An emotional and humorous look at the bonds between the women in an endearingly flawed family.
Two very different sisters deal with children, relationships, and their overbearing mother in the latest entry in Mallery’s Mischief Bay series (A Million Little Things, 2017, etc.).
Harper Szymanski and Stacey Bloom may be sisters, but they couldn’t be more different. Harper married young, had a child, and dedicated her life to crafting, cooking, and decorating. Stacey researches multiple sclerosis and really only feels at home in her lab or with her husband, Kit. But both sisters are dealing with some unexpected blows. After divorcing her cheating husband, Harper is left with a teenage daughter and a house she can barely afford. For the first time in her life, she has to earn a living. And while she’s good at running her virtual assistant business, it isn’t quite paying the bills. She also has to deal with her client Lucas, an attractive cop in his 50s who dates much younger women. Meanwhile, Stacey is six months pregnant and consumed by the fear that she’ll be a terrible mother. She’s never felt like the other women in her family, and she’s afraid she won’t be able to feel a connection to her baby. Both women have to deal with their bossy mother, Bunny, who thinks all women should focus on their families and be subservient to their husbands. Although the relationships between the female characters are central to the story, Lucas and Harper’s relationship has the most spark. It’s clear that they’re going to end up together, and it’s fun watching their back and forth. Unfortunately, their happily-ever-after is hurried and not completely satisfying. At around 400 pages, the story feels too long and a little repetitive at times—Harper’s fears of motherhood and Bunny’s overbearing nature are brought up often. Overall, though, it’s refreshing to see sisters who get along in fiction; Harper and Stacey always support each other no matter what drama happens in their personal and professional lives. Mallery’s fans will no doubt love the chance to revisit Mischief Bay.
An emotional and humorous look at the bonds between the women in an endearingly flawed family.Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7783-3090-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
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
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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