A fast-paced tale with dynamic protagonists and a healthy dollop of suspense.
A chance encounter leads to an opportunity for two college students to heal past emotional wounds in Harbin’s (Surrounded by Woods, 2016, etc.) contemporary romance.
Olivia “Liv” Musgrave dreads her upcoming semester as a transfer student at Louisiana State University. She was born nearby, but she moved away at the age of 10 after her parents divorced. Before that, she was abducted, along with her sister, Sam, and held prisoner in a basement. The kidnapper let Liv go after she suffered a life-threatening food allergy, but he brutally murdered Sam. This traumatic experience left Liv with a deep sense of guilt and a wariness of forming connections with other people, especially men. One day, in an LSU art class, she meets Killian “Kill” Ashley, a handsome senior with a few painful secrets of his own; years earlier, he witnessed his father murder his mother. Fearing that he might become as abusive as his father, he’s avoided relationships and kept his contact with women strictly casual. Despite their reservations, Liv and Killian develop a friendship after she agrees to help him with his research paper. They gradually fall in love, but specters of the past and a surprising danger in their present threaten their precious chance at happiness. Harbin’s romance features appealing lead characters; a tender, erotic love story; and a suspenseful plot twist. Its strongest aspect is the way that Harbin builds Liv and Killian’s relationship, telling their story in chapters that alternate between their first-person perspectives—an effective approach that provides the opportunity to explore the effects of the nascent romance on both characters. It also builds slowly and steadily as they open up to new possibilities. The secondary characters are equally well-developed—particularly Liv’s roommate, Jewel Barbie, and Gabe, Killian’s former friend whose interest in Jewel may have a darker motivation.
A fast-paced tale with dynamic protagonists and a healthy dollop of suspense.Pub Date: July 16, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5351-2162-0
Page Count: 290
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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