North Bay Road
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
After receiving a crumbling Mediterranean mansion, Liz Galin uncovers clues that will solve a century-old murder…and reveal a forbidden love story that mirrors a modern one.
Everyone fantasizes about receiving a gift from a stranger.
Liz Galin, an out-of-work fashion stylist, lives in a walk up studio apartment in Alphabet City in Manhattan. She has put her life on hold during COVID-19 to care for her mother going through chemo, and cannot see her boyfriend Cary as he is an emergency room doctor during the height of the pandemic. One Monday morning, she receives a cryptic letter from a Miami lawyer indicating that she should call his office. When she does, she and her mother Linda find out she has been bequeathed an asset in a will. She is shocked to find she’s been left a storied, crumbling Mediterranean mansion on Miami’s famed North Bay Road by a reclusive socialite who has recently passed. She has no idea who Elsa Sloan-Barrett was or why she left her multimillion-dollar home to her.
Liz’s journey uncovers clues that will solve a century-old murder mystery and a forbidden love story that will ultimately change her life. It will also uncover a new love triangle with a famous, reclusive celebrity neighbor that will test her own relationship and values and in many ways, mirroring the love story she uncovers. In the end, the mansion won’t be the only gift she receives….
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This uneven contemporary from Kirshenbaum (Rouge) kicks off when New York fashion stylist Liz Galin mysteriously inherits a multimillion-dollar Miami estate from a stranger. After verifying the authenticity of this bizarre windfall, she's excited about her change of fortune, which includes a million dollars annually to be spent on renovations. To claim it, however, Liz must move to Miami for six months and a day to establish Florida residency, and her doctor boyfriend is unable to come with her. Instead, she invites her gay best friend, Roy, and the pair get to work restoring the property. Liz's new neighbor is pop star G Alvarez, who, after a bad first impression, becomes a welcome distraction for Liz as they flirt and bond over emotional scars: G opens up about his manager sexually abusing him as a child, and the descriptions are graphic. Meanwhile, Liz discovers the diary of her benefactor, Elsa, and interspersed passages connect the women across time and reveal a parallel love story. The pacing feels off-kilter, with a slow start and a rushed ending, and so much going on overwhelms the romantic development between Liz and G. There are some moving moments, but romance fans will be underwhelmed.
