A romantic comedy with a lively, funny cast, including a lovable main character.
In Dineen’s (She Sins at Midnight, 2014, etc.) latest novel, a 30-something public relations professional finds that getting a guy can be complicated.
Mimi Finnegan, a PR maven, is single and a size 12. She joins Weight Watchers to get fit and ease the strain on her bunion, which she’s named “Edith Bunker.” At work, she represents British author Elliot Fielding, and on her part, it seems to be hate at first sight. However, she soon realizes that’s she’s not feeling hate but lust, which turns to love, despite Elliot’s buttoned-up demeanor. The problem is that he’s in a relationship and about to become engaged. Mimi decides to transform herself by losing weight in order to get his attention. She accompanies Elliot to New York to help promote his book, and she finds out that he has strong feelings for her—but his relationship with his soon-to-be-fiancee is complicated. Mimi’s new confidence also attracts Richard Bingham, a New York City advertising executive, who sweeps her off her feet and has no problem with a little competition. After Mimi returns home to her small town, she hopes that Elliot will choose her, but instead she finds out that he’s finally popped the question. Devastated, she moves to New York, where she’s been offered a job and Richard is waiting with open arms. Mimi then learns a secret about Elliot’s relationship, and her love for him deepens. Soon they reunite in New York and try to figure out if they can be together. This novel has myriad outrageous moments and some touching ones, as well, such as when Mimi learns that her sisters consider her the most supportive sibling—and not just the sister who has a bunion. The author openly pays homage to characters such as Bridget Jones and Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw, but she still gives Mimi her own spice and personality. The repetitive jokes about bunions and the bad writers of Mimi’s life’s script, though, sometimes make the prose fall a little flat. However, the story also has a deeply emotional side as well as a satisfying ending.
A romantic comedy with a lively, funny cast, including a lovable main character.Pub Date: May 12, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5118-5673-7
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Haphazard and undemanding.
A sports agent’s first official client is the man she dumped years ago in college.
After two years of hard work as an underling, Nora Mackenzie is finally being promoted to full-time sports agent. She’s worked hard, kept quiet, and allowed men in the office to call her Mac—a nickname she hates—all to show she’s a team player and “one of the guys.” Unfortunately, her boss instructs her to sign Derek Pender, a football player coming off an injury, who happens to be the man she heartlessly dumped in their senior year of college. Derek signs with her for revenge, seeing it as his opportunity to pay Nora back for callously breaking his heart eight years earlier. He insists she be at his beck and call: answering his emails, running his errands, cooking dinner for his dates. He also refuses to let her explain why she broke up with him without warning or explanation. Nora feels she has no choice but to acquiesce to Derek’s humiliating demands, since she’s worked too hard to let him ruin her dream job. She hopes he’ll thaw and they might become friends, but Derek’s bad behavior is designed to hide the fact that he’s still in love with her. Nora’s characterization is uneven, veering between anger at how she’s treated in the male-dominated field to immature bickering and bantering with Derek. Although Adams likely meant for Derek and Nora’s interactions to have an enemies-to-lovers vibe, the characters instead seem juvenile and stuck in the past. The novel is fueled by a string of tropes—second chance romance! married in Vegas! only one bed!—each randomly deployed to keep the book going despite thin characterization and wan plotting.
Haphazard and undemanding.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593723678
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dell
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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