A thought-provoking, deeply satisfying romance from a master of the genre.
When a white Navy SEAL’s teen daughter disappears, his smart, resourceful African-American neighbor steps in to help and becomes an emotional touchstone—for the crisis and beyond.
Not even the danger and chaos of the SEALs can prepare Navy Lt. Peter Greene for becoming sole parent of Maddie Nakamura, the 15-year-old daughter he barely knows, after her mother, his estranged ex-girlfriend, dies. Then she disappears. The more Pete investigates, the more he believes she’s in real danger, and he’s terrified. His neighbor, Shayla Whitman—a quick-witted romance novelist with two teen sons of her own—unexpectedly gets involved in the search, acting as wise confidante, brave co-conspirator, and brilliant partner in fact-finding, and Pete thinks he’s found his perfect match. Shayla is wildly attracted to her gorgeous neighbor but so convinced that they can only be friends—she’s older and, in her mind, a frumpy housewife—that she nearly convinces Peter, too. She finally decides to explore their potential thanks to Pete’s special brand of persuasion and a few brushes with danger. As the couple falls in love, Shayla helps Pete write heartfelt emails to Maddie about his relationship with her mother, and they also connect with Hiroko, Pete's old friend and Maddie’s great-aunt, the last living person who can speak about their family's experience in the World War II Japanese internment camp Manzanar. Maddie has also asked Hiroko for help, claiming she’s doing a project on the family's internment and needs money to get to the site. Hiroko gives her some, inadvertently sending her and her friend Dingo into even more danger. What started as a quest to bring his daughter home turns into a life-or-death rescue mission for Pete, aided by Shayla’s intelligence under pressure and some last-minute support from his SEAL friends. Brockmann's latest takes up the tone and direction of her recent Troubleshooters novellas, which explore love close to home rather than against the international backdrops the series is known for, and in smaller but no less intense ways. Brockmann brings her typical storytelling virtuosity to this new setting and also delves into the dark history of the Japanese internment during World War II and subtly comments on domestic abuse as well as society’s continuing racial prejudices through the characters’ experiences.
A thought-provoking, deeply satisfying romance from a master of the genre.Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-345-54382-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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