Review: "Kiss and Tell" by Cherry Adair

Kiss and Tell by Cherry Adair

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Now I know why I left this book collecting dust on my TBR pile for more than 5 years! Overall, it wasn't a bad book but the first half did drag a bit. I only persevered because many readers whose opinion I trust said it was worth it. Am I glad I did? Well, let's just say I don't regret reading the book...

Jake was the typical alpha hero who had been "burned by love" and betrayed by friends, so he had serious trusting issues. Hiding in his mountain lair while trying to understand who betrayed him, the last thing he needed to further complicate his life was a somewhat clueless blonde named Marnie. In less than twenty-four hours, they were both running for their lives, trying to escape the assassins sent to kill him. I bet sweet and sheltered Marnie didn't see that coming when she decided to spend the weekend at her grandmother's cabin in the mountain.

Now, here comes my first "problem" with the story... One could say that Jake had "trust no one" tattooed on his forehead, but he not only took Marnie to his ultra secret lair but also revealed what he did for a living and told her all his past history. Okay, he was in lust with her but he wasn't in love with her and, most importantly, he didn't trust her yet. I didn't expected him to leave her alone to deal with the assassins on their trail, of course, but his revealing the location of his lair and everything else early on was out of character.

My second "problem" was Marnie... Maybe she was supposed to provide some comic(?) relief with her never-ending blabbering but I just wanted her to shut up. As the story progressed and she managed to save Jake's life a couple of times, she grew on me a little but she was still far from becoming one of my favorite heroines.

The villain's identity came as no surprise to me, and he was somewhat pathetic. Seeing how Jake manipulated his emotions easily in their final showdown, it was hard to believe he had managed to elude so many highly trained agents for so long. And why, oh why, do villains always have to waste time bragging and tauting the hero? Don't they know the cavalry will come and end their evil doings right before they're ready to kill the H/h? Sucker! :)

But then came the last chapter... and I melted into a puddle of goo. Awww, Jake was so sweet and adorable! I closed the book with a sigh and almost forgot my previous complaints. I said, almost...

All things considered, this was just an okay read. I wasn't able to suspend my disbelief to buy that many plot holes, but the actions scenes were good and kept me on the verge of my seat. If only I had been able to check my brain at the door when I started reading this book... ;)



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