A flirty love story and fun beach read.
A man and woman have both been down the aisle once before, but maybe the second time’s the charm in this romance.
It’s not every day that a gorgeous Greek man waltzes into Emma Murphy’s bookstore, A New Chapter. But she’s laid eyes on this particular hunk before. Zack Kostas was a groomsman at her cousin Phil’s wedding—one who inappropriately came on to her when they were both there with significant others. Now, five years later, Emma and Zack are licking their wounds after their respective divorces, and Zack has just moved back to town with his 4-year-old daughter, Gracie. Despite the mutual attraction, Emma and Zack agree to be just friends. But between a loaded conversation about casual sex while they unpack Zack’s bedroom and the night Emma gets plastered and wakes up to Zack cooking her breakfast in nothing but a pair of Superman boxers, plus a host of “friendly” hangouts, it finally boils over with a steamy kiss. Now, they must navigate a relationship fraught with questions: are they friends with benefits or something more? Is either of them ready for commitment? Is all of this fair to Gracie? It turns out that love is more complicated the second time around, and life is full of surprises. The book is well-paced, with just enough sexual tension and steamy scenes. Coventry’s (Custom Built for Me, 2017, etc.) prose is funny and sometimes-sassy, as when a well-endowed waitress who flirts with Zack is nicknamed “Booby.” Emma’s tenderness toward Gracie and her jealousy of Zack’s close-knit family (her own parents are fairly aloof) make her a sympathetic heroine. As a hero, Zack is the master of the grand gesture, as when he surprises Emma in Chicago after she has flown there for a trade show. The supporting characters are solid, from Kelly, Emma’s best friend and a serial dater who invents personalities for her suitors based on their preferred book genres, to Mike, a hapless UPS delivery guy who can never muster the courage to ask Emma on a date. Overall, this is a lighthearted and satisfying tale.
A flirty love story and fun beach read.Pub Date: Nov. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5399-6783-5
Page Count: 332
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hannah, after eight paperbacks, abandons her successful time-travelers for a hardcover life of kitchen-sink romance. Everyone must have got the Olympic Peninsula memo for this spring because, as of this reading, authors Hannah, Nora Roberts, and JoAnn Ross have all placed their newest romances in or near the Quinault rain forest. Here, 40ish Annie Colwater, returns to Washington State after her husband, high-powered Los Angeles lawyer Blake, tells her he’s found another (younger) woman and wants a divorce. Although a Stanford graduate, Annie has known only a life of perfect wifedom: matching Blake’s ties to his suits and cooking meals from Gourmet magazine. What is she to do with her shattered life? Well, she returns to dad’s house in the small town of Mystic, cuts off all her hair (for a different look), and goes to work as a nanny for lawman Nick Delacroix, whose wife has committed suicide, whose young daughter Izzy refuses to speak, and who himself has descended into despair and alcoholism. Annie spruces up Nick’s home on Mystic Lake and sends “Izzy-bear” back into speech mode. And, after Nick begins attending AA meetings, she and he become lovers. Still, when Annie learns that she’s pregnant not with Nick’s but with Blake’s child, she heads back to her empty life in the Malibu Colony. The baby arrives prematurely, and mean-spirited Blake doesn’t even stick around to support his wife. At this point, it’s perfectly clear to Annie—and the reader—that she’s justified in taking her newborn daughter and driving back north. Hannah’s characters indulge in so many stages of the weeps, from glassy eyes to flat-out sobs, that tear ducts are almost bound to stay dry. (First printing of 100,000; first serial to Good Housekeeping; Literary Guild/Doubleday book club selections)
Pub Date: March 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-609-60249-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
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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