Falling

May 30, 2016
Green’s latest chronicles is an unlikely romance between 30-somethings from two different worlds. At 37, Emma Montague has decided to ditch the rat race of the New York banking world and seek out a quieter, more solitary existence, which takes her to idyllic Westport, Conn. There, she settles into a rundown cottage, and her burgeoning love for interior design takes off in a flurry of paint, carpet, and decorative wall hangings. While she’s cultivating her new love for home decor, she finds another new love in her landlord, Dominic, a hunky bartender who’s raising his six-year-old son, Jesse, on his own. Naturally, complications arise: Jesse has a hard time adjusting to change, Emma’s upper-crust English parents don’t approve of Dominic’s salt-of-the-earth upbringing, and Jesse’s erstwhile mother reappears after six years to try her hand at mothering. But Emma and Dominic’s feelings are deep, and they manage to make it work—until tragedy strikes, and Emma’s at risk of losing everything she’s come to love. Green’s fiction is full of disgruntled city gals finding their bliss in the ’burbs, but although Emma could certainly be a more compelling heroine (most of the main events of the plot happen to her without requiring much action or decision on her part), her community is full of nuanced characters that elevate the story above its cookie-cutter beats and add extra impact to the tearjerker ending. It likely won’t linger in readers’ minds, but it’s a pleasant enough beach read.

May 15, 2016
Sometimes true love defies all expectations. When Emma Montague left England behind, she embarked on a fast-paced and stressful financial career in Manhattan. Five years later, she's ready for another change in her life. After diligently saving, she has enough money set aside to pursue her dream of interior design off the beaten path in Westport, Connecticut. Though her rental house isn't ideal, she's able to see past the hideous salmon shag carpeting and dated linoleum and imagines transforming it into her ideal beach home. Her landlord, Dominic, is confident and flirtatious, yet Emma almost immediately shuts down any possibility of viewing him as a romantic interest, insisting to others and herself that their backgrounds are too different and they simply have nothing in common. But given that he and his young son live right next door, a relationship begins to blossom. For much of the tale, Emma tries to argue herself out of a future with Dominic, worrying both about significant concerns--his son, Jesse, doesn't appear eager to share his father's time and affection--and her continued anxiety that their differences make them incompatible. While there are hints of conflict throughout the novel, most of those issues peter out before reaching a peak. Bestselling author Green (Summer Secrets, 2015, etc.) relies heavily on stereotypes with this offering, and the characters seem forced into creation rather than developing more authentically. The use of present-tense narration further chokes a novel that focuses more on introspection than action. While the vast majority of the novel is told from Emma's third-person point of view, it occasionally character-hops in a manner that is jarring and inconsistent. Though Emma's life changes drastically, the reliance on cliches and all-too-familiar tropes makes it difficult to reach an emotional payoff.

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June 15, 2016

Emma Montague, an English expat, has just moved from her high-powered, stressful banking job in Manhattan to the small suburb of Westport, CT. Craving a quiet life, she rents a fixer-upper house from a handsome man who also happens to live just next door. Despite Dominic being nothing like any of the other men Emma has dated, she is irresistibly drawn to him. They give in to their mutual attraction and start a fast-paced romance. Dominic is a single father to a sweet six-year-old boy, Jesse. The three of them learn how to get along, and Emma realizes that family isn't always the one you are born into, but the one that you make. When circumstances throw the trio a big shock, Emma must truly step up despite her own misgivings. VERDICT Readers of Emily Giffin's novels or those who enjoy a love story with heart will adore this tale of homecoming and transformation from Green (Summer Secrets). Recommended for all fiction collections.--Kristen Stewart, Pearland Lib., Brazoria Cty. Lib. Syst., TX

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016
Green's latest, after Summer Secrets (2015), brings together two people from very different backgrounds. Emma Montague was born to well-to-do English parents who put so much pressure on her that she left England for New York, where she worked for several years as a banker. She forsakes that career for a quieter life in Westport, Connecticut, where she rents a house from charming, handsome single-father Dominic DiFranco. A bartender and carpenter, Dominic's main priority is his six-year-old son, Jesse, who he has been raising alone since Jesse's mom took off. Emma is reluctant to add romantic complications to her life as she launches her new interior-design business, but she can't help falling for Dominic. Jesse, who liked Emma when she was simply the next-door neighbor, becomes jealous of the time Dominic is spending with her. Despite their differences and outside influences that rock the boat, Emma and Dominic's relationship deepens until a late-in-the-game twist that may well rile readers. Nonetheless, Green's tale is an engaging journey that will undoubtedly be sought out by her many fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)