Purity-movement Christians will best appreciate this wish-fulfillment tale.
A young, widowed chief financial officer falls for her new company’s maintenance man, not realizing that he’s really the CEO, in Chalupnik’s debut romance.
Abby Sinclair watches a youth pastor pull apart two glued-together pieces of Styrofoam, leaving bits stuck together on each side: “this is what happened every time you had sex with someone; part of you stuck to that other person,” he says, adding that having premarital sex means that you’re “not a whole person anymore.” Abby is both a widow and a virgin, her husband having died in a terrible accident two hours after their wedding. She has a master’s degree and a doctorate in finance, and has recently secured her first position out of school—as CFO for a chain of luxury resorts. Here, Chalupnik exhibits naïveté about the executive suite: CFO isn’t an entry-level position, and they must consult closely with CEOs. Nevertheless, Abby vaults into her plum job without ever meeting the resorts’ chief executive and owner, Rob Stevenson. He’s a tall, handsome, “self-made billionaire”—in that he inherited great wealth and increased it. When Abby meets Rob by chance, she takes him to be from the maintenance department; he introduces himself as “Bob York.” Rob knows that there’s something different about Abby, and that “he could never take advantage of her.” But the author then has “Bob” take advantage of her ignorance as he continues the pretense. Abby repeatedly finds luxury “breathtaking,” but still considers herself “really just a simple girl.” When an embezzlement investigation endangers Abby, Rob finally reveals his identity, offers protection, and introduces her to family. His playboy reputation, it turns out, is just a cover; in fact, he’s still a virgin. Chalupnik shows him to be thoughtful about prayer (“he hated when people used God as some Genie” to grant wishes), which is a strength of the book, as it gives a bit more dimension to his character. A misunderstanding delays the growing romance, but Abby’s pure faith works wonders: Rob stops drinking and “cussing”; he and his father are reconciled. Abby is rewarded for her purity with enormous wealth, a handsome young husband, and a honeymoon that’s worth the wait.
Purity-movement Christians will best appreciate this wish-fulfillment tale.Pub Date: April 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5127-3538-3
Page Count: -
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.
Hunter’s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.
Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles—pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It’s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on cliché. “You’ll get only one shot at this,” Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. “Don’t botch it.” Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. “That form is a deal breaker,” he tells himself. “It’s life and death.” And: “They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they’ll need it.” Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter’s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town “a total shitscape.” This is a low point for Hunter’s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it’s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century’s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the Holocaust—a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn’t been able to break free from her dependence on it.
Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-56308-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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