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
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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