A heartwarming story about family and community that might disappoint readers looking for a stronger romance.
Four brothers must decide whether or not to close the Harlem yarn shop they inherited after the sudden death of their mother, Mama Joy, a neighborhood legend.
Jesse Strong would say he’s laid back, but his brothers believe he lacks ambition and focus. When the four of them have a hard conversation about the future of the yarn shop, Jesse surprises himself and his brothers by insisting he can be trusted to keep their mother’s dream alive. When he decides to reorganize and refresh the store before a grand reopening, Jesse turns to Kerry Fuller, a longtime store employee, to help him learn the ins and outs of the business. Author Jackson reveals the important role the shop plays in the community—especially for one boy who's being bullied—and elaborates on the value of handcrafts. Meanwhile, Kerry is in a professional holding pattern. Although she hopes to finally land a full-time position at the local community center, she agrees to continue working in the shop to help Jesse learn the yarn business. Kerry is stuck emotionally, too—she’s had a longtime crush on Jesse but didn’t think she had a chance with him after years of being relegated to the friend zone. Jackson makes an unusual choice to delay the development of the romance between Jesse and Kerry for so long; in fact, Jesse is involved in a casual relationship with another woman for more than half the book. Unfortunately, the gamble doesn’t pay off. There isn’t much tension or chemistry between Kerry and Jesse—just vague feelings of longing—and the pacing of their romance ends up being rushed and incomplete.
A heartwarming story about family and community that might disappoint readers looking for a stronger romance.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0650-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Jove/Penguin
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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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