This sexy, lighthearted romp brings the series to a satisfying close.
Deveraux (For All Time, 2014, etc.) saves the best for last in the final installment of the Nantucket Brides trilogy, in which a physical therapist rehabilitates a wounded military veteran in a haunted house.
When Hallie Hartley unexpectedly inherits a home on the island of Nantucket, she knows she’ll have to move quickly to keep it away from her spoiled stepsister, Shelly, who steals Hallie’s identity to try to claim the house for herself. Hallie hastily honors Shelly’s arrangement with veteran Jamie Taggert, who had planned to move into the Nantucket home with the woman he thought was Hallie for round-the-clock physical therapy to escape his meddling family. While Hallie insists that her massage therapy techniques are strictly professional, the innuendos practically write themselves: “It’s been a tough day and I took my anger out on you,” Hallie says to Jamie. “Why don’t you take your clothes off and let’s start over?” Legend has it that a pair of beautiful ghosts named Hyacinth and Juliana still haunt the house with the aim of uniting people with their true loves. Hallie believes she's already met hers, and she hopes that her childhood friend, Braden, will take his mother’s advice and propose to her. Braden, however, prefers lanky models, and curvy Hallie isn’t his type. Braden arrives at the house assuming that Jamie will feel the same way, which makes it all the more gratifying when Jamie says he likes Hallie’s curves, proving that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Hallie is still torn between the two men when a bevy of Montgomery-Taggert cousins from previous books invade the house for a wedding celebration, giving her blessings and warnings that muddle her feelings but thankfully don’t muddle the plot. Behind the scenes, the two scheming ghosts intervene with a whimsical touch, inspiring heartfelt revelations as both Hallie and Jamie heal old wounds to find new love.
This sexy, lighthearted romp brings the series to a satisfying close.Pub Date: June 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-345-54185-7
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
Pevear's informative introduction and numerous helpful explanatory notes help make this the essential Anna Karenina.
The husband-and-wife team who have given us refreshing English versions of Dostoevsky, Gogol, and Chekhov now present their lucid translation of Tolstoy's panoramic tale of adultery and society: a masterwork that may well be the greatest realistic novel ever written. It's a beautifully structured fiction, which contrasts the aristocratic world of two prominent families with the ideal utopian one dreamed by earnest Konstantin Levin (a virtual self-portrait). The characters of the enchanting Anna (a descendant of Flaubert's Emma Bovary and Fontane's Effi Briest, and forerunner of countless later literary heroines), the lover (Vronsky) who proves worthy of her indiscretion, her bloodless husband Karenin and ingenuous epicurean brother Stiva, among many others, are quite literally unforgettable. Perhaps the greatest virtue of this splendid translation is the skill with which it distinguishes the accents of Anna's romantic egoism from the spare narrative clarity with which a vast spectrum of Russian life is vividly portrayed.
Pevear's informative introduction and numerous helpful explanatory notes help make this the essential Anna Karenina.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-670-89478-8
Page Count: 864
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2001
PERSPECTIVES
A perfect blend of smart, heart-wrenching, and fun.
Two years after the tragic death of her fiance, an artist begins to heal thanks to a rock star and his dog.
Sloan Monroe is on her way to the grave of her late fiance, who was killed by a drunk driver, when she nearly hits a dog who dashed into the road. When she stops to check on him, he jumps into her car through the sunroof, and when she doesn't hear from his owner after calling the number on his collar, she decides to keep him. Jason Larsen, the dog's owner, is backpacking off the grid in Australia, and when he finally gets Sloan's voicemails nearly two weeks later, he calls her and is astonished to discover that she's had Tucker, his dog, for so long; his quasi-girlfriend was supposed to be watching Tucker but it turns out she had basically abandoned him. Since he’s still in Australia for a few weeks, Jason arranges for Sloan to keep Tucker, and through it all they text and talk and plant the seeds for a friendship, if not more. Sloan is slow and wary, even before she discovers that Jason is a musician on the cusp of star status. Still, she’s charmed by his patience and talent, and when he returns to LA, she quickly falls in love with him, his dog, and his family. Just as they’re admitting to deep feelings, he’s embarking on a long musical tour and wants her with him. It’s a grind, which she isn’t expecting, and the relationship is at odds with his label’s publicity plans, which are complicated. Plus, it keeps Sloan from pursuing her art, which she wants to explore again. Following her exceptional debut (The Friend Zone, 2019), author Jimenez has written Sloan’s story with elegant, compassionate success, showcasing a romance that navigates deep grief and healing while exploring the unexpected stressors placed on a celebrity relationship. Fans of The Friend Zone will be happy to see Kristen and Josh as Sloan’s main support system and will be touched by Jimenez’s note in the acknowledgements about her inspiration for the book.
A perfect blend of smart, heart-wrenching, and fun.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5387-1564-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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