Fun, sweet, spooky and sexy.
Billionaire social media magnate Deacon Whitney contracts a group of renovation specialists, including landscape designer Nina Linden, to live and work on his remote island estate.
After generations of neglect, the Crane’s Nest is getting some attention. The once-beautiful estate—which sits in Narragansett Bay—has been left mostly to disintegrate since it was built by Gerald Whitney for his wife, Catherine. Just after the mansion was completed, Catherine was murdered, and the shadow of her mysterious death hung over Gerald for the rest of his life; the family has never been able to restore its fortunes or its reputation. Until Deacon. The island has long been rumored to be haunted, but Deacon—a man of science—refuses to believe it. Nina is so desperate to rebuild her life and career after her former partner (in business and romance) betrayed her that she’s grateful for the opportunity, no matter what misgivings she may have about the place or its oddly attractive owner. As the collection of people—Deacon’s cousin Dotty; his best friend and architect, Jake; and professional organizer Cindy—become colleagues, then friends, none of them can deny that there is some malevolent force on the island, and they have to solve the mystery of Catherine’s murder before history repeats itself. After writing successful Southern contemporary and vampire-themed paranormal romances, Harper turns her humor and charm to a Gothic-haunted-house-on-a-remote-island story. The characters are authentic and appealing, the sexual and romantic tension are perfectly balanced, and the snippets of the past as experienced by modern-day characters in dreams and trances should seem trite but work quite well. With more than one enemy, it’s sometimes hard to know who’s responsible for what, and the ending almost makes it seem like the heroes were at times too easily misled. But Harper is a witty, engaging writer, and any weaknesses are completely overcome by the strength of the writing and storytelling.
Fun, sweet, spooky and sexy.Pub Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-0600-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
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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