Enchanting Regency romance with affable central characters that tastefully blends sex with essentials of the genre.
Tagan’s (A Question of Class, 2014) lively romance, set in London in 1808, has a young woman falling for the man pursuing her guardian’s daughter.
Her actor father having abandoned her when she was 12, Harriet Farley is now the ward of Eleanor, Duchess of Dorset. Eleanor’s daughter, Lady Marianne, awaits a marriage proposal from William Talbot, Earl of Abingdon, who’s researching a cure for malaria. Harriet meets a potential suitor of hers, Mr. Hopplehill, handpicked by the duchess, but he’s middle-aged, balding and small in stature. Harriet flees to her host’s study, where she encounters William engaging in animated conversation with his sister about the theater. Later, Adam Rousby, a friend of her father’s, informs Harriet of her father’s troubles: He may be bound for debtors prison. Although initially reluctant, Harriet agrees to go to Birmingham to see him, though any association with the theater, and the trip itself, are deemed inappropriate. It is agreed William will travel with her—he’s to confer with a colleague in the area—chaperoned by Mrs. Entwhistle, William’s former nursemaid. The trip is marked by various calamities, including a barn fire and an assault by thieves, although Mrs. Entwhistle, who may have gone round the bend, is having the time of her life. With nowhere to stay, the group stops at a lord’s home and, at his request, performs Shakespeare’s As You Like It with Harriet, an impressive Rosalind and William, a tolerable Orlando. Impulsively, he kisses her on stage, but they both know a long-term relationship is out of the question. The novel has typical Regency elements—a strong, spirited heroine, class distinctions and manners, and mystery—and some racy scenes. William’s medical research and Harriet’s theater expertise combine in clever ways, adding dimension to their mutual attraction. Clearly, Marianne, although pretty, is no intellectual match for William, while Harriet’s intelligence and insights, and her physicality, stir William’s desire. It’s a sparkling romance and road trip, a satisfying read with delightful surprises along the way.
Enchanting Regency romance with affable central characters that tastefully blends sex with essentials of the genre.Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-1616506674
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Lyrical Trade
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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