A satisfying reinvention story that handles painful issues with a light and uplifting touch.
After her financier husband commits suicide rather than face jail time for stealing from his clients, Emma Shay Compton comes home to Sonoma with the shadow of his crimes over her and must reinvent herself in a hostile landscape while reconnecting with friends she’d thought lost forever.
When Emma married her wealthy husband, she had no idea he was running a Ponzi scheme, but that doesn’t make it any easier to convince people of her innocence once he’s accused and kills himself. Going from mad wealth to mere sustenance isn’t as hard as knowing her husband ruined lives, but when she moves back to her hometown and finds it almost impossible to get a job, Emma begins to wonder if she’ll be able to survive, much less thrive. With help from a friend she finds a place to live and gets a terrible job that doesn’t last, but through it she runs into Adam, the brother of Riley, her childhood best friend. Riley had betrayed Emma in college, having an affair with her longtime boyfriend, which ended the friendship for good. But now Riley runs a cleaning company with better opportunities than anything Emma can find, so Adam encourages her to get in touch with Riley and see if she can help. Emma swallows her pride and asks Riley for a job, which she gives her, but the two still hold grudges from the past, and neither is interested in trying to rekindle their friendship. Riley is surprised to discover, however, that Emma is truly determined to work hard and embrace her new, simpler life, and both women discover they admire and like the older versions of each other. And when circumstances threaten their families and happiness, they’ll both question what they’re holding onto—for instance, anger, resentment, and pride—and what they’re missing out on. Carr’s take on this complicated situation is interesting, though readers seeking a deeper reflection from Emma in the aftermath of her husband’s death or her stepmother’s spite may be disappointed.
A satisfying reinvention story that handles painful issues with a light and uplifting touch.Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 9780778319672
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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