This is the type of romance that makes readers fall in love not just with characters, but with authors as well.
When Pippa's career explodes on national television and she returns home, the last thing she expects is to fall in love…or to heal the rift between three generations of women in her family.
After her ex, a producer for her makeover show, edits a clip of Pippa in a way that makes her one of the most reviled women in Hollywood, she goes back to the place she feels safest—her hometown of Ghost Falls. Her grandmother Phi (short for Philomene) was a great opera singer who packed houses and performed for royalty before returning home to care for her daughter, Emily. Phi's absence in Emily's childhood created an almost irreparable distance between them that carried over to Emily's oldest daughter, Laura. Phi tried to make up for lost time when Pippa was born, but instead of bringing the four women together, it divided them: artistic Phi and Pippa against sensible Emily and Laura. So, upon returning home, Pippa takes refuge in her grandmother's house, where her childhood friend and high school crush, Matt Evans, is doing contracting work. All the problems that keep cropping up at Phi's place seem to be the result of intentional, but luckily unskilled, sabotage. While Pippa is busy putting her life back together and Matt is trying to figure out what to do with his, some of Phi's mementos from her career go missing. Is it theft, or have they been misplaced? This first book in the Ghost Falls series has a bit of everything—mystery, sex, love, family drama—and it's all exceptionally well-done. The mystery is compelling. The heat factor for the sex is off the charts. The familial drama is bittersweet and poignant. Most important, the amount of love in this book doesn't stop with romance—maternal and familial love are given as much of a spotlight as the story between Pippa and Matt.
This is the type of romance that makes readers fall in love not just with characters, but with authors as well.Pub Date: May 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4201-4243-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Zebra/Kensington
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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