Tucker gives her leads just enough past damage to earn sympathy but wisely spends most of her time ratcheting up the sexual...
At a tequila-soaked bar in Cancún, a womanizing lawyer meets a beautiful woman with a bruised heart. Steamy shenanigans and romance ensue.
Tucker (Four Seconds to Lose, 2014, etc.) returns with her fourth novel in the Ten Tiny Breaths series, which began with the Cleary sisters and quickly embraced all the quirky, unattached minor characters, developing their own love stories. This time, it’s Ben Morris’ turn—Ben is the bouncer from Penny’s Palace, a strip club. He’s left the strippers behind and aced law school. Before he starts working at a Miami law firm, he’s taken a vacation in Cancún, where he meets purple-haired, gorgeous and very drunk Reese MacKay. She’s reeling from a shattered marriage. Finding her husband, Jared, in the shower with his high school sweetheart was certainly surprising. Discovering that the sweetheart had moved herself into their apartment (while moving Reese’s belongings into the hallway) prompted war. After Reese had finished vandalizing what was arguably still her own home, her stepfather, Jack, had no choice but to bail her out, pack her up, take her to Miami, enroll her in an online paralegal degree program and hire her at his own law firm. Her friends have taken her to Cancún to erase Jared from her memory. Ben and Reese’s one-night stand goes horribly wrong, and Reese is eager to forget the embarrassing details. Back home in Miami, however, she discovers that Ben’s new boss is her stepfather. Of course, they can't resist the attraction they feel, and soon Reese is asking Ben to play her fake boyfriend in increasingly complex make-Jared-jealous schemes, and Ben is asking Reese to play his fake girlfriend in repel-clingy-women schemes.
Tucker gives her leads just enough past damage to earn sympathy but wisely spends most of her time ratcheting up the sexual tension in this light romance.Pub Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-4051-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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