Kismet
A Novel
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3.5 • 20 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A New York Public Library Summer Staff Pick
“A wedding, a birthday, a holiday weekend. What could really go wrong? Kismet dishes up everything a reader could possibly crave: family drama, long-held secrets, and the ‘what ifs’ that can sometimes haunt even the most loving of unions.”—Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of With Love from London
A sun-soaked debut about love, sisterhood, and destiny, set in the glorious beach town of Kismet, Fire Island . . . Can Amy’s marriage survive Jo’s wedding?
For as long as anyone can remember, it has been Amy, Jo, and Ben. Amy and Jo, the inseparable Sharp twins who couldn’t be more different; and Ben, Amy’s childhood sweetheart turned husband.
But as this year’s Fourth of July weekend approaches, something feels off. Jo’s whirlwind engagement and wedding ceremony now eclipses the twins’ long-awaited thirtieth birthday. Recent arguments between Amy and Ben have left their marriage feeling more like make-believe than ever-after. And as the family beach town transforms for Jo’s wedding weekend, Amy’s trusted trio will be tested by the most unexpected hurdle yet: the arrival of a handsome, mysterious newcomer in a best man suit. One with a strikingly familiar face. A face that Amy had planned to never see again.
This holiday weekend, even the strongest SPF won’t protect the Sharp twins from all the secrets about to take center stage.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chalsen's stunning debut, which walks the line between romance and women's fiction, beautifully illustrates the power of family and forgiveness. Amy and her husband, Ben, both 30, are reeling from the pain of a miscarriage, but agree to keep their disappointment quiet as they head to Fire Island for the wedding of Amy's twin, Jo, to Dave. Though determined to put on a brave face, Amy is dealt another blow when she learns that Dave's best man is Emmett, the only person, other than Ben, that Amy ever dated. Amy's fear that Ben will leave her due to the miscarriage leads her to entertain the idea of getting involved with Emmett again as she reevaluates what she wants out of life. Meanwhile, Dave's parents and sister are unimpressed by Jo and her family, adding to the mounting tension. Throughout the propulsive plot, the characters wrestle with big, messy, and complex emotions believably arising from major life events. Chalsen infuses her cast with such depth and personality that, by the end, readers will feel like they really know the characters. This moving outing marks Chalsen as a writer to watch.
