The Side of the Angels
A Novel
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Fresh on the heels of her
New York Times Notable debut novel,
Cupid and Diana, Christina Bartolomeo
delivers a charming
romantic comedy that's serious at heart.
Nicky Malone, a public relations flack, hasn't seen ex-boyfriend Tony Boltanski in five years, when a contentious, high-stakes, and slightly nutty nurses' strike brings them together again. Despite their separation and the fact that they're both seeing other people, they still share the same interests: fighting for the little guy -- in this case, the beleaguered nurses at a small Catholic hospital that has just been taken over by an enormous health care conglomerate -- and fighting each other.
While struggling with the strike and her growing feelings for the still exasperating, pigheaded Tony, Nicky also tries to cope with her nagging widowed mother, who desperately wants Nicky married; a slick boss who promises clients more than Nicky can possibly deliver; and an officious assistant who has read too many articles about cutthroat career women. But for Nicky, those troubles pale in comparison to dealing with a bumbling romance between two cousins from opposite sides of her family: Louise, a professional matchmaker with a chaotic love life, and Johnny, whose love for Louise hasn't stopped him from becoming engaged to another woman.
Can Nicky help a group of hardworking nurses pull off an unlikely victory against a corporate giant? Can she force Johnny to see the error of his ways and declare his love for Louise? And can she ever make the right choice between her current beau and the guy who got away? Warmly amusing and sparkling with insight and keen wit, The Side of the Angels is a refreshing, realistic look at the demands -- and rewards -- of career, commitment, Catholicism, and unforgettable love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An engaging cast of characters sometimes finds itself muddling through an unfocused plot in Bartolomeo's second novel. Like her first romantic comedy, the acclaimed Cupid and Diana, her sophomore effort features a fractious Catholic clan in Washington, D.C., and a feisty 30-ish heroine beset by two completely opposite men. In this case, it's clear from the beginning that Nicky Malone, a tough-talking red-haired PR agent, will reunite with "the man who got away," charismatic union organizer Tony Boltanski, while they work on a nurse's strike in Rhode Island. But the political strafing of the campaign overwhelms the novel's more interesting subplots, including a thwarted romance between Nicky's cousins, Louise and Johnny (who are not related by blood), which is heartfelt but problematic: even though Johnny loves Louise, he is engaged to someone else. Nicky wants them matched partly to get Louise off her back about her own love life but the strike takes her so far off-scene that the plot thread gets lost. Sarcastic wit (quite a bit of which Nicky directs toward her meddling mother) and abundant charm propel the novel to its somewhat rushed conclusion, but some readers may get lost in long expository passages and the thicket of labor infighting at the novel's core.
