Review: Kiss of Life by Louise Lennox

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Kiss of Life by Louise Lennox
Series: A Kiawah Kisses #2
on July 13, 2021
Genres: African American, Romance, Contemporary
Format: ARC
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three-stars

The Carolina Lowcountry is sexier, because the beautiful Kiawah Kisses rule the Sea Islands with strength, spice, and sass. This summer, each friend will reconnect with a Gullah hometown hero and learn to love again. This is Tara’s story…

When hurricane Maria hits Kiawah Island, newly divorced single mom Tara Kent braces to add another pearl, on her string of bad luck. Between an ex-husband who won’t go away, a mother acting like a child, and a stagnant career; she’s convinced nothing good will ever happen again.

But when she steps inside the courtroom of the Sea Islands’ new motorcycle riding judge; she’s tempted to think things can change. But will they?

Judge Cameron Sinclair is new in town. When the beautiful but battered Tara sheds tears in his courtroom, he makes it his business to get her what she deserves. And when he’s stranded with her in the eye of a deadly storm, he realizes what she really deserves is love.

But he isn’t the man to give it to her. Or is he?

Kiss of Life, book 2 in the Kiawah Kisses Series, is a steamy, small town, contemporary romance featuring a strong, smart heroine and the compassionate, sexy judge who redeems her heart. Download it today and get ready to fall in love with your next favorite book boyfriend.

Let’s visit Carolina Lowcountry in Louise Lennox’s latest novel, Kiss of Life. book 2 in her A Kiawah Kisses series.

Judge Cameron Sinclair knows exactly what he wants, and when he sets his eye on something his focus is unyielding. When he meets Tara Kent, although the first encounter was not necessarily a good one, something draws him to her. Tara has been through a lot – a shitty ex-husband, to say the VERY least, the deferment of some of her dreams, and the realization that the writing may have been on the wall for quite some time. While she feels the connection that Cameron does, she is hesitant. She has her children to think about, she’s trying to find her footing and life just seems to keep beating her down and she doesn’t know if she can add on another thing that needs her attention.

All Cameron wants to do is protect her. From very early on, he knows that she is his. A terrible move by the ex-husband and the incoming hurricane puts these two in close proximity and now they both must decide how to move regarding their feelings. The relationship has a lot to work through, including revenge of sorts that Cameron is hellbent on seeing through, not realizing how close to home the issue really is.

While I’m usually a fan of instalove, this one didn’t quite click for me. Cameron knew everything that Tara had gone through – that she needed to assert herself and needed the feeling of standing on her own two feet. I didn’t always think he honored that, and at times wondered if he fell in love with her or the idea of her and being a hero. I was also waiting for Tara to really put her foot down and come into her own, as much of the book shed a light on how she was mistreated or cast aside in her earlier years leading right up to her divorce. While I didn’t expect her to make a complete 180 when it comes to her assertiveness by the end of the book, I was hoping for a little bit more of a change than we saw. Hurricane Maria was mentioned in the blurb and I thought would be more intertwined with the plot but we didn’t spend a lot of time dealing with it and the aftermath.

While this is book 2, you don’t have to read the first book to follow along as it reads well as a standalone. The secondary characters were solid and I am intrigued by the others’ stories that will be coming. The small town also served as a lovely background to this book. While I didn’t love this one, I’m a fan of the author’s work and will be reading more upcoming projects.

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Natalya

Natalya is an Account Manager by day and an editor and author's assistant to passionate creatives by night. When she is not adding to her enormous book collection or stationery supply, she is catching up on her favorite television shows.

Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.

You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.