The Loner is
the first book in Kate Moore's newest series, The Canyon Club.
Blurb:
Gatsby meets Persuasion in
a story of sex and money in L.A. as a self-sufficient loner, new billionaire
Will Sloan, dares to cross the divide of privilege to claim his lost love.
PRIDE
Loner Will Sloan, son of a waitress and a dead rodeo cowboy, former scholarship student, new billionaire, is back in L.A., land of palm-lined drives and fiery sunsets. His friends urge him to jump into the hot city dating scene, but a chance encounter at a school reunion revives a powerful past love. He’s never forgotten Annie James…and this time around, he swears he’ll do the walking out.
Loner Will Sloan, son of a waitress and a dead rodeo cowboy, former scholarship student, new billionaire, is back in L.A., land of palm-lined drives and fiery sunsets. His friends urge him to jump into the hot city dating scene, but a chance encounter at a school reunion revives a powerful past love. He’s never forgotten Annie James…and this time around, he swears he’ll do the walking out.
AND PERSUASION
Widowed young, Annie James believes she’s
recovered from the early heartbreaks that left her single and jobless at 24.
Ten years later, she’s got a job, a house, and a personal passion helping
at-risk kids. Then she steps up to do a favor for a friend and help a poor boy
win a scholarship to the Canyon School. Doing so unlocks the door to the past,
and to the one man who could break her heart again. This time, though, love
will conquer all.
“Moore is a talent to
remember.” —RT Book Reviews
But Ana, that is only in May…
Well actually a few years ago it was on the 8th of December, the day my parents got married, so yeah today we celebrated. That was also the reason why I took so long to write the review (I have to celebrate the fact that they still endure each other after so many years).
Let me tell you I am not a big fan of lovers “come backs”, usually the author does not develop the romantic plot that much, but Kate Moore throws us a nice story. The loner has the right mixture of romance, regret and some action. The plot is not solely focused on the romantic pair of this first novel of the series and that deserves a thumbs up. The kid Ulysses was the secondary character that was simply perfect, he is a kid, a very bright kid and he is on some financial aid program. He manages to join the secondary plot with the main romantic plot nicely without seeming too dull. That being said the novel had the right amount of romance and the right amount of mystery. While Will does start a little cruel and Annie a little tasteless for my senses, their chemistry together works and managed to make the beginning more spicy. It feels so great when Will and Annie spend that few days together and that we see her growing a spine! Josh was very ambivalent. The reader struggles to understand if he is manipulatively evil or good, by half of the novel I could understand that the second novel will be about him.
As far as the negative sides, there are not really negative aspects. I would have enjoyed more descriptive sex scenes and the sisters were a nice touch even though they were annoying as hell! The creepy neighbour was also a nice touch even if too weird, but if the intention was to creep readers out, then the author succeeded.
The loner teaches the morals of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Annie is stubborn, Will is both stubborn and persuasive, although both do know they have feelings for each other and the reader knows it’s only a matter of time and plot.
Kate Moore takes a bold step reusing some themes/key moments of one of the most beloved novels of all time, but nevertheless she makes it out with grace and interesting enough so we want to know what happens to Josh and what the future of The Canyon Club will be.
On a more personal matter (this is not part of the review, because it is unfair that I judge the novel on my tastes), I found out that I am in love with crazy psychopath female characters and maybe this is why I did not love this novel. Annie feels real, she is an ordinary woman and after reading G. Aiken Light my fire where all female characters are insane and batshit crazy, I find out that right now, I am in love with those characters.
ORDER LINKS:
EXCERPT from The Loner:
“Whatever
committee I’m on. She has to be on it.”
“It can be arranged.”
“Arrange it.” Will turned and walked away before he did anything
else stupid. He headed for the short hallway off the main patio. He hadn’t made
his revenge speech yet.
He leaned against the wall opposite the door marked “Women,” tipped
his head back against the stucco surface, and drew a steadying breath. He could
count the number of times he’d seen her without a jacket. The lavender dress she
wore offered revealing views of her person. From thin straps the neckline dipped
in a simple lace-edged V. While Chambers spoke, Will’s eyes kept wandering back
to that dipping V. He imagined hooking his fingers in those straps and pushing them
down over her shoulders. And then telling her how over her he was. That was the
plan, right?
When the door opened, he shifted, flattening a palm against each
wall, blocking her way. She halted in front of him and squared her shoulders.
“Nice lace.”
She blushed instantly, and her response sent a hot flash to his
groin.
She recovered quicker than he did. “Do you know why Josh Huntington
threw us together tonight?”
“His deep devotion to Canyon.”
A look of disgust crossed her face. “Josh doesn’t do anything
that isn’t purely in his own self-interest.”
He was glad to hear her say it. At least she wasn’t taken in by
the guy. His own questions were pressing on him again. “Why did you leave Canyon?”
“Why did you come here tonight?”
He kept his palms flat against each wall. “Are you kidding? New
Directions for Canyon? I’m the only guy who doesn’t see the place as a holy shrine.
You want to hear my idea for Canyon? Sell it to developers, bring in the wrecking
ball and the backhoes, and give hundreds of poor kids a full college ride.”
“An excellent plan. Hostile, but practical.” She tried to slip
by him, and he leaned forward, bringing his face within inches of hers.
“Make me less hostile.” He reached out a hand and tucked a strand
of her hair behind her ear. Her whole body shivered at the touch, and he felt gut-punched.
He forced himself to press for the answers he wanted. “Why didn’t you answer that
letter?”
He caught a puzzled look in her eyes, but the men’s room door
opened.
“This is not the time or the place for this conversation.”
“Come with me. You can explain it.”
Voices intruded. Two men stepped into the hallway and halted.
Will took his hands from the walls. Deep brown eyes pleaded with him. He took her
arm, leading her down the hall.
“You were eighteen,” she said in a low voice.
“I knew my mind. You pretended not to know yours.”
“You had an amazing college opportunity ahead of you.”
“You didn’t believe in me. You believed in guys like Moreland,
but not in me. You thought I wouldn’t make it.”
“You had not even begun to live. I was a widow. My husband had
been dead barely a year. A year.”
“You saw where I lived,” he said quietly. “You were afraid to
take a chance on a nobody like me.”
“I did what I had to do, what I thought was right. And look at you. You’ve done
well. Without me. You can’t deny it.” She slipped out of his hold and headed across
the patio.
A smart man would let her go. He decided to be smart.
Kate has lived most of her life along the California coast. That experience has made her a jeans-wearing, toes in wet-sand, married to a surfer, fog-loving weather wimp, with a hint of East Coast polish from spending her college years in Boston. Family history connects her to Irish and English immigrants, Cornish miners, gold prospectors, and adventurers who sailed around Cape Horn bound for San Francisco.
When she's not reading, writing or brainstorming, Kate walks in the redwoods, feed birds, collect books, apples and leaves; she watches tele-novellas on Spanish-language TV and immerses herself in all things English. Her favorite food groups are butter, brown sugar, dark chocolate, and red wine. Kate's early literary influences were The Little Engine That Could, The Little Red Hen, and Winnie the Pooh. Austen, Heyer, Chaucer, and Homer came later and inspired her to put that first plot on paper.
Kate's heroes are honorable, virile outsiders with some grand ambition; her heroines are practical princesses, who drive those edgy loners into love with good sense and good sex.
Her family and friends offer endless support and humor. Kate says her children are her best works, and her husband is her favorite hero.
Website: http://katemoore.com/
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