An Edwardian theater love story that tests the boundaries of just how unlikable a romance hero can be.
Two thespians strut and fret and argue throughout their hour upon the stage together.
The Honorable Miss Fenella Grantley knows she should be grateful for her life of ease and privilege, but everything feels unrelentingly gloomy to her. Except, that is, when she sneaks out to Bloomsbury for her acting classes. Those classes get even more interesting when playwright Edward Tremayne, by-blow of the Earl of Pendleton, comes to class with a draft of his newest work, Sapphire. She takes an immediate dislike to Edward and his “arrogance and contempt,” so he takes her for hot chocolate to apologize for his rudeness. And despite the fact that the two can’t go more than a few sentences at a time without bickering, they soon become intimate, and a few days later, they’ve not only slept together, but Fenella is also concocting elaborate excuses to spend the night at his lodgings. Both are prickly and prone to misunderstandings, but they are continually drawn back to each other and have to decide whether their chemistry can or should survive the tumult of these continuous conflicts. Unfortunately, it will be hard for many readers to look forward to this happy ending. From their first meeting, Edward seems unnecessarily unkind to Fenella, and although this is supposedly because of his nerves and attraction to her, modern sensibilities may find him creepy and overbearing rather than charming. Additionally, his obsession with Sapphire and insistence that Fenella perform her role in exactly the way he’s imagined it is an unfortunately timeless example of a male artist who puts his ego before all others—not exactly the swoon-inspiring stuff of a romance hero. For her part, Fenella is pleasingly independent, which makes her attraction to Edward all the more confusing. The book, second in a series but able to stand alone, may appeal to Feather’s longtime fans but is unlikely to work for readers who aren’t already inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.
An Edwardian theater love story that tests the boundaries of just how unlikable a romance hero can be.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4201-4362-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Zebra/Kensington
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
Not Woods’ best, but a smoothly written, beach-themed story with a happy ending helps forgive the weaknesses.
When Samantha, an established-yet-struggling actress, comes home to act as maid-of-honor in her sister’s wedding, the family unabashedly tries to pair her with the best man, Ethan, her teenage crush and now a local war hero.
Samantha is the oldest Castle, and while her two sisters found true love in quick succession, she’s in New York with a struggling acting career and no Mr. Right on the horizon. Coming home to Sand Castle Bay, N.C., for youngest sister Emily’s wedding, Samantha is continually thrown in the path of Ethan Cole, local football champion–turned–war hero. Samantha had a huge high school crush on Ethan but is surprised to learn he lost a leg in Afghanistan, and his then-fiancee abandoned him soon after. Spending time with him now, Samantha realizes what a wonderful man he is, but the association is tainted by the humiliating lengths her family is going to in order to get them together. And while Ethan is a great and honorable man, his post-war romantic experience has left him gun-shy and determined to avoid relationships. At a crossroads in her own life, Samantha has to decide whether she’s going to stay in Sand Castle Bay or go back to her sputtering career in New York—and what her hopes are with Ethan. The two navigate insecurities and misunderstandings as they fall in love and fight for their happily-ever-after. Woods' latest is slightly off-key. Great writing and deft characterization can’t save a thin romantic conflict, and the more Ethan clings to his “I’ve given up on love” position, the less heroic he becomes. Some secondary storylines offer similarly shrill undertones that denote a disturbing lack of communication, unrealistic expectations and waffling with annoying justification. Still, in the end, love conquers all in satisfying ways for everyone concerned, and this ties up a few loose ends for the trilogy.
Not Woods’ best, but a smoothly written, beach-themed story with a happy ending helps forgive the weaknesses.Pub Date: May 28, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7783-1446-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
As the plot grows more complicated, it also sheds believability, leaving sex and witty banter to carry the day.
Brown (Mean Streak, 2014, etc.) ticks off the boxes that elevate her books to the bestseller lists in this sexy romantic thriller set in Texas.
Rock-jawed hero with a dark past: check. Strong-willed, beautiful woman who resists his charms: check. A Whitman’s Sampler of bad guys: check. And finally, a convoluted and not always plausible plot: check. In this latest outing, readers meet TV journalist Kerra Bailey, whose family was torn apart years ago by a hotel bombing that killed 197 people in Dallas. Just in time for the 25th anniversary, Kerra scores an interview with the notoriously private Maj. Trapper, who saved her life, among others, when he emerged from the blast to lead the survivors out of danger. There's an iconic, prizewinning photo of the major carrying a little girl from the wreckage, but the child has never been identified—until now, when Kerra goes public with the information that it was her. Just after they finish filming the interview in his home, the major is shot, and an injured Kerra escapes in the confusion. The major’s son, disgraced Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent John Trapper—a name M*A*S*H fans will appreciate—steps in, igniting a chain of events that leads to murder, intrigue, betrayal, and a series of dark revelations. As with most of Brown’s heroes and heroines, there’s palpable sexual tension between Trapper, whose taut rear occupies ample literary real estate, and Kerra, who when dealing with Trapper feels “like he’d lightly scratched her just below her bellybutton” when he’s not making her “pleasure points throb.” The complex plot plays out in a round of reveals that don’t always make a lot of sense, but that’s not why Brown’s fans read her books. They check in for the witty, pitch-perfect dialogue and fluid writing. A master of her genre, Brown knows how to please her most ardent readers but relies too often on the same basic formula from novel to novel.
As the plot grows more complicated, it also sheds believability, leaving sex and witty banter to carry the day.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4555-7210-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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