Review: With This Kiss

Reviewed by Jen
 

This is my first experience with a serial romance.  I opted to read all three installments back to back, but I will break down the review by the three parts.

Part One:  Grace was only 10 years old when she realized something was special about Colin.  Their families were close and they grew up visiting each other over the years.  But like with everyone else, she was practically invisible to him.  No one ever paid attention to her when her sister Lily took the spotlight.   But as they all grew older, and Colin joined the Navy, Grace carved out a special place in his life by writing him letters.  So when he comes home, will he finally see her or will he only have eyes for Lily?

I was surprised at how quickly I grew to care about Grace.  She is thoughtful and loyal; and she is amazingly understanding of how people ignore her in favor of her sister.  The events of the story actually brought tears to my eyes, which I consider pretty remarkable, considering how short it was.  I really enjoyed it and it made me very excited for part two.


Part Two:  Grace is doing her best to move on from Colin. She is even planning to marry another man, but she doesn't realize that Colin has finally realized what she means to him. He plans to tell her, but he is injured before he can do it. He comes home with an infirmity that both thrusts them together and leads to even more confusion and misunderstandings between them.

This installment took my emotions on a bit of a roller coaster.  There were too many misunderstandings, though.  It was hard watching these two go through the wringer, when we know how they feel about each other. The circumstances of the sex were a little too convenient and a bit unrealistic.  But it was hot, nonetheless.  (*fans self*) The cliffhanger definitely serves to get make you anxious for the last installment.

Part Three: It's time for Colin and Grace to lay all of their cards on the table.  Colin doesn't know how to convince her that she is really the woman he loves, but he is determined to do it.  Grace wants to believe Colin shares her feelings, but it's hard to put aside her hurt over feeling second place to her sister once again.

I enjoyed watching Colin prove himself. This third installment is almost entirely written as payoff for the heartbreak and longing of parts one and two.  And as a lover of the happy ending, I reveled in it. Again, the sex is great!  There aren't any surprises or anything; it's a pretty standard HR HEA.  But the resolution is satisfying.  I enjoyed it.

Overall, I liked the serial.  I think it would have been frustrating, though, if I would have had to wait between installments.

Rating: B

*ARC Provided by Avon

Click to purchase: With This Kiss Part 1

Click to purchase: With This Kiss Part 2

Click to purchase: With This Kiss Part 3

With This Kiss

by Eloisa James

Release Date: March 26, 2013

Publisher: Avon