Giveaway Review TWO OF A KIND by YONA ZELDIS McDONOUGH @PenguinUSA @PenguinPbks

Book Description

Ten years after losing her husband, Christina Connelly has worked through the pain, focusing on raising her teenage daughter and managing her small decorating business. But her romantic life has never recovered. Still, it’s irksome to be set up with arrogant, if handsome, doctor Andy Stern at her friend’s wedding. If he wasn’t also a potential client, needing his Upper East Side apartment redesigned, she would write him off.
This is never going to work, Andy thinks. Still grieving his wife and struggling with a troubled son, he’s not looking for a woman, and certainly not someone as frosty and reserved as Christina. Their relationship will be strictly business. Yet to everyone’s surprise—including their own—these two find themselves falling in love.
But if reconciling with their pasts is difficult, blending their lives and children to create a new family is nearly impossible. They’ve been given a second chance…but can they overcome all the obstacles in the way of happily ever after?

About the Author

Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of Two of a Kind, her soon-to-be released fifth novel, a second-chance-at-love story between a seemingly mismatched widow and widower. To read the first chapter, arrange a book club visit, or just to say hi, please contact Yona via her website or her Facebook fan pages, which she hopes you’ll “like.”
Yona’s fourth novel, A Wedding in Great Neck, was described as, “A confection that is not only a page-turner but a poignant view of family life…” by Adriana Trigiani and Booklist added, “McDonough has assembled a touching, airy novel that manages to meld the concerns of family members spanning four generations into a delightfully well-written story…With an authorial voice that switches deftly between impulsive teen-speak and a stately matriarch’s flashbacks, McDonough’s skill is to be commended. A tender, clever story with emotional heft.” A Wedding in Great Neck will soon appear in Norway.
Yona is also an award-winning children’s book author with twenty-two books to her credit and has been the Fiction Editor at Lilith Magazine for over a dozen years. She lives with her husband, two children and small yappy dogs in Brooklyn, New York.

Christina Connelly, a widow and interior designer, is just scrapping by, raising her teenage daughter for the last ten years.  Hoping for new business, she is introduced to Dr. Andy Stein at a friend’s wedding.  Dr. Stein, a widower himself with a troubled teen son, has decided that he doesn’t have time for a relationship. There is no “cute meet” nor is there any connection between the pair — at first.  One thing leads to another and romance blooms, and they start an affair that neither one figures can go the distance unless they can avoid the usual pitfalls of family, their careers and the two teens.

Told in alternating voices, Andy is devoted to his OBGYN practice to the point of ignoring his son, Oliver, who really needs his father.  Christine’s business in on downward slide and she is trying to help her daughter become a dancer, but with a declining income, she must take work harder than ever.  Her daughter, Jordan, could be a whole story in itself, dealing with anorexia and the intense pressure of perfection.  Both of these kids are somewhat angry about their respective parents’ deaths.

The story is a perfect balance of description and dialogue, all very believable.  To see these two people come together and make a family is just wonderful.  The extended family members and their meddling are really what make this story ring true.  I actually know a couple that had a similar situation, almost down to the careers, so I was wondering how this author captured something so true to life!  Fans of Robyn Carr and Susan Mallery are going to love this!