Lush emotionalism, compelling characters and a moving storyline will win romance fans.
When Scottish warrior Bowen Montgomery enters an enemy keep, he is surprised to find that the bravest person there is a mistreated captive of the clan, and the more he learns about the compelling, wounded Genevieve McInnis, the more sure he is that he’s met his match—and his mate.
After vanquishing the McHughs as an act of reprisal for abducting Laird Graeme Montgomery’s wife, the Montgomery clan takes over the McHugh keep, which most of the McHugh warriors have abandoned, including the laird, Patrick McHugh. Ian, Patrick’s spoiled, malevolent son, was responsible for the abduction and was killed in the rescue campaign. Bowen Montgomery, Graeme’s brother, has been left in charge of the keep and its survivors. He is intrigued by a young woman who often takes charge in the midst of chaos but is obviously disdained by the McHugh clan members. As Bowen takes measure of the situation, he realizes that Genevieve was also abducted by Ian and has been held captive for a year, despite being the only child of the laird of another clan. Sexually and physically abused by Ian and despised by his clan, Genevieve still speaks in their defense, begging for their safety and well-being, and asks only for the chance to be delivered to a convent where she may live in peace. As events play out, Genevieve proves herself to be smart, brave, skilled and true-hearted, despite everything that’s happened to her. Bowen falls in love with her but worries that she’ll never be happy until she reconciles with her family, who believes she’s dead—and whom she is too ashamed to contact. Banks has written an emotionally taut Highlands romance with a remarkably alpha-yet-perceptive-and-sweet hero and a heroine who has issues but overcomes them with the help of her perfect champion. A slight quibble with the credibility of the first love scene, given Genevieve’s recent traumatizing experiences, and a slightly rushed feeling to the ending, does not ultimately impact the success of the book.
Pub Date: March 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-345-53324-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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