Toothless thriller, written to old-fashioned glitz specifications: European settings, tons of silly sex, and scheming...
Emeralds to die for.
Who is the mysterious lady disguised in sunglasses and scarf who placed the gems for sale with a Parisian jeweler in the 1970s? She demanded that they be reset, in an apparent effort to conceal their provenance—that’s how Ramtame, the brooding Algerian boy who served as assistant to Jules Levant, remembers the fateful day. Ramtame grew up to be a brooding Algerian man who also remembers every ethnic slur ever hurled his way in the long-ago days of blatant political incorrectness. Yes, those who dismissed him once will pay for their evil ways. Back to the emeralds: Kitty Nguien Fleischman, sultry, boob-enhanced Eurasian mistress of a megamillionaire, wants at least one! She collects such baubles when not writhing around dramatically in orgasmic bliss. Her lover does his damnedest to get his hands on the ring that holds the most famous of all, the Princess Karima stone (named for the aging Arab beauty who now owns it), to no avail. What is the mysterious flaw within its green depths that makes it so very, very valuable? Lips are sealed. Don’t even ask! Segue to Allegra Sheridan, talented, beautiful, struggling jewelry designer. (Note to author: young, hip women in 2004 do not wear the garments described here as “slacks.”) She, too, spends a lot of time in the sack, with Todd, a man of insatiable sexual appetites and truckloads of money made in Manhattan real estate. Princess Karima is about the only one who sleeps alone, alas (flabby arms and wrinkly neck—apparently she doesn’t know the name of Kitty’s plastic surgeon). But it’s time for Ramtame, the brooding Algerian, to stop sulking and put his master plan for world domination through terrorism into action. Shadowy deals are struck in Arab alleys, and all these people skulk around trying to figure it out. Hey, who was the mysterious lady in sunglasses at the beginning? Let’s just say the English royal family still doesn’t think much of her.
Toothless thriller, written to old-fashioned glitz specifications: European settings, tons of silly sex, and scheming bitches by the score.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2004
ISBN: 0-451-21274-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: NAL/Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2004
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
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 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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