A successful Boston divorce lawyer has been executed; the estranged husband of his latest client, a churlish bigot, has been arrested for the murder. What's not to like, right? But John Francis Cuddy reluctantly agrees to help Alan Spaeth's lawyer with Spaeth's defense, even though signing onto Spaeth's cause obviously won't help Cuddy's relationship with Nancy Meagher, his favorite prosecutor. After days of beating the bushes, Cuddy comes up with any number of people who might've wanted Woodrow Gant dead: his most recent lover, the unemployed brother who benefitted to the tune of a $100,000 insurance policy, the law partner whose payoff was ten times richer, the onetime gang- banger whose stint in prison did nothing to make him forget the lawyer who put him there. What he doesn't find is any evidence that his client is innocent. Worse still, the most important discovery the cops make, Spaeth's alibi witness, is in no shape to testify on his buddy's behalf, and it's clear that Cuddy's cage-rattling is getting to the killer. Looks like Cuddy's 12th will be a bust—unless there's a last-minute burst of evidence whose timing puts this case well below Invasion of Privacy (1996).
Pub Date: Feb. 10, 1998
ISBN: 0-671-00953-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
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A fake romance starts becoming surprisingly real.
Alexa is a lawyer-turned–chief of staff for the mayor of Berkeley. Drew is a pediatric surgeon from LA in town for his ex-girlfriend’s wedding. When the two get stuck in an elevator in a San Francisco hotel, they unexpectedly hit it off, and Drew convinces Alexa to be his plus-one at the wedding, leading to a whole fake-relationship scheme. The relationship may be fake, but Alexa and Drew are very clearly interested in each other. As a one-night stand becomes a two-night stand becomes weekend trips between Berkeley and LA, both are in denial about how important they are to each other. As they face ups and downs, ultimately they must decide if they want to try to make a real relationship work. The writing is fast-paced, jumping between Alexa's and Drew’s points of view. The two leads are charming, and both have quirky friends who add flavor to the story. The issue of race comes up since Alexa is black and Drew is white; Alexa is more aware of situations that may turn ugly, and Drew becomes more mindful of his privilege, a timely lesson that adds depth to the story. The book is also unexpectedly raunchy, since Alexa and Drew’s connection starts as a purely physical one and they only later develop deeper feelings. The characters never find a situation that doesn’t turn them on at least a little bit.
Guillory’s debut is a mix of romance and raunch that will charm rom-com fans.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-58766-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
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Terri Rayburn is devastated that her perfect man belongs to someone else, but once Nate Taggert realizes that Terri's the one for him, her complicated past still stands in the way of their being together.
Terri is attracted to Nate the moment she lays eyes on him, and soon they fall into an easy partnership at the Virginia lake resort she runs with her father. Nate is upfront about being engaged to the mayor’s daughter, Stacy, but she’s in Europe for a few weeks, and it quickly becomes clear to Terri that Nate and Stacy aren’t a great match. However, Terri, whose mother left when she was 2, has always had a problematic relationship with the citizens of Summer Hill. Since Leslie disappeared, the town gossip has made sure everyone remembers her as a promiscuous vixen, a label which tainted Terri as she got older and made her look like a problem when, as Nate begins to understand, she was really a victim. It’s clear to everyone around them that they are falling in love, but even as Nate realizes it himself, Terri is adamant that they can’t be together. She won’t steal him from the popular Stacy because it would mean she’d never be able to live in Summer Hill, and she won’t abandon her father. Deveraux spins an intriguing and unorthodox romance, continuing her Summer Hill branch of the Taggert/Montgomery series with two characters who have some unique, interesting obstacles in their paths and navigate through them with secrets uncovered and old wounds healed. The story is well plotted, though Nate is unnecessarily oblivious sometimes and the book takes an unexpected swing into romantic suspense territory in the last quarter. The solved mystery resolves Nate and Terri’s conflict, though the villain’s motivations seem a little cartoonish.
An entertaining page-turner.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7783-5124-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
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