The story had twists and turns and secrets, that while somewhat predictable, still made for an interesting tale. ~ Leigh, Guilty Pleasures
Description:
“Hello, Ms. Vivian . . . it’s been a long time.”
And with those words, Vivian Leigh Rochet nearly melted. It’s been years since she last saw Harrison Whitley-Shuler. She was a teenager scrubbing houses for a living. He was the gorgeous son of rich parents, not fit for the likes of her.
Vivian had vowed to get out of Charleston, become a big Hollywood star, and stick it to the snooty girls who made her cry.
She got what she wanted—and more—but why does her glamorous life seem so trivial?
Harrison got out too . . . making it all the way to Wall Street, until a heart attack forced him to trade in his cufflinks for a good set of hand tools.
Making furniture soothes his soul, but escaping the Whitley-Shuler 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?
Review copy provided for an honest review
Returning to her southern roots in Charleston, South Carolina to bury her mother, actress Vivian Leigh Rochet confronts the reminders of her past. She swore when she left she would show all of the members of high society that she would make something of herself. But as she returns to a town that is the epitome of southern charm and propriety, she realizes that everything was not always as she assumed it was.
Rachel Gibson, while not a new author by any means, was new to me. I was not familiar with her writing but knew I was going in to a sweet romance. I was not disappointed in that respect. The story had elements that made me smile. As a transplant to the South, I found the colloquialisms to be charming and the show of proper southern women to be amusing. The story had twists and turns and secrets, that while somewhat predictable, still made for an interesting tale, and I found the telling of Vivian’s childhood by teenage diary entries to be adorable.
The problem I had, however, was the character development, or lack thereof. I wanted more background on Henry. We are told of his heart attack and what brought him from Wall Street back to Charleston, but we don’t get more than that. We get snippets of him through Vivian’s diary, but I still felt that something was lacking. He came across as a good man, but we weren’t given that much depth on him. He felt very two-dimensional.
I felt the same was true for Vivian. She was too flat for me and beyond her beauty, I wasn’t sure what attracted Henry to her. Their courtship seemed to play out too far offscreen for me, and I didn’t truly feel the connection between these two lovers. I viewed them more as strangers that shared an upbringing rather than two people with any great connection.
Just Kiss Me was a cute romance. It was sweet and light and oh so Southern. But for me, it lacked any depth that would be needed to make it a truly great read.
3.5 stars
Thanks Leigh for the review