by Nixie Tate ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 13, 2015
A wholesome fairy-tale romance perfect for fans of light Victorian fiction.
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Historical fiction about an agent in Britain’s special forces who falls in love with a girl he encounters on assignment.
In the second installment of her Gypsy series, Tate (The Gypsy’s Silence, 2014, etc.) creates another successful historical romance. Jeffrey Hale, the Viscount Trent, is a free-spirited young man in the late 1800s who has joined England’s special forces. Along with his friends Adrian St. Clair and Richard Stansby from Book 1, Trent receives an unusual assignment from his commanding officer. With the intention of reducing their overinflated egos, their supervisor sends the men to a small town where they are tasked with assisting in various civilian jobs. In his new position helping women run a library, Trent meets young Emily May, an orphan living with her grandparents. He quickly becomes attached to the girl and feels an overwhelming urge to protect her. Even so, when his commander declares the assignment complete, Trent leaves town with barely a backward glance. Years later, Trent’s fortune is read by a gypsy, who tells him he’s destined to fall in love with a girl he’s already met. A bit of a dandy at the time, Trent ignores the prediction, but as years pass, the constant rotation of women in his life grows tiresome. He longs to fulfill the prophecy and struggles to learn the identity of the mysterious woman the gypsy described. When he returns to Emily May’s hometown as a more mature man, this time to settle his late uncle’s estate, he realizes that little Emily May, now fully grown, is the woman with whom he is meant to spend his life. Trent wonders if he can reignite the schoolgirl crush she once harbored for him and if he will ever be the type of man she deserves. Like the first volume in the series, the story is filled with interesting period details and amusing facts about social mores in Victorian society. The narrative portrays characters with richness and depth, adding satisfying nuance to characters established in the first book. Tate continues to demonstrate notable skill in building romantic suspense that will keep readers turning pages.
A wholesome fairy-tale romance perfect for fans of light Victorian fiction.Pub Date: July 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5143-7920-2
Page Count: 244
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2019
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
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A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Lisa Jackson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2013
You’ll need your own detective’s notebook to keep tabs on all the characters and connections on display here. Even so,...
A tenacious reporter won’t let personal ties to a decades-old case stop her from finding the truth.
On the advice of her agent, Savannah Sentinel reporter and author Nikki Gillette is looking for fodder for her latest true-crime novel when she realizes that the perfect subject is about to be released from prison. Savannah’s notorious Blondell O’Henry has been locked up for some 20 years for the murder of her oldest daughter and Nikki’s childhood friend, Amity. Now that Blondell’s son Niall has recanted the testimony that put her away all those years ago, it looks as if she’ll be a free woman unless Nikki’s fiance, Detective Pierce Reed, can find a reason to keep her detained. Pierce and Nikki both work to discover what happened years ago at that cabin in the woods, though Pierce bridles at Nikki’s rather unconventional—all right, illegal—research methods. It seems to Nikki that the more she investigates, the more connections she discovers to her own family, beginning with the fact that her Uncle Alex was the original defense attorney on the case. But all of these uncomfortable connections make Nikki still more determined to learn the truth, even if she doesn’t like what that may mean.
You’ll need your own detective’s notebook to keep tabs on all the characters and connections on display here. Even so, Jackson (You Don’t Want to Know, 2012, etc.) shows a mastery of the true-crime thriller formula that will please fans.Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7582-5858-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
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