A little bit of thriller, a little bit of romance make this coming-of-age story a lot of fun.
The kidnapping of the daughter of a prominent Mexican banker forces the young woman to face uncomfortable truths about her sheltered upbringing.
Beautiful Ximena Villarreal, with curves in all the right places and a dancer’s legs, is practically Mexican royalty, the only daughter of one of the richest bankers in the country. She lives with few cares, insulated from the hard truths of the less fortunate, until one evening when her mother’s car is run off the road, their chauffeur killed, and Ximena kidnapped by a quartet of beastly criminals. Unfortunately for the band, just moments before her abduction, Ximena had reconnected with her dashing, judo-trained cousin, Alejandro Montalban, their short reunion reigniting a passion between them that spurs Alejandro to stage a dramatic rescue. These events force Ximena to look at her life anew and for the first time ask herself what she wants, and whether her boyfriend Tommy, with his ambition and model good looks, and her father, who wishes to move the couple to Spain, truly have her best interests in mind. Alejandro seems to offer an alternative, sharing with her his plans to create quality affordable housing for Mexico’s neediest. But he is her cousin, and a dark family secret may make any future together, as friends or more, impossible. In her novel, Galindo (Habitantes de Mi Tiempo, 2009) dresses up Ximena’s coming-of-age story with a distinctive Hispanic flair and culture, both in the opulence of its protagonist’s high-class upbringing and the natural beauty of the more rural areas outside of Mexico City, from the forests to the beaches. It’s as easy to fall in love with the country as it is Ximena herself. Her quirks make up for any immaturity, with her affinity for Tootsie Rolls with Champagne as charming as it is telling, and her bravery under the threat of violence and rape marking her as no pushover. Most of the characters in the novel are fairly one-note, from Ximena’s domineering father and manipulative boyfriend to the salivating kidnappers. But the interactions between Ximena and Alejandro shine, their rapport exuberant and flirty, allowing them to grow beyond the legs and abs that seem to draw the two together.
A little bit of thriller, a little bit of romance make this coming-of-age story a lot of fun.Pub Date: March 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61244-441-3
Page Count: 214
Publisher: Halo International Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
