A fun, delightful yet emotionally poignant late-Regency romance which succeeds on every level.
Annie Andrews is young, headstrong and determined to marry Mr. Arthur Eggleston; Jordan Holloway, Earl of Ashbourne, is a confirmed bachelor, best friend to Annie’s new brother-in-law and determined to stop her.
With her sister Lily happily married and off on her honeymoon, Annie sees the perfect opportunity to convince Mr. Arthur Eggleston to ask for her hand in marriage. When she realizes that Lily has tasked Jordan with keeping an eye on her, she sets out to elude him but is foiled time and again. The cat-and-mouse game which starts out somewhat in fun becomes more high-stakes as Annie begins to make choices that threaten her reputation, and Jordan finds himself increasingly annoyed at, yet also protective of and attracted to, his young charge. Whisking her away to his country estate, he sees a new side to the young woman he’d considered a flighty nuisance and takes steps to find her a groom, stunned when his attempts backfire, hurting her feelings and offending him on her behalf—and stirring emotions he didn’t believe he was capable of. Could it be he’s met his match in the vexing chit? This book is the follow-up novel to Bowman’s debut, Secrets of a Wedding Night (2012), and it shines with the same charm and wit. The dialogue sparkles, and the characters—especially Annie—have unexpected depth and subtle layers that make them relatable and authentic, even when they’re doing things that, on surface level, we know they shouldn’t. Watching cynical Jordan succumb to Annie’s naively seductive personality is sweet and touching, and we are thoroughly invested in the relationship long before the main characters understand that they are falling in love, which makes their romantic enlightenment more potentially devastating and ultimately satisfying.
A fun, delightful yet emotionally poignant late-Regency romance which succeeds on every level.Pub Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-250-00896-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
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
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
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