One of those beguiling stories that charm and engage with wit and sparkling prose rather than depending only on an...
Veteran chronicler of the travails of the British house-and-garden set (Life Skills, 1999, etc.), Fforde now wryly details the often-incendiary relationship between a young woman who runs an upscale market garden and her former husband, now a celebrity chef.
While delivering the usual order of salad greens, herbs, and exotic vegetables for the restaurant at nearby Grantly House, Perdita Dylan is appalled to discover that her former husband, Lucas Gillespie, is suddenly the chef-in-residence. She’s spent nearly a decade trying to get over the heartbreak she suffered when Lucas, then an aspiring stockbroker in London, left her for an older woman. Now, living in a rundown but picturesque cottage and raising vegetables on land behind the house of Kitty Anson, the 80-something wealthy woman who looked after her while her parents—in the diplomatic service—were abroad, she’s thought she was over Lucas. Married at 18, she had been too young perhaps, but that doesn’t stop her from feeling angry now as she finds herself having to see him again. Even if it’s initially just for business, Lucas is soon back in her life as he befriends Kitty and involves Perdita in a TV cooking show that will feature them both. Sparks fly every time they meet, but Perdita is also still sexually attracted to him. She pretends to have a boyfriend, a ruse unmasked when Kitty suffers a succession of strokes and Perdita has to see even more of Lucas, since he insists on helping her out as she struggles to nurse Kitty and keep her business running. When Roger, a designing nephew of the now-dying Kitty, arrives all set to claim his inheritance, Perdita fears she will have to give up her business, since most of her land belonged to Kitty. But good things are ahead this time round.
One of those beguiling stories that charm and engage with wit and sparkling prose rather than depending only on an energetically churning plot.Pub Date: July 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-312-27304-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2001
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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