A smooth blend of suspense and romance. As ever, the author's trademark effortless style keeps a complex plot moving without...
Megaselling Roberts (River's End, 1999, etc.) goes to Napa Valley for the tale of an Italian-American family wine producers rocked by scandal and a series of murders.
Dynasty head Tereza Giambelli knows that her granddaughter Sophia is the only family member capable of running a multimillion-dollar wine business—and no one contradicts La Signora. It's just as well the lovely young woman is still single: Tereza has plans for her. The matriarch has recently married Eli MacMillan, the American founder of another famous wine company. Eli's grandson Tyler knows everything there is to know about producing wine, from the vineyard to the vat. Ruggedly handsome, intelligent and earthy, he's a perfect match for public-relations whiz Sophia—or so thinks Tereza. The two young people begin to work together; Tyler teaches Sophia the fine art of making wine and making love. But other family members hope to claim their share of the Giambelli fortune, and people start dying mysteriously, including Sophia's good-for-nothing father, Tony Avano. Long divorced from long-suffering Pilar Giambelli, Tony led an opulent, self-indulgent life that provides plenty of murder suspects. He might have been killed by the mob, or a jealous mistress, or his spoiled brother-in-law, Tereza's lazy son, who's produced a passel of brats with his foolish Italian wife in the hopes of making Tereza happy. Everyone has a motive, and nothing is what it seems, Sophia discovers, but Tyler stands by her. Then a bottle of tainted merlot kills a company exec. A tragic mishap caused by poisonous plants growing near the vines? Or deliberate product tampering intended to destroy the company? Sophia and Tyler will need to delve even deeper into the convoluted and sometimes unsavory history of the family and its three-generation business.
A smooth blend of suspense and romance. As ever, the author's trademark effortless style keeps a complex plot moving without a hitch.Pub Date: March 19, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-14712-8
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
A sparkling debut with vibrant characters, a compelling Hollywood studio setting, and a sweet slow-burn romance.
A successful showrunner and her capable assistant reassess their relationship when their red carpet appearance fuels dating rumors in Wilsner’s debut.
Jo Jones has been a Hollywood star since the age of 13. Now a powerhouse showrunner, she's about to be tapped to write and produce for a James Bond–esque action franchise. Already facing industry skepticism thanks to her gender, the last thing Jo needs is gossip, but that’s what she gets when she brings her much younger assistant, Emma Kaplan, to a red carpet event. Emma failed out of film school five years ago, and while she's happy working for Jo, she yearns to get back on a directing path. As Jo and Emma face fallout from the rumor mill, their relationship evolves. They open up to each other, Emma sharing her dreams, and Jo, ordinarily unflappable, admitting some self-doubt. Their mutual attraction is strong throughout, but their age difference and employer-employee relationship create caution, which turns this into a very slow burn. Jo worries about how their relationship will appear: “You think people don’t look at pictures of us and think I’m corrupting this lovely young lady? I’m a predatory lesbian in the middle of a midlife crisis.” Jo, who is Chinese American, had to be strong to survive in show business, and she has a hard time with feelings, her own or anyone else's. The novel is populated with strong secondary characters who bring Jo and Emma to life. Emma’s Judaism in particular is thoughtfully integrated into her character. Wilsner’s writing is matter-of-fact but effective, lending the novel a believable Hollywood insider vibe with a deftly handled #MeToo subplot.
A sparkling debut with vibrant characters, a compelling Hollywood studio setting, and a sweet slow-burn romance.Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-10252-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Romance will never die as long as the megaselling Roberts keeps writing it.
Jack London, move over. The Queen of Romance has you in her sights.
Amazingly, Roberts (a.k.a. J.D. Robb, p. 601) doesn’t miss in this wild and woolly tale of love and murder in Alaska. Nate Burke, the new chief of police in the little town of Lunacy, had a few qualms about living in the moose-infested end of nowhere, but there’s something about the place—a man can breathe, if he doesn’t mind having icicles for a mustache. The locals? They call themselves the Lunatics, of course: back-to-nature survivalists, native Inuit, former hippies, and oddballs of every stripe. A newcomer like Nate gets a lot of attention, but does he ever wish that Charlene, hip-swinging, heavily made-up, middle-aged mantrap, would leave him alone. Peach, the motherly town gossip, warned him about the brassy boardinghouse owner in no uncertain terms. Nate’s got a lot on his mind: between the death of his partner at the Baltimore PD, who left a grieving widow and three kids, and a divorce Nate didn’t want, he’s emotionally numb. Just so happens that Charlene’s daughter is a knockout: beautiful, athletic, black-haired Meg has ice-blue eyes that can undress a man in a flash. She’s a bush pilot, lives alone and likes it, takes her pleasure where she finds it—and rolling around with Nate is a very pleasurable experience indeed. But she’s hiding her own heartbreak: her ne’er-do-well, adventurous father disappeared 16 years ago during a dangerous climb. And when Patrick Galloway’s frozen corpse is found in an ice cave with an ax through the chest—and it’s clear that the long-ago killer is still on the loose—all hell breaks loose in Lunacy. Original characterization, brisk pace, and a great feel for the grandeur of the setting—not to mention a fabulously tough young heroine who puts her vapid chick-lit sisters to shame—add up to a wonderful read.
Romance will never die as long as the megaselling Roberts keeps writing it.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2004
ISBN: 0-399-15205-9
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2004
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