"Mallery's newest series just gets better and better."
Reviewed by Sandra Wurman
Posted July 5, 2015
Romance Contemporary
Life isn't fair -- people are always looking to have their
dreams come true. The dream that all the main characters
have in KISS ME is a loving family to belong to. There
are all sorts of families and Susan Mallery in KISS ME
does a great job comparing several varieties. As part of
the Me -- Me -- Me series this book could have a second
equally effective title Hug Me. Trust me (no pun
intended) you'll get it after reading KISS ME. This book
is number two and does reference albeit obtusely the
first Hold Me but KISS ME is absolutely original. It is a
story about gaining respect for yourself which is
enormously important in order to begin to like yourself.
This is the ongoing issue in MISS ME. Poor self-image
equals lack of self-respect.
In some cases the characters becomes so very guarded that
they fail to live life to the fullest. There is an
ambivalent comparison between children in foster care and
those that lost a parent when young and impressionable.
Both cases leave scars some visible but neither child
comes out unscathed.
Phoebe is remarkably well adjusted for a woman who aged
out of the foster care system which means she spent many
years waiting for a forever home that never happened.
Phoebe is alone but doesn't seem to angst over being
lonely. She has a job in which she interacts with all
types of people and gives her the chance to do what is
most important to her -- help people -- make a difference
--
matter. But there is no denying that Phoebe is always on
the periphery and her big heart has been bruised by
opportunists.
Zane is a big tough guy -- a rancher who learned about
life the hard way from a hard headed, strict, no nonsense
father. Zane's mother had been a loving influence but
with her death life changed quite dramatically.
Essentially Zane is set aside by his father who never
got over the death of his wife. Once his father passed
Zane took over care of a younger half sibling a task that
taxes his patience. Zane basically became the father
figure and unfortunately seemed to take on many of the
same attributes of his own father.
Zane didn't have an example of good parenting to follow.
But meeting Phoebe is going to be a game changer.
KISS ME is an adventure. The growth of each character
unfolds right before your eyes while this rag tag group
takes on the challenge -- actually a vacation -- of a
cattle drive. Great scenes thanks to the vivid
imagination of Susan Mallery who takes the reader along
for a joyous ranch experience -- if you like really
roughing it. KISS ME is chock full of great characters
who at the start truly grate on your nerves and then
amazingly grow on you -- just as Mallery intended. KISS ME
is full of people who basically say don't mess with me
and then you realize they have the biggest hearts. KISS
ME is about love. And you are definitely going to love
it.
Learn more about Kiss Me
SUMMARY
New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery creates
the
small-town destination for romance in charming Fool's
Gold,
California—where a loner cowboy finds the one woman who
can
capture his heart After Phoebe Kitzke's kind heart gets her suspended from
her
job in LA, she swears off doing favors—until her best
friend
begs for help on the family ranch in Fool's Gold.
Unfortunately, sexy cowboy Zane Nicholson isn't exactly
thrilled by the city girl's arrival. Thanks to his brother's latest scheme, Zane has been
roped
into taking tourists on a cattle drive. What Phoebe knows
about ranching wouldn't fill his hat, but her laughter is
so
captivating that even his animals fall for her. One slip
of
his legendary control leads to a passionate kiss that
convinces him she's exactly the kind of woman a
single-minded loner needs to avoid. In his arms, Phoebe discovers she's a country girl at
heart.
Yet no matter how much the small town feels like home,
she
can't stay unless Zane loves her, too-but is this cowboy
interested in forever?
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