Though suspense and adventure drive this story forward, the love at its center sets it apart.
Two childhood friends find each other again by the dawn’s early light.
Callista Brooke and Lord George Gordon Audley were once the best of friends; when they were 16, they even ran away together to save Callie from having to marry a man her abusive father had promised her to. They were soon discovered by their fathers and banished to separate corners of the British Empire. Fifteen years later, their lives collide again in Washington, D.C., at the heart of the War of 1812. Callie, now widowed, has made a life for herself as a dressmaker when her house is invaded by British soldiers. Gordon, now a spy, has been hired to rescue an English-born widow living in America—who turns out to be Callie, as he discovers when he arrives in the nick of time. After years apart, their first priority is getting Callie and her family safe, and quickly. After they find relative safety in Baltimore, the second priority becomes untangling their complicated feelings for each other; though their first adventure together was motivated by pure friendship, their second one may end in a love match. Putney’s commitment to historical research shines throughout the book, especially in nice touches like Callie’s lawyer being Francis Scott Key, author-to-be of the national anthem. Her attempt to accurately portray the racial tensions of the era is admirable, if simplistic at times. The second entry in Putney’s (Weddings of the Century, 2017, etc.)Rogues Redeemed series is unusually lengthy, but it means that Callie and Gordon’s happy ending, after surviving a war and a voyage home to England, is all the more satisfying. Putney’s continued foray into the new setting of the United States in the early 19th century is a welcome addition to the historical romance shelf.
Though suspense and adventure drive this story forward, the love at its center sets it apart.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4201-4094-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Zebra/Kensington
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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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