Four boarding school friends find everlasting love with the help of a magical coin in this historical-romance anthology that weaves through the popular wedding rhyme, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue—and a sixpence for your shoe.”
Anne, Ellie, Cordelia, and Bea, friends at Madame Rochambeaux’s Gentle School for Girls, discover a sixpence in Anne’s mattress and whimsically decide that the old coin will help them find true love when the time comes. Ten years later, Anne is close to the deadline to find a husband set by her strict uncle when she meets the rakish Duke of Dorset. He agrees to help her find a husband, then falls in love with her himself and must convince her that he’s worthy. Happily married, Anne hands the coin off to Cordelia, who turns to a childhood friend to escort her to Anne’s wedding, since her aunts are trying to match her up and she’s told them she’s engaged to Kipp. Unfortunately, Kipp is an impoverished earl practically engaged to an heiress, so even though Cordelia moves him like no other woman, he can’t afford to marry her. Can he? Once Kipp and Cordelia are sorted, she gives the coin to Elinor, who is set on marrying an aristocrat whose connections may save her father from being investigated for war profiteering by the man she had once thought to marry, Lawrence Blackthorne. When Blackthorne steals the coin from her, they may have to revisit their romance, and Ellie may have to face some difficult truths about her father. Finally, Bea, a scientist at heart with no desire to marry, meets her perfect match in an injured lord who is learning to see the world through new eyes after a devastating accident.
A fun idea connects four charming stories, though they build to a pinnacle with Quinn’s.Pub Date: Dec. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-242842-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | HISTORICAL ROMANCE
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A clever, romantic, sexy love story.
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The much-loved royal romance genre gets a fun and refreshing update in McQuiston’s debut.
Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of the American President Ellen Claremont, knows one thing for sure: He hates Henry, the British prince to whom he is always compared. He lives for their verbal sparring matches, but when one of their fights at a royal wedding goes a bit too far, they end up falling into a wedding cake and making tabloid headlines. An international scandal could ruin Alex’s mother’s chances for re-election, so it’s time for damage control. The plan? Alex and Henry must pretend to be best friends, giving the tabloids pictures of their bromance and neutralizing the threat to Ellen's presidency. But after a few photo ops with Henry, Alex starts to realize that the passionate anger he feels toward him might be a cover for regular old passion. There are, naturally, a million roadblocks between their first kiss and their happily-ever-after—how can American political royalty and actual British royalty ever be together? How can they navigate being open about their sexualities (Alex is bisexual; Henry is gay) in their very public and very scrutinized roles? Alex and Henry must decide if they’ll risk their futures, their families, and their careers to take a chance on happiness. Although the story’s premise might be a fantasy—it takes place in a world in which a divorced-mom Texan Democrat won the 2016 election—the emotions are all real. The love affair between Alex and Henry is intense and romantic, made all the more so by the inclusion of their poetic emails that manage to be both funny and steamy. McQuiston’s strength is in dialogue; her characters speak in hilarious rapid-fire bursts with plenty of “likes,” “ums,” creative punctuation, and pop-culture references, sounding like smarter, funnier versions of real people. Although Alex and Henry’s relationship is the heart of the story, their friends and family members are all rich, well-drawn characters, and their respective worlds feel both realistic and larger-than-life.
A clever, romantic, sexy love story.Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31677-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | LBGTQ
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Talented baker Polly Waterford doesn’t know what to do when her best friend, Kerensa, swears her to secrecy. Kerensa’s drunken one-night stand may jeopardize not only her pregnancy, but also her marriage, not to mention Polly’s engagement to Huckle.
Fans of Colgan's (The Café by the Sea, 2017, etc.) Mount Polbearne stories will delight—and new fans will find an easy, charming entry into the saga—as Polly, Huckle, and Neil (the puffin) return for the Christmas season. Having survived the dissolution of her graphic design business, Polly is now happily ensconced with Huckle, whose honey business is not yet thriving, in the historic lighthouse they bought in the sweet Cornish village (practically an island) whose only road to civilization is submerged under the sea twice each day. As the yuletide season approaches, however, Polly must face a bewildering number of obstacles. Is she ready to marry Huckle? Is she ready to start a family? How can she know when her own father abandoned her before she was even born? How can she give up an entire day’s profits to the Mount Polbearne Christmas fair? How can she save the endangered puffin sanctuary? How will she ever bake enough for the fair plus cater a huge holiday party for Kerensa and her fabulously wealthy husband, Reuben? And how will Kerensa ever survive Reuben’s wrath if the baby turns out not to be his but some 6-foot-4 Brazilian man’s? Supported by the ever faithful Huckle and Neil's endearing eeps, Polly carries on from the cozy bed in the icy lighthouse, trailing flour and knishes wherever she goes. Keeping secrets, pleasing everyone, and balancing so many jobs keeps Polly busy—that is, until a massive winter storm threatens everything.
Complications abound in this well-crafted, light holiday romance.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-266299-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE
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