Despite a few weaknesses in the plot and some minor uneven spots in pacing and characterization, the book is an enticing,...
When Meg Barnes, a Hollywood icon of a certain age, loses everything to her con-man husband, she decides to track him down to get it all back—or at the very least her self-respect, her reputation and maybe even a chance at the love of her life.
Not long ago, Meg Barnes had it all. A popular star of a famous mystery series from the past, she lived the high life until the day she received a phone call from Paul, her husband, telling her he’d been kidnapped. After gathering everything of value she can find to get him back, she is devastated when he never returns, then even more tormented when she realizes everything she believed about him was a carefully crafted fantasy. Now, after a year away from Tinseltown, Meg is back for pilot season, older, wiser and ready to figure out what happened to her ex and all the money he scammed in his infamous real estate con. While auditioning, she runs into an old friend who is convinced he saw Paul in San Diego. The hunt is on. Complicating things are Meg’s lawyer and friend Sid, who seems to know more than he should; his wife, Carol, who is determined to get Meg back into the Hollywood fold; and Jack Mitchell, the FBI agent who keeps digging into all of their business and who is way too handsome. Meg doesn’t know who to trust or where to go, but she’ll find loyal allies in unexpected places as she forges a new life for herself from the ashes of her old one. This is the first novel by Scott, who starred in the original Dark Shadows series, and the author’s knowledge of the world of Hollywood is evident in the background details throughout the book, offering a fun, sly behind-the-scenes tour of a world most of us know little about.
Despite a few weaknesses in the plot and some minor uneven spots in pacing and characterization, the book is an enticing, witty romp; a sparkling Hollywood-set tale that will entertain and satisfy.Pub Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-611098860
Page Count: 310
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
You’ll need your own detective’s notebook to keep tabs on all the characters and connections on display here. Even so,...
A tenacious reporter won’t let personal ties to a decades-old case stop her from finding the truth.
On the advice of her agent, Savannah Sentinel reporter and author Nikki Gillette is looking for fodder for her latest true-crime novel when she realizes that the perfect subject is about to be released from prison. Savannah’s notorious Blondell O’Henry has been locked up for some 20 years for the murder of her oldest daughter and Nikki’s childhood friend, Amity. Now that Blondell’s son Niall has recanted the testimony that put her away all those years ago, it looks as if she’ll be a free woman unless Nikki’s fiance, Detective Pierce Reed, can find a reason to keep her detained. Pierce and Nikki both work to discover what happened years ago at that cabin in the woods, though Pierce bridles at Nikki’s rather unconventional—all right, illegal—research methods. It seems to Nikki that the more she investigates, the more connections she discovers to her own family, beginning with the fact that her Uncle Alex was the original defense attorney on the case. But all of these uncomfortable connections make Nikki still more determined to learn the truth, even if she doesn’t like what that may mean.
You’ll need your own detective’s notebook to keep tabs on all the characters and connections on display here. Even so, Jackson (You Don’t Want to Know, 2012, etc.) shows a mastery of the true-crime thriller formula that will please fans.Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7582-5858-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
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