A brisk, spirited novella about a man’s quest for true love, from a hip author with potential.
A divorced ne’er-do-well seeks to reinvigorate his stagnant life by digging up the past in Willow’s debut novel.
Despite its risqué title, this tale about a man trying to rekindle an old high school flame is amiable and entertaining. It follows the adventures of Steve Collins, a downtrodden 30-something Pittsburgh insurance company human-resources director haunted by dreams of a better life. After a year and a half of homeownership, he swiftly backed out of his unfulfilling life and love by getting a divorce. Now, as a newly single fellow, he trolls Internet dating sites for female companionship, which results in pages of humorous attempts to connect with the opposite sex: Suzie looks “exactly like her photo, age-progressed twenty years”; Kathy seems nice but is secretly attached; and Paula has nine rescue-shelter cats. Then Jennifer Mello, a beautiful, out-of-his-league brunette he’d let slip away back in high school, reappears at his workplace looking for a job. Twenty years have improved Jennifer’s attractiveness along with her career acumen, the love-struck Steve observes. Although she initially declines his attentions, he insinuates himself into her life—even as his pessimistic friends Paulie and Chris and his amiable, unfaithful ex-wife, Sara, advise against living in the past. A highly coincidental chance meeting brings Steve and Jennifer face to face again, and they date until former classmate Bobby (the “cockblocker” of the title), who also feels puppy love for Jennifer, threatens to sabotage Steve’s romantic strategy. Willow concludes his short tale with a confusing one-page epilogue that switches the narrative’s point of view. This novel is stunted by its brevity and lack of plot development, and it only minimally explores the idea that “no one ever recovers from high school.” However, this deceptively slim, effective story about reinvigorating a past love will surely entertain fans of romance and other readers looking for an uncomplicated, breezy, and fun beach distraction. It has a winning protagonist whose need for love and acceptance will likely resonate with every reader.
A brisk, spirited novella about a man’s quest for true love, from a hip author with potential.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1503224681
Page Count: 100
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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