial castle. Amy, better known for her prize marrow than her beauty or poise, can even manage the idea of Leo landing his helicopter on the local cricket pitch, a plus when he not only wins over her hard-luck parents, but also gets their permission to propose. In fact, all seems, well, rosy, until a family scandal catapults Leo into the position of heir to the throne of Nirona—and Amy's family troubles and her own unthinking missteps threaten to derail not only his father's coronation, but their wedding. Amy, a "stroppy Yorkshire" girl, finds herself wondering, "I loved Leo, but was I really going to be able to do this?" Not to worry. Of course she is, although Browne (Swept Off Her Feet, 2011, etc.) throws in more than the usual obstacles along the way. She also plumps out this straightforward girl-meets-boy, girl-loses-boy, girl-gets-boy romance with enough detail—about London, European society, even gardening—to dissuade some looking for a quicker read. But her breezy writing and likable characters—even Leo's ne'er-do-well brother Rolf is sympathetic—will keep the right kind of reader engaged. Traditional in outlook, despite the very contemporary fashion references, this thick novel delivers a solid, almost believable fantasy with just enough glitz and glamour to catch the eye of chick-lit fans.
An in-depth fairy tale by a master of the genre, delivering old-fashioned satisfaction with some up-to-date sparkle.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4391-6885-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
