The answers are all too predictable, and readers hoping for a fresh, insider’s look at the country-music scene—or for...
Judd’s first novel about the travails of a singer-songwriter torn between Nashville success and the pull of home.
Destiny Hart could never duck a dare, so when her high-school friends trick her into entering the Kentucky Idol talent competition shortly after graduation, no one expects her to win, leastwise Destiny herself. To the chagrin of her domineering father John, a retired Air Force colonel, she forgoes college to make it big in Nashville. Since running away from Wilmot, her small Kentucky hometown, the closest she’s come to a music career is waitressing at the Saddle Bar & Grill, the Nashville equivalent of Schwab’s Pharmacy, where country-music hopefuls come to be discovered. She’s understudying the bar’s current headliner, Mandy, a bleached blonde who’s as stubbornly healthy as she is tone-deaf. When high-school heartthrob Seth comes to visit, Destiny realizes that the attraction between them can no longer be ignored. But she’s bent on pursuing her dream of stardom wherever it takes her, and Seth is house-hunting in Wilmot and wants only to settle down and coach high-school baseball. Destiny’s big break finally comes, and in no time she has a record deal, a manager and a posse of publicists. Her song "Restless Heart" is chosen as the theme for a country music variant of The Bachelor reality show, and megastar Tammy Turner wants Destiny to open for her at Tammy’s new amphitheatre. But trouble at home is brewing. John and mom Sara are at odds over everything from Destiny’s career path to Sara’s midlife rebellion against military wifehood. Their other daughter Grace has fled the family turmoil to live with Destiny and carve out her own Nashville future. Can homebody Seth adjust to Destiny’s life on the road? Will Wilmot woes shortstop Destiny’s fast grounder to fame?
The answers are all too predictable, and readers hoping for a fresh, insider’s look at the country-music scene—or for celebrity dish—will be disappointed.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-451-22926-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: NAL/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2011
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
