A chatty, memoir-esque novel that entertains but grows repetitive.
A naïve actor/playwright has a life-changing year in this romantic comedy.
In December, Dana has a rude awakening when she realizes her musician ex-boyfriend, Russell—the man she lost her virginity to—is sleeping with another woman. After relocating to New York City from small-town Canada to pursue her dreams of writing and acting, and immediately jumping into a relationship with Russell, the university grad finds herself at a crossroads. With the help of Kelly, her flamboyant roommate who moonlights as a dominatrix, Dana embarks on 12 unforgettable months of late nights in clubs, wild hookups with younger men, and cross-country jaunts to reconnect with old flames. Dana briefly questions her sexual orientation after two separate encounters with women named Kim but quickly realizes she’s only attracted to the vast selection of men now at her fingertips. A brief fling with buff, macho actor Tony introduces Dana to what she really wants sexually. In turn, Dana finds an ideal balance of romance and sex with visiting Spanish artist Santiago but knows geography makes a longer relationship impossible. And then there’s Henry, a much older playboy who asks Dana to join him for an intimate birthday dinner but who also happens to be Dana’s boss. As the year unfolds, she begins to experience professional success onscreen and off-Broadway and discovers who she is and what she wants from life. Author, playwright, and actor Lieberman based this novel on her one-woman show, Year of the Slut, and her first-person voice as protagonist and narrator Dana is both conversational and charismatic. The reader gets a front-row seat to Dana’s sexual adventures, and watching a young woman own her sexuality while making her career dreams come true is pure, gratifying escapism. However, Dana’s character doesn’t display much vulnerability as she experiences win after win, resulting in a distinctive lack of nuance and a story that turns shallow very early on.
A chatty, memoir-esque novel that entertains but grows repetitive.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 201
Publisher: Maple Mermaid Publishing Corp
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A solid contemporary with a balance of humor and lasting emotional beats.
In this contemporary romance, two emergency room doctors, both recovering from messy breakups, form a close, comforting friendship and perhaps something more.
Dr. Briana Ortiz has enough on her plate. She’s in the midst of finalizing her divorce, and her brother’s on a deadline to find a kidney donor. Now she has to worry that the new doctor, Jacob Maddox, is there to nab her promotion to chief of emergency medicine. Admittedly, Jacob—who has social anxiety—doesn't make the best first impression on Bri, telling her off for bumping into him in the hall. To make amends, he writes her a letter to explain himself and apologize, and the tension between them softens as their letters to each other keep coming. Bri realizes Jacob isn’t there to undermine her, and Jacob gets to see Bri’s more vulnerable side. When Jacob offers to be Bri’s brother’s kidney donor and Bri agrees to be Jacob’s pretend girlfriend for a wedding, it's easy to wonder what kept these two apart in the first place. The answer: not much. Of course, the two are carrying some heavy baggage from prior relationships, but it seems like a minor obstacle when compared to the genuine connection Jacob and Bri share. This is a cute, slow-burn romance with plenty of funny moments and emotional challenges, though the focus seems to be on the leads finally realizing what’s been in front of them all along through grand and sometimes unnecessary machinations. Did this need a fake dating subplot? Or epistolary flirting? Not really, but Jimenez manages to pepper these adorable tropes throughout without making them feel too gimmicky.
A solid contemporary with a balance of humor and lasting emotional beats.Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781538704394
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
A heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love.
Two struggling authors spend the summer writing and falling in love in a quaint beach town.
January Andrews has just arrived in the small town of North Bear Shores with some serious baggage. Her father has been dead for a year, but she still hasn’t come to terms with what she found out at his funeral—he had been cheating on her mother for years. January plans to spend the summer cleaning out and selling the house her father and “That Woman” lived in together. But she’s also a down-on-her-luck author facing writer’s block, and she no longer believes in the happily-ever-after she’s made the benchmark of her work. Her steadily dwindling bank account, though, is a daily reminder that she must sell her next book, and fast. Serendipitously, she discovers that her new next-door neighbor is Augustus Everett, the darling of the literary fiction set and her former college rival/crush. Gus also happens to be struggling with his next book (and some serious trauma that unfolds throughout the novel). Though the two get off to a rocky start, they soon make a bet: Gus will try to write a romance novel, and January will attempt “bleak literary fiction.” They spend the summer teaching each other the art of their own genres—January takes Gus on a romantic outing to the local carnival; Gus takes January to the burned-down remains of a former cult—and they both process their own grief, loss, and trauma through this experiment. There are more than enough steamy scenes to sustain the slow-burn romance, and smart commentary on the placement and purpose of “women’s fiction” joins with crucial conversations about mental health to add multiple intriguing layers to the plot.
A heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0673-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Jove/Penguin
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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