An unsympathetic main character dooms this unlikely story from the start.
After a shocking act of violence, a hotshot surgical resident attempts to put his life back together in Faderan’s debut novel.
Mike Oates wants the top surgical residency spot at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut; he’s tired of flattering the chief of surgery, Bartholomew, and he wants the glory that goes with being called the best. He discovers just how far he’ll go to achieve his dreams when he stabs another doctor, James Levy, so that he won’t rat him out to Bartholomew regarding a parking-spot dispute. Stunned by the realization that he could go to jail for murder, Oates seeks legal advice from family friend Jonathan Moore and his daughter, Lauren, both attorneys in Columbus, Ohio. Oates is drawn to Lauren and pursues a relationship with her despite the conflict of interest, and she soon succumbs to his charms, pledging to help him avoid prison time. After they realize that Levy was killed by a second stab wound after Oates fled, they find themselves entangled with a mob boss who’s connected to Oates’ late father as well as to the nurse whom Oates left for Lauren. Can Oates clear his name and regain his medical career? It’s audacious of Faderan to start her novel with the protagonist committing a crime and then undertake the project of redeeming him. If she’d managed it, it would have made for a fascinating book. However, the plot is too implausible, and Oates, as a character, has few redeeming qualities to make readers root for him. He may be handsome and drive a Maserati, but his behavior toward women is offensive; at one point, he follows Lauren to her hotel room and forcibly kisses her, despite her clear efforts to pull away. And although he didn’t strike the blow that killed Levy, he certainly meant to kill him, so why should readers want him to get away with it? Faderan’s prose is also somewhat flat and awkward, tripping over stilted phrases such as “Rebecca espied a duo of medical men standing by the doorway.”
An unsympathetic main character dooms this unlikely story from the start.Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5434-6635-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: XlibrisUS
Review Posted Online: March 7, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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