by Roderick Cyr ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2015
A gripping, tragic portrait of a disintegrating relationship and of a valiant effort to restore a loving family.
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A devoted, loving couple’s marriage is tested by the lure of material success in Cyr’s (An Accidental Abduction, 2014, etc.) second novel.
When aspiring artist Haley meets architect Colby Carlisle, she’s impressed with his intelligence and his well-defined priorities. He believes that strong relationships are the “most critical, and most often overlooked, element of success” and intends to prioritize his family above his work and the pursuit of a prosperous life. Family is important to Haley, as well; her father was murdered prior to her birth, and she was raised by a loving single mother. After she and Colby marry, they move to a home near Haley’s mother’s and begin planning what they hope will be a large, close family. While Colby builds his career as an architect, Haley finds success as an artist and regularly volunteers at a local home for domestic-violence victims. Following the birth of their son, Connor, Colby gets an employment opportunity that could bring him international recognition and great wealth—if he agrees to place his career above his family. His reaction to this Faustian bargain has unforeseen and dire consequences for the life he’s worked so hard to nurture. Cyr successfully creates a realistic scenario with complex, sympathetic main characters. Colby and Haley are an earnest young couple who sincerely believe that a solid marriage and family life are more important than financial success, and the opening chapters effectively establish their bond, as well as their resolve to put each other first. The author also skillfully and subtly foreshadows the conflict that threatens to destroy the couple’s marriage; a prime example of this occurs early in the novel, when Colby wonders if they should renovate and sell their modest house in order to buy something more extravagant. Overall, the real strength of the story lies in the main characters, and Cyr does a fine job of clearly defining their motivations and showing how they change as they find success.
A gripping, tragic portrait of a disintegrating relationship and of a valiant effort to restore a loving family.Pub Date: March 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-1507555033
Page Count: 272
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Christina Lauren ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2018
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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by Christina Lauren ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019
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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