Astute and luminous, like its heroine.
A fictionalized version of the romance between a Hawaiian princess and an English naval officer from Cook’s last fateful voyage, one of the first hapa haole (half-white, half-Hawaiian) marriages on record.
Maile, daughter of a Hawaiian high chief, looks forward to her marriage to Ikaika, her father's prime navigator, but after a misunderstanding with Capt. James Cook instigates a skirmish which causes the captain’s and Ikaika’s deaths, Maile becomes the conflicted nurse of English officer John Harbottle. At first considered an enemy, John is able, with help from Maile, to convince her father to let him and his men help them against a threat from a neighboring island. Meanwhile, Maile is assigned to teach John their ancient navigation principles so the Englishmen can get back home since one of the things that caused the skirmish were missing navigation instruments, presumed stolen. John and Maile’s time together leads to mutual respect and tender feelings, though John’s expected departure shadows their growing love. Todd’s (Resist, 2016, etc.) first adult novel is based on her fourth great-grandparents Harbottle and Papapaunauapu (Maile in the novel) and is a delightful amalgamation of fact and fiction as well as a beautifully rendered peek into Hawaiian society before any large Western influence. Through Maile's first-person narrative and John's occasional diary entries, Todd explains ancient Hawaiian customs, beliefs, and wisdom, including actual navigational methods, and creates a clever, multifaceted heroine. A trend in the romance world often has female characters rendered as anachronistically feminist, which isn’t quite the case with Maile, though readers may wonder if a woman in a society as rigid as the one described here could have had the influence she does throughout the book. Still, the story is captivating.
Astute and luminous, like its heroine.Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62972-528-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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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