Epistolary novel about endearing and indecent siblings.
Twins Matilda, an artist who is making ends meet as a wedding photographer, and Harry, a writer and professor, have a candid and close relationship. Matilda is bold, spiritual, and self-centered while Harry is stoic, smart, and sarcastic; both are creative and funny. Communicating via email, they share most every aspect of their lives with one another: from the details of their romantic relationships to anxieties about work (Harry is desperate for the stability of tenure) and health (Matilda is sure she's destined for a horrible disease). At first the pair seem like ordinary, if tightknit, siblings. But during the course of the novel (which takes place over a year, from September to September) it becomes clear that they are not always scrupulous. Harry falls in love with one of his students, a move morally ambiguous in itself, and makes matters worse by claiming one of her poems is his when submitting it for publication in the New Yorker. The subsequent acclaim gives him the career security he has been longing for, but at what cost? Matilda makes her own dubious choice, building an entire relationship with her boyfriend on the foundation of a lie: that her twin brother is dead. These are just two moments in what turns out to be a lifelong series of ethically questionable behaviors. Yet despite their misdeeds, despite the final, shocking truths of their relationship, Harry and Matilda remain sympathetic characters—perhaps because of what the reader comes to know about the many failings of their parents or perhaps because of the twins’ friendship, their badinage and bond. This is the first novel from Hulin, whose previous book, Flying Henry (2013), is a children’s fantasy-photography book. Her writing excels in its ability to make the twins appealing. The email-exchange format leaves the reader feeling closely connected to the characters while Hulin’s humorous and intimate prose redeems them.
A novel as remarkably witty as it is frightful.Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-54167-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE
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PROFILES
An abused boy fights back, escapes, then returns as an attorney to his beloved hometown, but just as he’s falling in love with a transplanted landscaper, a series of attacks from shadowy enemies jeopardizes their happiness.
“From the outside, the house in Lakeview Terrace looked perfect.” Which of course means that it wasn't. We're introduced to the horrifying Dr. Graham Bigelow, who beats his wife and, increasingly as the boy gets older, his son, Zane. On the night of Zane’s prom, a particularly savage attack puts him and his sister in the hospital, and his father blames Zane, landing him in jail. Then his sister stands up for him, enlisting the aid of their aunt, and everything changes, mainly due to Zane’s secret diaries. Nearly 20 years later, Zane leaves a successful career as a lawyer to return to Lakeview, where his aunt and sister live with their families, deciding to hang a shingle as a small-town lawyer. Then he meets Darby McCray, the landscaper who’s recently relocated and taken the town by storm, starting with the transformation of his family’s rental bungalows. The two are instantly intrigued by each other, but they move slowly into a relationship neither is looking for. Darby has a violent past of her own, so she is more than willing to take on the risk of antagonizing a boorish local family when she and Zane help an abused wife. Suddenly Zane and Darby face one attack after another, and even as they grow ever closer under the pressure, the dangers become more insidious. Roberts’ latest title feels a little long and the story is slightly cumbersome, but her greatest strength is in making the reader feel connected to her characters, so “unnecessary details” can also charm and engage.
Another success for the publishing phenom.Pub Date: July 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-20709-8
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | ROMANCE | SUSPENSE | SUSPENSE
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A clever, romantic, sexy love story.
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The much-loved royal romance genre gets a fun and refreshing update in McQuiston’s debut.
Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of the American President Ellen Claremont, knows one thing for sure: He hates Henry, the British prince to whom he is always compared. He lives for their verbal sparring matches, but when one of their fights at a royal wedding goes a bit too far, they end up falling into a wedding cake and making tabloid headlines. An international scandal could ruin Alex’s mother’s chances for re-election, so it’s time for damage control. The plan? Alex and Henry must pretend to be best friends, giving the tabloids pictures of their bromance and neutralizing the threat to Ellen's presidency. But after a few photo ops with Henry, Alex starts to realize that the passionate anger he feels toward him might be a cover for regular old passion. There are, naturally, a million roadblocks between their first kiss and their happily-ever-after—how can American political royalty and actual British royalty ever be together? How can they navigate being open about their sexualities (Alex is bisexual; Henry is gay) in their very public and very scrutinized roles? Alex and Henry must decide if they’ll risk their futures, their families, and their careers to take a chance on happiness. Although the story’s premise might be a fantasy—it takes place in a world in which a divorced-mom Texan Democrat won the 2016 election—the emotions are all real. The love affair between Alex and Henry is intense and romantic, made all the more so by the inclusion of their poetic emails that manage to be both funny and steamy. McQuiston’s strength is in dialogue; her characters speak in hilarious rapid-fire bursts with plenty of “likes,” “ums,” creative punctuation, and pop-culture references, sounding like smarter, funnier versions of real people. Although Alex and Henry’s relationship is the heart of the story, their friends and family members are all rich, well-drawn characters, and their respective worlds feel both realistic and larger-than-life.
A clever, romantic, sexy love story.Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31677-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | LBGTQ
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