A predictable but timely story that remains relevant in today’s political climate.
Star-crossed lovers attempt to overcome the odds in Abiola’s (Realistic Hopes, 2014) historical novel.
The Lebanese Civil War exploded in 1975 due largely to the tension between Lebanon’s Christians and Muslims, and the conflict would last more than 15 years. When Mary, a Maronite Christian, falls in love with Isaac, a Sunni Muslim, the young, naïve couple have little hope for a bright future. They both know that their families won’t approve of their relationship, and so they plan to run away together to escape their cultures’ restrictions. Unfortunately, their plan is foiled soon after its inception, and leads to Mary’s father’s death. The couple splits when Mary immigrates to the United States with her mother and Isaac undertakes a new path of study in Lebanon. The far-flung lovers struggle to find their places in the world, encountering losses and successes in very different environments. Mary finds solace in her work with children in New York City and meets a potential love interest at the office. Meanwhile, Isaac studies English in Lebanon and obsessively plans for a future in which he can beg Mary’s forgiveness and win her back. Yet the violence of war and the disapproval of their families continue to threaten their future. Abiola’s novel provides a window into Middle Eastern history and offers a plea for religious tolerance and forgiveness. Although the history is fascinating, the love story is familiar: Mary is a classic heroine—an innocent beauty who falls quickly for a bad boy. Their young love withstands the test of time, although Isaac’s passion is disturbing in its ferocity and feels vaguely threatening. (Even Isaac’s doctor voices concern, noting that in almost eight years of counseling he “had not been able to reduce [Isaac’s] obsession with Mary.”) Abiola’s well-executed narrative neatly ties up its loose ends, however, providing a convincing ending.
A predictable but timely story that remains relevant in today’s political climate.Pub Date: July 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-1499270006
Page Count: 308
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A smooth blend of suspense and romance. As ever, the author's trademark effortless style keeps a complex plot moving without...
Megaselling Roberts (River's End, 1999, etc.) goes to Napa Valley for the tale of an Italian-American family wine producers rocked by scandal and a series of murders.
Dynasty head Tereza Giambelli knows that her granddaughter Sophia is the only family member capable of running a multimillion-dollar wine business—and no one contradicts La Signora. It's just as well the lovely young woman is still single: Tereza has plans for her. The matriarch has recently married Eli MacMillan, the American founder of another famous wine company. Eli's grandson Tyler knows everything there is to know about producing wine, from the vineyard to the vat. Ruggedly handsome, intelligent and earthy, he's a perfect match for public-relations whiz Sophia—or so thinks Tereza. The two young people begin to work together; Tyler teaches Sophia the fine art of making wine and making love. But other family members hope to claim their share of the Giambelli fortune, and people start dying mysteriously, including Sophia's good-for-nothing father, Tony Avano. Long divorced from long-suffering Pilar Giambelli, Tony led an opulent, self-indulgent life that provides plenty of murder suspects. He might have been killed by the mob, or a jealous mistress, or his spoiled brother-in-law, Tereza's lazy son, who's produced a passel of brats with his foolish Italian wife in the hopes of making Tereza happy. Everyone has a motive, and nothing is what it seems, Sophia discovers, but Tyler stands by her. Then a bottle of tainted merlot kills a company exec. A tragic mishap caused by poisonous plants growing near the vines? Or deliberate product tampering intended to destroy the company? Sophia and Tyler will need to delve even deeper into the convoluted and sometimes unsavory history of the family and its three-generation business.
A smooth blend of suspense and romance. As ever, the author's trademark effortless style keeps a complex plot moving without a hitch.Pub Date: March 19, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-14712-8
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
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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