by Sharon Sala ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2017
Sala’s fans will enjoy returning to a picture-perfect Southern town with wholesome American values and a few bad apples, but...
A very traditional, chaste, contemporary romance with an emphasis on faith, family, and community.
The fourth novel in Sala’s (Saving Jake, 2016, etc.) Blessings, Georgia series offers an original meet-cute when the heroine’s motorcycle is pulled over by the police chief as she races from Savannah to small-town Blessings to donate her rare blood to a car accident victim. Mercy Dane was raised by the foster care system in near poverty, making her self-reliant and resilient. When she learns that the recipient of her donated blood is her long-lost older sister, Mercy can’t refuse the offer to move to Blessings to explore her newly discovered relations. Descriptions of Mercy as tough and resistant to relationships don’t mesh with her tendency to sob when insulted or her willingness to pull up her roots and move an hour away to live in a stranger’s house. Lon is a more consistent, if bland, character: faithful and honorable, he reassures the skittish Mercy, “If you don’t quit me, I can promise I’ll never quit you.” Blessings is populated by the usual stock characters, including a trio of petty, jealous women, a lonely salon owner who lives for gossip, and a stern judge. While small-town romance is an inherently nostalgic subgenre, Sala pushes the plausibility envelope. A place where Italian-Americans are called “foreigners” and where black leather and a bike helmet mark a woman as an outsider may seem more bizarre and unsettling than attractive to many readers.
Sala’s fans will enjoy returning to a picture-perfect Southern town with wholesome American values and a few bad apples, but others may be put off by its predictable geography.Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4602-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
More by Sharon Sala
BOOK REVIEW
by Sharon Sala
BOOK REVIEW
by Sharon Sala
by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2019
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
Awards & Accolades
Likes
196
Our Verdict
GET IT
Kirkus Reviews'
Best Books Of 2019
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by Christina Lauren
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.