When Peyton Lockhart and her sisters agree to reboot their uncle’s Florida resort, troubles arise from all quarters, putting Peyton in danger and bringing childhood protector Finn MacBain to her side.
Peyton should have known that landing a job as a food critic for a major foodie magazine with no experience was too good to be true, but she never expected she’d be harassed and threatened by her new employer. After driving from Texas to Minnesota for the opportunity, it’s not too long before she can’t get out of there fast enough. Not long after, their uncle offers Peyton and her sisters the opportunity to work at his resort, supervising a major renovation and planning a grand re-opening, with the possibility of taking over ownership at the end of the project. It’s an offer they can’t refuse and one Peyton is especially grateful for, given the stress of her recent employment fiasco. But when they get to the resort in Florida, it becomes clear that someone is out to get Peyton and is sabotaging the resort renovation. Could it be their greedy, self-serving cousin? Or could it be someone from the magazine, exacting revenge for her sexual harassment lawsuit? Whoever it is, Peyton is in danger, and when she runs into Finn MacBain—the boy-next-door hero who saved her life when she was a little girl and is now an FBI agent—he decides to look into the matter. Finn is larger than life and has always been too old for Peyton, but she’s all grown up now, and when they reconnect, sparks fly. She knows his interest is fleeting (he’s a no-commitment kind of guy) but she’ll take his help with gratitude and nurse her broken heart when it’s over. If she can stay alive. Legendary romance author Garwood delivers a novel that is at times clever, original and sigh-worthy, at other moments, silly and simplistic. Fans of romance and especially Garwood will find glimpses of her brilliance, but elements of the suspense, plot and characterization are sprawling, disjointed and disappointing.
Uneven and oddly framed, though true believers will find enough Garwood in here to keep them satisfied.
Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-525-95301-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
