The Side of the Angels: A Novel

by Christina Bartolomeo

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 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 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.

Genres: Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2002

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great premise of the book, but the characters were not very memorable. Interesting information about strike organization, though.

[Melanie is on Storygraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love her style of writing, but the union stuff was way too heavy-handed. I felt a little like I was reading a non-fiction book about how to run a strike, not a novel. The characters were great and interesting and the writing is so old-fashioned and quirky and sweet that I enjoyed it anyway, just not as much as I could have.

[Ally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read another book by Bartolomeo, Cupid & Diana, which I really enjoyed. So I thought I would like this one because I enjoy her writing and the way she is able to allow the reader to relate to the characters. Not so much in this one. I wrote in the recommended section "30-something singles" for a reason. The protagonist is a 30-something single woman being hounded by her mother to hurry up and find a man--well, if you're not going through that, then how can one relate?

The other characters in the book felt over-analyzed by the author, so I got bored reading about them because they didn't seem real. And the plot of the book also didn't grab me. I had to put the book down.

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago and remembered I really enjoyed it...now I can't recall the full story.