An appealing couple in a well-intentioned but messy love story.
This debut novel, the first installment of a trilogy, revolves around a woman with a keen intuition, a dark past, and a bright future.
After her husband, Brian, is killed in a car crash, Sophie Winters is a widow at age 25. With no spouse, no parents, and only two friends in the world—Martin and Kathy Bowman—life looks bleak. Enter country music star Jamie England—Sophie feels a strange pull to him at Brian’s funeral (“She could sense his concern...and somehow feeling connected to him took all her pain away”). Later when they cross paths at a club (“Her mind swirled to the past, back to the present, into the future...she knew him. They were a couple in love”). Unfortunately, she has already arranged to move to Amalfi, Italy, her birthplace, hoping to find a new start. On her arrival, she finds the town intoxicating (“Nothing prepared her for its magnificence…her heart swelled in her chest, stirred by the scents of the sea air, bougainvillea, and hibiscus growing below her window”). There, she comes to terms with her family secrets and builds a glamorous life (aided by a hefty inheritance). Then Jamie resurfaces, along with a shady character from her childhood who could threaten everything she’s accomplished. For all its heart, Winkler’s novel suffers some pitfalls. Plot points and character descriptions are often woven into the dialogue, which results in conversations sounding more informative than colloquial, as when Sophie describes her head of security to Kathy: “He’s tall, exudes power, dark brown hair and dark, intense eyes, which always roam on guard.” The narrative gets bogged down in logistical details, with events being relayed several times. The characters depend on recycled traits: Sophie has an endless supply of tears, Kathy addresses her as “sweetie” in most lines, Martin is perpetually “in the doghouse,” and Jamie uses “Dear God” to express nearly every emotion. Despite its challenges, the tale includes elements that should appeal to most readers: steamy scenes for erotica fans, sweet moments for die-hard romantics, and a suspenseful finish for thrill junkies. For those who become attached to Sophie and Jamie, the book is a gold mine after they’re reunited a third of the way through. There’s ample time for ups and downs, the luxuries of being über-wealthy, and general bliss.
An appealing couple in a well-intentioned but messy love story.Pub Date: Dec. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5201-6725-1
Page Count: 499
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 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.
