Book Review: Just Kiss Me by Rachel Gibson

Title: Just Kiss Me

 Author: Rachel Gibson

 Publisher: Penguin Random House UK, Corgi

 Date: July 28th, 2016

 Pages: 384

 Format: Paperback

 Source: from Publisher for a review

 

Synopsis (from Goodreads): The latest hot and funny love story from New York Timesbestselling author Rachel Gibson, author of RESCUE ME and NOTHING BUT TROUBLE.

It’s been years since Vivien last saw Henry. She was scrubbing houses for a living, he was the gorgeous son of rich parents, not fit for the likes of her.

She had vowed to get out of Charleston, become a big Hollywood star and stick it to the snooty girls who made her cry. Vivien got what she wanted – and more – but why does her glamorous life seem so trivial?

Henry got out too . . . making it all the way to Wall Street, until his life took an unexpected twist and he traded in his cufflinks for carpentry back in Charleston.

But escaping his heritage is nearly impossible. And now he’s come face-to-face with the one who got away. He’s not looking for love. He’s not even looking for sex . . . so why is resisting her the hardest thing he’s ever done?

The one that got away just came back . . .

Review:

Rachel  Gibson is a well-known author to romance readers. She has several books out and, as it seems to me, a decent fan base.
I only read few of her books (Nothing But Trouble is my favorite and if you haven’t, I highly recommend you to read it) and from what I read, I can see why this author is the one that readers keep coming back to.
When doing my research I noticed some bloggers saying that Gibson’s books are perfect to get you out of the reading slump. Even though I haven’t been in one when reading this book, I can totally see why is that, because her books read fast and are fun, this one not being exception.

Just Kiss Me follows a story of Vivien, a woman originally from Charleston, who became a big Hollywood star.
After her mother passed away, Vivien has to go back to Charleston to arrange the funeral, see what she’ll do with her inheritance and revisit people she grew up with.
Henry is one of those people, and, even if she hated him when she was a child, the mutual attraction between the two is almost touchable.

This story warmed my heart and left me in a happy place.
You know you’re reading a good romance novel when all the time while reading you just feel happiness, even though there’s nothing happy actually going on in the story.
Don’t get me wrong, this story has more then few happy situations, but even on those pages that were far from happy, there was still that positive feeling I felt.

I decide to blame it on the writing style, because it is so easy to read, full of pop culture references that I welcomed wholeheartedly (because I am a celebrity freak!).

This novel is a romantic story, but it also holds elements of family prose.

It is written in third person, but we also get to see pages from Vivien’s diary from when she was a young girl, that were written in first person.
Although I liked those parts, I often felt like Vivien came too childish, but then again, it pictures perfectly what a sassy teenager she was.

Vivien was a really good character. I liked her most of the time even though I couldn’t agree with every move she made.
Henry was fine love interest, even though I didn’t swoon over him.

The character that left the biggest impression on me was Nonnie. At first she was not-so-likeable and was quite mysterious. However, as the story progressed, I started to admire her, as she behaved herself bigger then most people in her situation would.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book that I finished in only two days (which is pretty fast in my case).
There is one thing that I feel you should be warned about.
This book does contain some descriptive sex scenes, but they were not too much or out of taste.

I think romance lovers would enjoy this book so I do recommend it, especially if you like books with pop culture references.
I also think that family-prose lovers would approve Just Kiss Me because it does have aspects of that sub-genre.

I, personally, am really grateful that I had an opportunity to read Just Kiss Me and I can’t wait to read more of Rachel Gibson’s work.