A touching tale of adult reckonings and reunions with some heart-tugging reversals.
A young performer in a family band and the daughter of an ultrarich New York business mogul fall in love in Ready’s contemporary romance novel.
A young man named Jace Morgan races through New York’s Central Park to try to stop a wedding, sharing an intense look with the bride when he arrives. “I almost can’t reconcile the Andi lying in my arms last night with the Andi standing in the gazebo,” he muses. The narrative then cycles back to Jace at 17 years old, being taunted by Reid Shilling and other rich boys from the private school that he attends on scholarship. The bullies disperse when the fight is broken up by a girl named Andrea Leighton-Hughes, who introduces herself as Andi. The teens hang out and fall in love. Jace plays guitar in a band called the Morgan Brothers with his brothers, Dean and River. His musician parents were the victims of a shooting incident in a Bronx bodega, forcing eldest son Dean to take on construction work to support the family while also trying to score their band gigs. Jace chokes up singing in public, but he is able to relax when he sees Andi at their shows. When the band gets a last-minute job at a charity gala, Jace discovers that Andi is the daughter of Robert Chatham Leighton-Hughes, one of the richest men in Manhattan. She tells him that she is merely a “chess piece” in her family and that she has a particularly cold mother. Andi travels with Jace for months when the band gets a national tour but returns to New York following a shocking betrayal. Andi forms new bonds with both Reid and her mother while Jace contends with fame and family issues. Years later, the lovers reconnect and move forward.
The author has written an entertaining, emotion-laden rich girl–poor boy romance. The novel effectively celebrates and leverages its New York City setting, with several key scenes taking place in Central Park, specifically in Belvedere Castle. Andi’s overbearing family amusingly parallels that of a real-life New York real estate mogul and former president: They live on the top floors of a gilded, garish tower; Andi’s brothers (including a Robert Jr.) vie for attention; and the matriarch is glamorous and enigmatic. Several of the book’s wealthy characters end up inspiring sympathy in ways that are surprising yet satisfying. Adding to the novel’s engaging web of plot twists are moments in which band members commit or confess to some rather grave misdeeds. Some of the periods of estrangement the lovers experience come off as a bit far-fetched, particularly a separation precipitated in part by a letter gone astray. Andi’s motivation for her marriage, however, is developed beautifully by the author to exploit its full potential for pathos. This subplot also allows for a lovely moment of contemplation by the ostensible antagonist, Reid, that provides context for the novel’s title: “And my therapist said that the best way to move through grief is to concentrate on the right now. Not the past, not the future, just this moment right here. That small space between the past and the future. Like the moment between the inhale and the exhale.” A touching tale of adult reckonings and reunions with some heart-tugging reversals.Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781954007536
Page Count: 540
Publisher: W.W. Crown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A steamy, romantic summer read with a charming setting.
A florist attempts to avoid her best friend’s brother—and their powerful chemistry—on Prince Edward Island.
When Lucy Ashby visits her best friend Bridget’s family home on Prince Edward Island for the first time, Bridget gives her three rules: Eat your weight in oysters….Leave the city behind. And, most importantly, Don’t fall in love with my brother. Unfortunately for Lucy, she sleeps with Felix basically the second her plane lands, unaware that he’s Bridget’s brother until it’s too late. Lucy has never felt understood or accepted by her immediate family, and Bridget is one of the very few people she allows into her inner circle, so Lucy’s desperate to abide by these rules. And so she and Felix try to avoid each other on every one of Lucy’s visits to PEI over the years. And, of course, they fail spectacularly, always returning to each other when they’re in between relationships. But it’s never been anything serious…Lucy makes sure of that, backing off whenever her emotions feel too strong. In her “real life” back in Toronto, it’s easier for Lucy to avoid thinking of Felix as she runs a busy floral shop, working herself into the ground. But when Bridget asks Lucy to come to PEI for an emergency girls’ trip less than two weeks before Bridget is supposed to get married, Lucy drops everything to be there for her best friend. She doesn’t expect to find Felix there, along with feelings that are stronger and more difficult than ever to ignore. Even more than jeopardizing her relationship with Bridget, Lucy is afraid that giving in to her feelings could ruin the life she’s worked so hard to build. Fortune, the author of hits like Every Summer After (2022), gives readers another refreshingly summery story full of angst, romance, and sex scenes aplenty. The PEI setting is a beautiful backdrop for Lucy and Felix’s secret hookups and Lucy’s journey of self-discovery as she learns how to stand on her own two feet as a business owner, friend, and daughter. In addition to frequent (and welcome) Anne of Green Gables references, there are oysters galore and many sandy, windy scenes that transport readers straight to the island.
A steamy, romantic summer read with a charming setting.Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9780593638880
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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