Psychos lurking in the dark, steamy sex, and touches of the supernatural seem to be favored ingredients of romances these days, and Robards handles them better than most. Grace Hart, single mother and a judge in Ohio’s juvenile and family-court system, has lost control of her teenage daughter Jessica, who’s sneaking out at night, smoking marijuana, and getting drunk’something especially ill-advised for a diabetic. Picked up by narcotics officers Dominick and Tony Marino as she goes into shock, Jessica is brought to the hospital by Grace and the two sexy cops. Especially irritating is Tony, a “Mr. Macho” who appears in the contemporary hero’s uniform of flannel shirt, Levi’s, and beat-up bomber jacket. He accuses Grace of negligence but sticks around to protect the pair when it seems that someone’s stalking Jessica. Tony is a divorced guy whose own daughter Rachel died of cystic fibrosis (get out the handkerchiefs), and he has never recovered from the near-mortal blow of losing a child. Of course, the reader knows he hasn’t really lost her, since her ghostly presence (in the form of a white moth) keeps sad watch over her mournful dad. At home, meanwhile, Grace keeps finding signs of another sort of ghostly presence: some nutcase has left invisible writing on a mirror, shifted a teddy bear from one place to another, and stuck bubble gum on a door. When the same unknown person drowns Godzilla the hamster, leaving him on Jessica’s bed in a plastic bag, Tony moves in to look after “his girls.” While Grace and he have hot sex during lunch breaks, they also share sorrows. Thus is a new family unit born to fight a sick teenager who graduates quickly to slaughtering people (and whose identity is never a mystery). Decently done work in the genre of the —now— romance.
Pub Date: Jan. 12, 1999
ISBN: 0-385-31971-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1998
There is something lackadaisical about the writing here that makes getting through all the plot twists a slog.
Master of cheerful uplift Moyes brings her British Everygirl heroine, Louisa Clark, back for a third go-round, this time sending her on an adventurous year in New York City.
After the death of Will, the wealthy paraplegic with whom she fell in love while working as his caretaker in Me Before You (2012), Lou found the promise of new love with paramedic Sam in After You (2015). Now she's ready to take on the kind of adventure Will always encouraged and Sam agrees she needs to experience, even if it means they have a trans-Atlantic relationship for a year. Her friend Nathan has found her a job as an assistant to the wife of his New York employer, Leonard Gopnik. Lou moves into the Gopniks' huge apartment at a prestigious Fifth Avenue address, and the novel’s strong early pages record her dizzy fascination with Manhattan. But the job is harder and New York lonelier than expected. Agnes Gopnik, who's recently arrived from Poland and was Leonard’s masseuse before becoming his second wife, finds navigating Upper East Side society a strain, to say the least. She leans on Lou as a purported friend, but Lou will learn to her dismay that a friendship between employer and servant can be slippery to maintain. So can long-distance romance. She suspects Sam’s relationship with his new partner at work might be growing more than professional, while she herself is pursued by an up-and-coming businessman who is not only charming, but bears a disconcerting resemblance to Will. Unfortunately, Lou no longer seems as fresh or endearing as she did in the earlier books. Her wit feels strained. Even her eccentric fashion sense has grown a bit annoying. Secondary characters—like the Gopniks’ elderly neighbor Mrs. DeWitt, devoted to her dog and not as mean as she seems; or Ashok, the doorman whose chaotically happy marriage provides contrast to the Gopniks’—end up more engaging than the protagonists.
There is something lackadaisical about the writing here that makes getting through all the plot twists a slog.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-56245-7
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
A fun start to a sexy, engaging series.
A disgraced public relations executive agrees to help a struggling library with a fundraising event and is surprised to find himself falling for the skeptical, sharp-tongued librarian he’s working with.
Reed McMahon has spent years developing his corporate PR image, “a polished, curated, and tailored level of perfection he prided himself on.” His emotional life is pretty surface-level, too, and he’s always been up-front with women that he’s not into relationships. Apparently, though, his past dates missed the memo, since he’s become the No. 1 villain at Bad Bachelors, a new app that reviews New York men. Suddenly his slick demeanor, crazy good looks, and reputation for being able to rehabilitate disgraced celebrities have made him a target. Reed is excellent at his job and makes a good living, though most of his salary goes toward taking care of his ill father. Hoping that a pro bono project will help his own tarnished image, he agrees to plan an event to support a Brooklyn library. Darcy Greer, the inked and pierced librarian, unexpectedly gets under his skin despite her initial antipathy toward him, thanks mostly to those negative reviews. As the two work together, however, Darcy sees a different man than the one described online. Flattered by his attention and wildly attracted to him, Darcy agrees to a stealthy no-strings affair, but when word gets out, both Darcy and Reed have a hard time dealing with the aftermath, especially since the consequences play on their deepest insecurities. Author London’s new series concept is vibrant and creative, though the Bad Bachelors reviewers cast women in a questionable light.
A fun start to a sexy, engaging series.Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5517-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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