A slow burn in every sense of the word.
Two dragon-shifters rekindle a long-ago flame as they travel unknown seas in search of the ultimate treasure.
When Scottish dragon-shifter Erik MacAlasdair ventures to France in search of a ship, he is surprised to discover the captain of the ship he’s pointed toward is old friend Toinette Deschamps. Herself a dragon-shifter, Toinette spent her formative years with Erik and his cousins in Scotland centuries ago. Now, having inherited a ship and crew from her most recent husband, Toinette is willing to venture into the unknown lands for the treasure Erik says might turn the tide for Scotland in the war against England. After several weeks on the ocean avoiding each other and the chemistry between them, Erik and the captain find themselves stuck on an island. The trust they must have in each other and their crew, and the crew in them, allows for a great deal of forward motion in conversation and physical activity. While the plot gets off to a slow start, the magic eventually leads to enough interesting plot to pick up the pace. The romance, however, is flat. Cooper (Highland Dragon Rebel, 2017, etc.) is so focused on the mystery of the island that she relies on the reunion of a couple who might have had chemistry as teenagers. The slow-burn romance is quiet, which some readers might enjoy, but is almost too quiet to be convincing. While the story pulls away from the more involved war-related events of some of Cooper's previous books, it eventually takes the reader on an Indiana Jones–esque quest that is more a compelling adventure tale than a romance.
A slow burn in every sense of the word.Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3209-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sparkling, laugh-out-loud novel.
Polished debut fiction, from Australian author Simsion, about a brilliant but emotionally challenged geneticist who develops a questionnaire to screen potential mates but finds love instead. The book won the 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript.
“I became aware of applause. It seemed natural. I had been living in the world of romantic comedy and this was the final scene. But it was real.” So Don Tillman, our perfectly imperfect narrator and protagonist, tells us. While he makes this observation near the end of the book, it comes as no surprise—this story plays the rom-com card from the first sentence. Don is challenged, almost robotic. He cannot understand social cues, barely feels emotion and can’t stand to be touched. Don’s best friends are Gene and Claudia, psychologists. Gene brought Don as a postdoc to the prestigious university where he is now an associate professor. Gene is a cad, a philanderer who chooses women based on nationality—he aims to sleep with a woman from every country. Claudia is tolerant until she’s not. Gene sends Rosie, a graduate student in his department, to Don as a joke, a ringer for the Wife Project. Finding her woefully unsuitable, Don agrees to help the beautiful but fragile Rosie learn the identity of her biological father. Pursuing this Father Project, Rosie and Don collide like particles in an atom smasher: hilarity, dismay and carbonated hormones ensue. The story lurches from one set piece of deadpan nudge-nudge, wink-wink humor to another: We laugh at, and with, Don as he tries to navigate our hopelessly emotional, nonliteral world, learning as he goes. Simsion can plot a story, set a scene, write a sentence, finesse a detail. A pity more popular fiction isn’t this well-written. If you liked Australian author Toni Jordan's Addition (2009), with its math-obsessed, quirky heroine, this book is for you.
A sparkling, laugh-out-loud novel.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4767-2908-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
Typical Macomber holiday romantic fare: short and sweet and as much a part of the season for some readers as cookies and...
Chicago society-page columnist Carrie Slayton wants to find and interview reclusive author Finn Dalton to prove her credibility as a real journalist; she doesn’t expect to fall in love with him, jeopardizing both her heart and her career.
Carrie Slayton yearns to write meatier stories, and her editor offers her a challenge: find and interview best-selling, reclusive author Finn Dalton, and she can have her pick of assignments. Determined, Carrie makes real progress, tracking down his birth certificate, then his mother, then the man himself. Basically drop-shipped by an Alaskan bush pilot to his cabin’s doorstep, she is met by an angry author and an Arctic blizzard. Finn may be crotchety, but he’s not inhumane, and he can hardly leave her outside in the snow. As the two get to know each other, they realize they may have more in common than either expected, and despite their icy beginnings, they warm up to each other. After two snowbound days, Carrie heads back to Chicago and her job, but neither Carrie nor Finn is ready to say goodbye, and the two begin a long-distance romance. Meanwhile, despite enough material to write a story, Carrie buries the piece, believing Finn’s trust in her is more valuable than any article. The two are stuck on each other, but the people around them are more worried about their differences than their similarities, and they’ll either have to figure out a way to be together or end it completely. Set in snowy Alaska, Chicago and Seattle during the Christmas season, Macomber fulfills fans’ expectations with this romantic holiday confection. As with many Macomber books, the pace is relaxed, the story soft and fuzzy. Certain details miss the mark, and sometimes the story feels told more than shown, but the author will likely enthrall her usual audience with this quick, simple love story of two opposites attracting and struggling to make it work.
Typical Macomber holiday romantic fare: short and sweet and as much a part of the season for some readers as cookies and candy canes.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-345-52889-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
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