As fish stories go, this one flounders.
Another be-careful-what-you-wish-for tale from the author of, among eight others, The Secret Ingredient (2002).
Budding actress Stacey Reiser wishes her mother would get a life already. She phones constantly to nag and whine, and doesn’t seem to have anything to think about but her darling daughter—who just moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles, partly to advance her career and partly to retreat from Mom. Helen calls whenever she feels the urge, and it’s not as if Stacey can just turn off her trusty Nokia. What if her agent was trying to reach her? Not that Hollywood’s begging for her services ever since film critic Jack Rawlins gave her a devastatingly bad review for her small role in a Jim Carrey comedy. Stacey’s demeaning salesclerk job at Cornucopia, a posh housewares boutique, will just have to pay the bills for now. Then—oh, no!—her mother decides to visit sunny California. Wonder of wonders, mom’s incessant complaining pays off when she vociferously objects to a bone in a can of Fin tuna and is offered a spot as the company’s spokeswoman. She’s suddenly sought after for character roles when the commercial airs nationwide. Everyone from Woody Allen to the producers of Sex and the City wants the feisty old lady—but Helen takes it all in stride. Until she meets Victor, a con man who woos older women by telling sob stories about his wealthy wife’s mysterious demise. Stacey is appalled, though Helen is charmed. Since her mother won’t believe that Victor is up to no good, Stacey must uncover the truth as she contends with an unexpected admirer of her own: critic Jack Rawlins, who’s immediately smitten when he meets her in person (and apologizes for being so nasty). Helen keeps pitching Fin in a tin as Stacey frets over her career and engages in rather obvious role reversal. How come her mother never picks up the phone when Stacey calls?
As fish stories go, this one flounders.Pub Date: April 11, 2003
ISBN: 0-312-28848-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
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
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
© 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
