A romance as brash and dynamic as its setting and characters.
Lara Valley is determined to create a better life for herself, working her way through nursing school as a bartender and avoiding relationships, especially with lady killer Johnny Devlin, the tempting, sexy mechanic who’s suddenly her knight in shining armor.
Johnny enjoys his life. Working at Webster’s Garage with his best friends is satisfying, and socializing together at their favorite dive bar is the perfect way to wind down. And yeah, Lara the gorgeous bartender is a nice distraction, but Johnny is a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy, and she’s turned him down enough times to make it clear she’s not going out with him, despite the fact that their attraction is obvious to everyone. Lara is friendly but standoffish, and everyone at Ray’s bar knows she’s not interested in relationships, that she’s driven and ambitious and keeping her eyes on the prize of getting her nursing degree. But things change the night Lara gets attacked by an amorous customer who won’t take no for an answer and Johnny comes to her aid. Suddenly the thought of a real relationship seems like a good fit for them. Lara sees a deeper side to the charming lady’s man, and Johnny may have discovered a woman he’s willing to commit to. But as their relationship turns serious, the stress of Lara’s schedule and some family turmoil take their tolls, and Johnny’s fears of not being good enough for his smart, striving girlfriend threaten their ability to find balance and happiness. Harte’s take on the redeemed bad boy is fresh and sexy, though the class and self-esteem conflicts become slightly strained in the final act. Scorching sex scenes and gritty language are appropriate to the plot and characters but are further along the heat/cursing spectrum than many mainstream romances, so timorous readers should beware.
A romance as brash and dynamic as its setting and characters.Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-4926-3026-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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