Spencer's contemporary romances (November of the Heart, 1993, etc.) differ from the majority of the pash-hash-and-cash flutterers in the decorous niceness of her small-town Minnesotan casts and their ring-true talk. Here, in a sixth hardcover, the bestselling author follows the difficult path of love between a 45-year-old widow and a 30-year-old cop. The story begins with the death of young cop Greg Reston, son of Lee, the widowed mother of college student Janice and 14-year- old Joey. Taking it upon himself to break the news is Greg's partner and roommate Christopher Lallek. Slowly—oh, how slowly!- -the final rites for Greg are accomplished, with every detail noted, from the coffin spray to the funeral baked-macaroni-and- tomato. Gradually Lee relies more and more on Christopher, a nice guy with a rotten set of alcoholic parents. He has overcome, however, and is now a good cop; he's also helping a young abused black kid to a better life. Meanwhile, the Restons survive (rather cheerfully) the winter holidays—and with Lee and Christopher, vibrating, sex rears its divine head. But what of the family? Except for Joey and a wise father-in-law, they're outraged. Count on a warmhearted fadeout. In spite of some slo-mo moments on the sheets, it's really as wholesome—and subtle-as that macaroni. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for April)
Pub Date: Jan. 26, 1994
ISBN: 0-399-13906-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1993
Energetic melodrama in straightforward style from the ever-popular Michaels (Plain Jane, 2001, etc.).
Just what did happen under the Judas tree so long ago?
Cady Jordan suffered a head injury when she flew through the air on a bicycle attached to a cable slung from the Judas tree—and, years later, she still doesn’t remember much about it. Her childhood buddies dared her to do it, and someone threw a rock that killed Jeff King, the neighborhood bully, who jumped on the bike with her at the last minute. The papers had a field day, even accusing ten-year-old Cady of killing teenaged Jeff, but the case was never resolved. Partially paralyzed for three years after the accident, Cady presently lives alone, in California, writing technical manuals for a living. Now, 20 years later, her ailing grandmother, a former movie star who took a stage name so as not to embarrass the strait-laced family, summons Cady to her Pennsylvania mansion. Cady gets a German shepherd for company and drives off to meet her legendary grandmother. Lola turns out to be quite a character, of course, at once imperious, kind, loving, self-absorbed, etc. She’s buried six husbands and is bedridden with osteoporosis, but she’s determined to help her granddaughter find happiness. When Cady’s friends hear she’s back in town, they convene to rehash the old case, well aware that they’d let everyone think Cady was the guilty party. Andy and Amy Hollister say they were throwing rocks to get Jeff away from Cady. Peter, a lawyer, doesn’t think they can prove it. Boomer Maxwell, now chief of police, gets involved, and the small town is abuzz as reporter Larry Denville digs through old clippings and investigates up a storm. At long last, the culprit feels remorse, tries to wash away the guilt under a scalding shower—and ends up in a burn ward.
Energetic melodrama in straightforward style from the ever-popular Michaels (Plain Jane, 2001, etc.).Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2003
ISBN: 0-7434-5778-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
A hard-cover debut from McNaught (sudsers like Almost Heaven and Kingdom of Dreams) links—in a contentious, sizzling-sheets romance—a Chicago department-store heiress/exec and a self-made corporate king. Between the first pash and the final nuptial flight, there're pages and pages of buzz about business and betrayals. Meredith Bancroft, only offspring of the ruthless president of Bancroft & Co., had pushed romance aside—all she wanted at 18 was to fill her father's male-chauvinist trotter-prints to head Bancroft. Then entered Matt Farrell, a lowly mechanic from rural Indiana: ``His features looked as if they had been chiselled out of rough granite.'' Meredith (with ``a nose that sculptors would envy'') was a mere pebble of fate, and there followed a volcanic coupling, a pregnancy, and marriage. But, alas, Meredith, back with furious Daddy, suffered a miscarriage...then waited in vain for Matt—who believed she'd had an abortion and who wanted a divorce. Eleven years later, Matt, having risen to heights at which he's interviewed by Barbara Walters and ``emanates raw, harsh power,'' and Meredith, still held from power by Dad, clash. There's a nasty surprise about the long-ago divorce, and Matt makes some surprising demands. Will they never blurt out their separate versions of what happened 11 years before? Yes, but as romance-readers know, that takes time—here filled with stony silences, the biting of lips, and awesome lapses into Love. There's also a good deal of corporate takeover talk (nothing strenuous), fancy clothes, food, and digs. If not absolute paradise for McNaught fans, at least a sunny easement to the beach—where this will be an inevitable summer companion. (Book-of-the-Month Dual Selection for August.)
Pub Date: July 8, 1991
ISBN: 0-671-60129-6
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
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