A sweet, mishap-filled look at what it takes to create lasting love between two people with separate lives.
An aspiring writer meets her dream man at a retreat in Italy…but when they’re back in London, real life gets in the way.
Ava is a copywriter for a pharmaceutical company in London, but she dreams of writing a book. So when she gets the chance to go to a writing retreat at a remote monastery in Italy, she jumps on it. At the retreat, real names and personal conversations aren’t allowed—instead, everyone wears linen kurta pajamas and goes by made-up names. Ava decides to go by Aria, and she quickly meets Dutch, who joins their group after his martial arts retreat is cancelled. Ava falls for him almost instantly, and the two spend their days cliff-jumping, eating ice cream, and writing thinly veiled sex scenes to share with the class. One thing they definitely don’t do? Talk about their real names, jobs, or living situations. Ava might not know Dutch’s name, but she knows they’ll stay together even when they head back to London. But it turns out that getting to know Dutch—or Matt—in real life is a bit trickier. Ava hates his industrial flat filled with creepy artwork, and Matt can’t stand her run-down place filled with “rescue books” and upcycled furniture that tends to break. Ava’s dog keeps destroying Matt’s shirts, and Matt isn’t a vegetarian. Perhaps most importantly, Matt is tied to a family job that makes him miserable, and his parents don’t care much for Ava. Can their relationship survive the real world, or are they doomed by their differences? Ava is a charming main character whose relentless positivity is often misplaced but usually quite funny. Her efforts to fit into Matt’s life, no matter where it leads her (sometimes into such awkward situations as a naked sauna with his extended family), are hilarious, but it’s more rewarding to watch her as she learns to take charge of her own life. As usual, Kinsella has created a lovely cast of quirky supporting characters—Ava and Matt’s friends might even be more fun to read about than the romance.
A sweet, mishap-filled look at what it takes to create lasting love between two people with separate lives.Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13285-2
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Dial Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
A heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love.
Two struggling authors spend the summer writing and falling in love in a quaint beach town.
January Andrews has just arrived in the small town of North Bear Shores with some serious baggage. Her father has been dead for a year, but she still hasn’t come to terms with what she found out at his funeral—he had been cheating on her mother for years. January plans to spend the summer cleaning out and selling the house her father and “That Woman” lived in together. But she’s also a down-on-her-luck author facing writer’s block, and she no longer believes in the happily-ever-after she’s made the benchmark of her work. Her steadily dwindling bank account, though, is a daily reminder that she must sell her next book, and fast. Serendipitously, she discovers that her new next-door neighbor is Augustus Everett, the darling of the literary fiction set and her former college rival/crush. Gus also happens to be struggling with his next book (and some serious trauma that unfolds throughout the novel). Though the two get off to a rocky start, they soon make a bet: Gus will try to write a romance novel, and January will attempt “bleak literary fiction.” They spend the summer teaching each other the art of their own genres—January takes Gus on a romantic outing to the local carnival; Gus takes January to the burned-down remains of a former cult—and they both process their own grief, loss, and trauma through this experiment. There are more than enough steamy scenes to sustain the slow-burn romance, and smart commentary on the placement and purpose of “women’s fiction” joins with crucial conversations about mental health to add multiple intriguing layers to the plot.
A heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0673-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Jove/Penguin
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK TO SCREEN
PERSPECTIVES
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
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
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