A debut historical novel follows an aristocratic family in 17th-century Croatia, at the conclusion of the Thirty Years’ War.
In 1649, a young nobleman named Mauro Baric has inherited his father’s position as baron of their ancestral lands. Though only in his 20s, Mauro has been hardened by both the early loss of his brother and his years in combat, leading troops in service of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, of which he is a vassal. As the heir to the house of Baric, Mauro must not only live up to his late father’s legacy as a local ruler, but also enter into a long-ago arranged marriage to Resi Kokkinos, the daughter of an Ottoman Greek merchant and smuggler with whom his family conducts business. Both young people initially chafe at being forced to marry a stranger they do not love; Resi faces the particular hardships of living in a culturally strange land and existing at the whims of a husband who is often away. Over time, the newlyweds grow closer, and Resi begins to learn the inner workings of her new home. This novel—the first in a projected trilogy—is driven by research and a complexly developed social system. To this end, Bald includes a five-page history lesson before the first chapter and a 10-page glossary of characters at the back of the book, which includes drawings of period dress. Everyone from kitchen servants to Venetian princesses has a role in the book. And while many of these characters possess richly drawn emotional lives—the dislocated Resi is a particularly engaging heroine—a considerable reader investment in the Baric world is needed to make sense of the players and their positions. Great attention is given—in both narration and dialogue—to military organization, legal and taxation systems, gender roles, local politics, and a myriad of other specialized topics. While these focuses can slow down the plot, readers who make the commitment to the material will be rewarded with a full fictional immersion in a corner of 17th- century Europe.
An engrossing, research-heavy tale of Croatia in the early modern period.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-943594-00-9
Page Count: 442
Publisher: Hillwaker Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
40
GET IT
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
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 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2021 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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.
