The Lemon Sisters

April 15, 2019
Shalvis’s sensuous third Wildstone contemporary romantic novel (after Rainy Day Friends) reunites former lovers. Brooke Lemon lives in Los Angeles and is a producer of documentaries. When Brooke’s older sister, Mindy, shows up at her door after a year out of contact, Brooke is stunned. Normally very put together, Mindy is disheveled and has her three young children with her. She recites a litany of woes, including business troubles, potty training, and the disappearance of her sex life. Brooke offers to take Mindy’s children so Mindy can stay in L.A. for a few days and get some much-needed rest. Mindy agrees, and Brooke takes her niece and nephews back to Mindy’s house in their hometown of Wildstone, on California’s central coast. As Brooke bonds with the kids, she reunites with Garrett Montgomery, the boyfriend she left behind seven years before after a helicopter crash that caused her to miscarry their baby. Though she has never forgotten Garrett, she knows that her departure devastated him. Brooke and Garrett’s discovery that their attraction is stronger than ever leads them to explore getting back together. Flawed, believable characters and plenty of sizzling love scenes make this an enjoyable outing. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House.

Both of the Lemon sisters are going through personal crises, and narrator Erin Mallon captures their distress. When Mindy takes off from Wildstone, California, and arrives at her sister Brooke's house with her three young children, Brooke agrees to let Mindy stay at her place for a much needed break. Meanwhile, Brooke will bring Mindy's kids back home to Wildstone. Mallon gives each of Mindy's children voices that fit their personalities--from the sassy daughter to the toddler who communicates only by barking. After returning home to Wildstone for the first time in years, Brooke encounters her former boyfriend, Garrett, living next door to her sister. Listeners will find themselves rooting for both women to rediscover their happiness. S.B. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

June 1, 2019

A helicopter crash ended documentary filmmaker Brooke Lemon's adventurous spirit. After she develops severe post-traumatic stress disorder, her work schedule and personal life become as routine as possible. Brooke is shocked when Mindy, her perfect older sister, appears at her Los Angeles condo disheveled and mentally unraveling. For years, Mindy has essentially acted as a single parent to three young children as well as baked for and managed their parents' smoothie shop while her husband ran his medical practice. Brooke offers to watch her niece and nephews back in their childhood home. Upon returning to Wildstone, Brooke is determined to make amends with past love Garrett and heal herself so she can return to her old life a new woman. But things don't go quite according to plan. VERDICT Shalvis's third "Wildstone" novel (Rainy Day Friends; Lost and Found Sisters) captures the emotional ups and downs of daily life through her humorous, true-to-life characters. Readers of Kristan Higgins and Susan Mallery will enjoy. [See Prepub Alert, 12/17/18.]--Joy Gunn, Paseo Verde Lib., Henderson, NV

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