A perfect balance of heat, humor, quirkiness, and refinement.
When Lexie Kowalsky abandons her reality TV groom at the altar in Seattle and hops on a seaplane to Canada, she shares the flight with handsome Sean Knox, who joins her on a crazy roller coaster of publicity, spin, and romance until they realize they’re truly in love.
Lexie joined a reality wedding show to garner a little free publicity for her designer pet-clothing business but is stunned when, thanks to her competitive nature, she wins the groom. When true reality hits—she’s expected to marry a man she doesn’t love—she flees, jumping aboard a seaplane preparing for takeoff. There, she meets Sean, who's headed to Sandspit, Canada, to visit his hypochondriac mother. Sean and Lexie share an immediate attraction, but Sean is determined to keep his distance. Not only is she swimming in drama, but she also happens to be the daughter of John Kowalsky, head coach of his professional hockey team, the Chinooks. However, a photo of Lexie and her “mystery man” goes viral, turning public opinion against her and threatening her business. Back in Seattle, Lexie convinces Sean to pose as the love of her life and the reason she couldn’t marry her TV groom, which forces them to navigate their families, the television audience, and the Seattle social scene. Somewhere along the way they fall in love, but the journey to figuring it out and admitting it is both heart-wrenching and funny. Gibson’s (Just Kiss Me, 2016, etc.) Chinooks have been a favorite romance series for two decades, and this, the next chapter for Lexie and her parents, the stars of Book 1, is a highly satisfying revisit. Gibson blends emotional and comic details without turning farcical or melodramatic, showing subtlety and finesse in her storytelling and characterization.
A perfect balance of heat, humor, quirkiness, and refinement.Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-224747-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Michaels’s cluttered style has been noticeably trimmed this time around, which keeps the over-the-top plot moving right...
Good brother, bad brother.
It’s 1984: Rick, a wild young Hollywood star and all-around stud, is boozing heavily and secretly doing drugs—but he’s been warned. His controlling, money-mad, hyper-responsible older brother Philly isn’t going to bail him out next time, or square things with that dated entity referred to only as “the studio.” Skip to 1999: Rick’s sobered up and he’s still going strong. “He had a tinge of gray at his temples these days, but the studio expertly covered it up.” (The prolific Michaels may have been too busy churning out bestsellers to notice that studios haven’t kept actors under contract for decades, but never mind.) Rick skips the dye job, however, when Philly dies in an accident and leaves most of his estate to his ne’er-do-well brother, who gives up acting and takes over the resorts-for-the-rich that Philly was developing, though Roxy, Philly’s trashy wife, resents him for it. Ditto Reba, Roxy’s plastic surgeon daughter: Philly was like a father to her but he didn’t leave her much money. Well, what the hell, Rick wants to make everyone happy and redeem himself, so he lets Roxy take over the Crown Jewel, their flagship island resort—and he makes peace with Max and Tyler, the grown sons who never knew him (Philly paid off their mothers), then befriends tough but cute reporter Gracie Lick, and investigates the mystery of Philly’s parentage. Gee, Philly was adopted! Can it be true that Philly’s real mother, 14 when he was born, is now married to aged billionaire Armand Farquar? And did the young Lorraine rescue her newborn son from a Dumpster when her heartless lover tossed him in and then bravely give him up for adoption? She did! And is her lover, Philly’s father, now the Vice President of the United States? He is! Will reporter Gracie Lick take this unlikely story and run with it? She will!
Michaels’s cluttered style has been noticeably trimmed this time around, which keeps the over-the-top plot moving right along. For the fans.Pub Date: Dec. 30, 2003
ISBN: 0-7434-5779-X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2003
An excellent debut that combines wit, humor, and emotional intensity.
A woman refuses to be with her soul mate, but life intervenes, making her choice harder and more heartbreaking.
Josh meets Kristen with a bang, literally, when she slams on her brakes and he runs into her. There's minimal damage, so she disappears. Minutes later they discover that their best friends are engaged to each other and they were slated to meet that day at the fire station where Brandon and Josh work. Josh is immediately smitten, but Kristen has a boyfriend, Tyler, who’s deployed overseas. Counting down the days until he gets home for good, Kristen adamantly puts Josh in the friend zone, refusing to acknowledge their growing closeness and her spiking attraction. Then Tyler reenlists, effectively breaking up with her. Kristen and Josh sleep together, but she slams the door on his hope for a real relationship, telling him it will never be more than a friends-with-benefits situation. Josh thinks Kristen is mourning the end of her relationship with Tyler, but really, Kristen realizes Josh is her perfect match. Unfortunately she also knows Josh wants children, which would be nearly impossible for them due to her malfunctioning reproductive system. The two reach a painful impasse, but when tragedy strikes, they find themselves reevaluating their relationship. Josh knows he’ll never be happy without Kristen, but he’ll have to think outside the box to convince her to take a chance on them. Jimenez tackles a myriad of issues in her debut and hits each one with depth and sensitivity. Kristen’s take-no-prisoners attitude is smart and sassy and perfectly balanced by Josh’s easygoing resourcefulness, though at times her lack of transparency while jerking him around makes her seem more immature than self-sacrificing.
An excellent debut that combines wit, humor, and emotional intensity.Pub Date: July 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5387-1560-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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