The central romance is enhanced by a pleasingly tangled suspense plot.
A hacker and a federal agent fall in love while investigating an Irish mobster and a crooked senator.
After she accidentally hacks into a federal database while trying to bring down a child pornographer, Brigid Banaghan is forced by FBI agents to work for the Homeland Defense Department in order to escape imprisonment. She works on a computer in the office rather than gallivanting around in the field, but that changes with the newest Deep Ops case. Brigid's boss informs her not only that her father was formerly a mob enforcer, but also that he is suspected of being back in the game and helping a young, up-and-coming Boston mobster traffic women and children. Despite being estranged from her father, Brigid is determined to prove his innocence. Unfortunately, that means she has to pretend to be engaged to her magnetically handsome bodyguard and handler, Raider Tanaka. Brigid and Raider are capable, confident, and well matched as partners in every way. Being thrown into close proximity makes it impossible for them to ignore their mutual attraction. As they go deeper into the case, they slowly learn to trust each other and their own emotions. Zanetti (Alpha’s Promise, 2019, etc.) successfully balances the romance with the escalating mystery of why a U.S. senator is mixed up with a young Irish mobster. The Deep Ops team is made up of people who have been cast off from the mainstream FBI, and each team member is showcased as they work to crack the case. Brigid and Raider’s love affair is the star of this carefully constructed and well-paced work of romantic suspense.
The central romance is enhanced by a pleasingly tangled suspense plot.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4201-4583-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Zebra/Kensington
Review Posted Online: Aug. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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