A warm love story that doesn’t deliver the emotional punch to make it truly compelling.
Wooten’s debut weaves a wholesome love-at-first-sight romance about a hunky cowboy-lawyer, a rootless photographer and a political murder.
The author captures the reader’s attention from the start with endearing lead characters replete with good intentions, plucky attitudes and a loyal devotion to those they care about. World-renowned photographer Carolyn Bradford arrives in Austin, Texas, determined to put down roots for the first time in her life. She’s not looking for love, but she stumbles across it when she meets Luke Brady, the best friend of her dear friend’s husband. Luke, a lawyer-turned-rancher who spends his time trading contracts for homemade pies, struggles to find his place after inheriting the ranch from his deceased grandparents. He yearns for connection, and the moment he meets Carolyn, he knows that he’s found it. That they instantaneously fall in love is sweet and heartwarming, but their romance is so simplistic that it feels somewhat stale, especially since there’s little tension or personal growth. The only significant conflict in the story is a marginally related political murder that is so disconnected from the romance that it feels like an add-on. Wooten’s wholesome characters and plotlines have potential, but the author doesn’t delve into them sufficiently. Instead, the novel skims the surface, without providing much fire or passion. The author does do a solid job with the setting: The ranch comes alive with details of roping steers and galloping through trails. The animals in the book are always vividly portrayed, and they add a layer of authenticity to the story.
A warm love story that doesn’t deliver the emotional punch to make it truly compelling.Pub Date: March 27, 2012
ISBN: 978-1469927039
Page Count: 250
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Haphazard and undemanding.
A sports agent’s first official client is the man she dumped years ago in college.
After two years of hard work as an underling, Nora Mackenzie is finally being promoted to full-time sports agent. She’s worked hard, kept quiet, and allowed men in the office to call her Mac—a nickname she hates—all to show she’s a team player and “one of the guys.” Unfortunately, her boss instructs her to sign Derek Pender, a football player coming off an injury, who happens to be the man she heartlessly dumped in their senior year of college. Derek signs with her for revenge, seeing it as his opportunity to pay Nora back for callously breaking his heart eight years earlier. He insists she be at his beck and call: answering his emails, running his errands, cooking dinner for his dates. He also refuses to let her explain why she broke up with him without warning or explanation. Nora feels she has no choice but to acquiesce to Derek’s humiliating demands, since she’s worked too hard to let him ruin her dream job. She hopes he’ll thaw and they might become friends, but Derek’s bad behavior is designed to hide the fact that he’s still in love with her. Nora’s characterization is uneven, veering between anger at how she’s treated in the male-dominated field to immature bickering and bantering with Derek. Although Adams likely meant for Derek and Nora’s interactions to have an enemies-to-lovers vibe, the characters instead seem juvenile and stuck in the past. The novel is fueled by a string of tropes—second chance romance! married in Vegas! only one bed!—each randomly deployed to keep the book going despite thin characterization and wan plotting.
Haphazard and undemanding.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593723678
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dell
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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