An often engaging tribute to firefighters that’s sweet and sad, by turns.
A firefighter and his wife cope with cancer in Bell’s novel, set at the beginning of the 21st century.
Katie Garrett, a second grade teacher, is getting ready for her first day of school when a co-worker upsets her by telling her that she spotted Katie’s husband at the grocery store “having a good time” with an attractive blond woman. Katie’s husband, Andy, works as a firefighter, emergency medical technician, and part-time delivery person; his actual secret is that he’s been having health problems he hasn’t told his wife about. This pain is causing him to act erratically; Katie soon suspects that, even if he’s not cheating on her, something is definitely up. Andy finally decides to go to a doctor and is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He stalls on telling his wife, but Katie finally confronts him; he reveals the truth, which she takes surprisingly well. Word gets out to others when a nurse unethically informs people of Andy’s diagnosis. (A secondary plot follows a romance between the nurse and a rookie at the fire station.) There are a lot of saccharine-sweet scenes of Katie and Andy affirming their love for each other, and a great deal of the narrative is also devoted to Andy’s treatment. His chief thinks the cancer was caused by exposure to toxic chemicals on the job, and in this way, the author meets her stated goal of providing a tribute to firefighters who face a wide range of dangers. Overall, this is a heartfelt and skillfully written novel, and the details of Andy’s time on the job are vivid and realistic: “a sudden loud boom, followed quickly by a wave of pressure, propelled all three firefighters off their feet….All Andy could see through his mask from where he’d been thrown was a wall of orange.” There are also some nicely written scenes with Andy at the firehouse that highlight the complex relationships between the firefighters. Readers also get glimpses of Katie’s life as a teacher, but they’re not quite as compelling.
An often engaging tribute to firefighters that’s sweet and sad, by turns.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 9781736560426
Page Count: 482
Publisher: Day Agency Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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