A romantic, heartwarming Christmas charmer, especially for Wiggs and Willow Lake fans.
A single father hosts family and friends at his home and hopes that the magical season will end with a new love.
Logan and Darcy are two victims of broken marriages, but where Logan is looking to move forward, Darcy is still feeling scorched and cautious. When they meet through India—Logan’s sister and Darcy’s best friend—sparks fly, but it will take a Thanksgiving weekend before they express their attraction and a sprawling family Christmas event to bring them together. However, as much as Darcy wants to be with Logan, she is convinced that their goals are too different for a long-term relationship. Besides, he’s just taken on the huge responsibility of a managing partnership for an area ski resort, a fulfilling opportunity but one that needs a lot of work as well as a large influx of cash to build it into Logan’s dream of a viable all-season family destination. And then there’s Charlie, Logan’s son. Darcy’s been burned by stepchildren once already, and she’s sure she’s not ready for that kind of heartbreak again, even if Logan’s a much better parent than her ex ever was. And Charlie’s a much nicer kid than his children were. Perhaps a blizzard, some lonely Christmas orphans, and the most wonderful, not-quite-perfect Christmas ever will soften hearts and smooth the way for a bright future. Wiggs revisits her popular Lakeshore Chronicles for another sweet Christmas tidbit, and series fans will love watching Logan—Daisy Bellamy’s ex—fall in love with his own perfect match. Add in some of Santa’s magic for two temporarily motherless children, yummy Christmas recipes, the famous, Christmas-card-perfect backdrop of Willow Lake, plus cameo appearances by other series favorites and readers will be ready for the season as quickly as they can say “hot chocolate.”
A romantic, heartwarming Christmas charmer, especially for Wiggs and Willow Lake fans.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7783-1474-5
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable...
Sydney and Ridge make beautiful music together in a love triangle written by Hoover (Losing Hope, 2013, etc.), with a link to a digital soundtrack by American Idol contestant Griffin Peterson.
Hoover is a master at writing scenes from dual perspectives. While music student Sydney is watching her neighbor Ridge play guitar on his balcony across the courtyard, Ridge is watching Sydney’s boyfriend, Hunter, secretly make out with her best friend on her balcony. The two begin a songwriting partnership that grows into something more once Sydney dumps Hunter and decides to crash with Ridge and his two roommates while she gets back on her feet. She finds out after the fact that Ridge already has a long-distance girlfriend, Maggie—and that he's deaf. Ridge’s deafness doesn’t impede their relationship or their music. In fact, it creates opportunities for sexy nonverbal communication and witty text messages: Ridge tenderly washes off a message he wrote on Sydney’s hand in ink, and when Sydney adds a few too many e’s to the word “squee” in her text, Ridge replies, “If those letters really make up a sound, I am so, so glad I can’t hear it.” While they fight their mutual attraction, their hope that “maybe someday” they can be together playfully comes out in their music. Peterson’s eight original songs flesh out Sydney’s lyrics with a good mix of moody musical styles: “Living a Lie” has the drama of a Coldplay piano ballad, while the chorus of “Maybe Someday” marches to the rhythm of the Lumineers. But Ridge’s lingering feelings for Maggie cause heartache for all three of them. Independent Maggie never complains about Ridge’s friendship with Sydney, and it's hard to even want Ridge to leave Maggie when she reveals her devastating secret. But Ridge can’t hide his feelings for Sydney long—and they face their dilemma with refreshing emotional honesty.
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable characters and just the right amount of sexual tension.Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5316-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2014
Less chick-lit beach read than old-fashioned Joan Crawford tearjerker.
In Hilderbrand’s fifth Nantucket novel (The Blue Bistro, 2005, etc.), a vacationing college student arranges to meet with her mysterious godmother, a former restaurateur of renown, to learn more about her dead mother.
Despite ambivalence, 19-year-old Columbia sophomore Renata has become engaged to Cade. While visiting his wealthy family at their Nantucket summer home, she calls her godmother Marguerite and arranges to have dinner. Renata wants to know more about her mother Candace, who died on the island 14 years earlier. Renata does not realize that Marguerite was so overcome by guilt and despair after Candace’s death that she had a psychotic break, sold her very successful restaurant and has been living for years as an island recluse. The novel follows Renata and Marguerite’s lives hour by hour throughout the day leading up to the dinner Marguerite prepares for them. While shopping for the meal, Marguerite visits key people from her past who force her to relive what happened years earlier: how she met her long-time, part-time lover Porter, and through him his half-sister Candace, who became her dearest friend; how Candace fell in love and married Dan, owner of the Beach Club; how they had Renata and moved away; how in a moment of despair after Porter’s final rejection, Marguerite declared her love for Candace; how shortly thereafter Candace was hit by a drunk driver while jogging. Meanwhile, Renata is struggling against Cade’s insufferable mother and against her own attraction to the handsome houseboy. She calls her father to announce her engagement, subconsciously knowing Dan will come to the rescue. He does, but not before Renata has come face to face with near tragedy and run away to Marguerite, leaving Cade’s engagement ring behind. Dan, Marguerite and Renata finally reunite, truths are told and old wounds healed.
Less chick-lit beach read than old-fashioned Joan Crawford tearjerker.Pub Date: June 30, 2006
ISBN: 0-312-32230-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2006
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