The fifth volume in Riley’s (The Pearl Sister, 2018, etc.) series about adopted sisters named after the Pleiades.
Pa Salt, the late adoptive father of the six D’Aplièse sisters, left instructions for each daughter to track her origins to distant lands, thereby providing material for a thick novel about each. This installment concerns Taygete, aka Tiggy, who is an animal whisperer and wildlife conservation expert. Tiggy has been putting off her Pa-dictated origin quest; however, while employed as a wildcat wrangler on Kinnaird, a Scottish estate, she meets Chilly, an elderly Romani man who, it turns out, is a distant cousin. His directive, to travel to Spain, aligns with Pa Salt’s. Following the formula laid out in earlier novels, large swathes of flashback cover the stories of Tiggy’s gitano ancestors, the Albaycíns, following them from 1912 through the post–World War II era. Inhabitants of the Sacromonte district in Granada, Tiggy’s forebears are musicians and flamenco dancers. A few are healers and clairvoyants, proclivities which Chilly will, years later, spot in Tiggy. Her great-grandmother, the long-suffering María, and María’s lothario husband, José, though dwelling in caves, bring up daughter Lucía to become a world-famous flamenco star. The challenges facing the gitanos, an oppressed minority living on the margins of payo, or non-Romani, Spanish culture, are exhaustively detailed, as are the intricacies of flamenco as a dance form. The flight of Lucía and her family during the Spanish Civil War adds tension, as does Lucía’s all-consuming narcissism. As is typical, so far, of this series, the ancestor story overwhelms the present narrative, which here mostly involves Tiggy’s difficulties with men: Zed, a billionaire guest at Kinnaird, is a sexual harasser, and the unhappily married Charlie, Kinnaird’s laird, is not only dangerously attractive, but attracted to Tiggy. Zed has history with three other D’Aplièse sisters and may know more than he lets on about Pa Salt’s fate. The three narrative threads—this novel’s present and past and the linkages affecting the series—turn the book into a doorstop, but Riley fans will not be deterred.
An absorbing drama replete with decades-spanning lessons in girl power.Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9821-1061-1
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
Categories: FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP
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Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable...
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Sydney and Ridge make beautiful music together in a love triangle written by Hoover (Losing Hope, 2013, etc.), with a link to a digital soundtrack by American Idol contestant Griffin Peterson.
Hoover is a master at writing scenes from dual perspectives. While music student Sydney is watching her neighbor Ridge play guitar on his balcony across the courtyard, Ridge is watching Sydney’s boyfriend, Hunter, secretly make out with her best friend on her balcony. The two begin a songwriting partnership that grows into something more once Sydney dumps Hunter and decides to crash with Ridge and his two roommates while she gets back on her feet. She finds out after the fact that Ridge already has a long-distance girlfriend, Maggie—and that he's deaf. Ridge’s deafness doesn’t impede their relationship or their music. In fact, it creates opportunities for sexy nonverbal communication and witty text messages: Ridge tenderly washes off a message he wrote on Sydney’s hand in ink, and when Sydney adds a few too many e’s to the word “squee” in her text, Ridge replies, “If those letters really make up a sound, I am so, so glad I can’t hear it.” While they fight their mutual attraction, their hope that “maybe someday” they can be together playfully comes out in their music. Peterson’s eight original songs flesh out Sydney’s lyrics with a good mix of moody musical styles: “Living a Lie” has the drama of a Coldplay piano ballad, while the chorus of “Maybe Someday” marches to the rhythm of the Lumineers. But Ridge’s lingering feelings for Maggie cause heartache for all three of them. Independent Maggie never complains about Ridge’s friendship with Sydney, and it's hard to even want Ridge to leave Maggie when she reveals her devastating secret. But Ridge can’t hide his feelings for Sydney long—and they face their dilemma with refreshing emotional honesty.
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable characters and just the right amount of sexual tension.Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5316-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2014
Categories: ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP
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When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter forge a new life.
Morgan felt obligated to marry her high school sweetheart, Chris, when she got pregnant with their daughter, Clara. But she secretly got along much better with Chris’ thoughtful best friend, Jonah, who was dating her sister, Jenny. Now her life as a stay-at-home parent has left her feeling empty but not ungrateful for what she has. Jonah and Jenny eventually broke up, but years later they had a one-night stand and Jenny got pregnant with their son, Elijah. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Clara’s teacher. Clara dreams of being an actress and has a crush on Miller, who plans to go to film school, but her father doesn't approve. It doesn’t help that Miller already has a jealous girlfriend who stalks him via text from college. But Clara and Morgan’s home life changes radically when Chris and Jenny are killed in an accident, revealing long-buried secrets and forcing Morgan to reevaluate the life she chose when early motherhood forced her hand. Feeling betrayed by the adults in her life, Clara marches forward, acting both responsible and rebellious as she navigates her teenage years without her father and her aunt, while Jonah and Morgan's relationship evolves in the wake of the accident. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide what’s next.
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-1642-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Categories: FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP
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