LauraJ’s review of Kiss Me Again by Dee Tenorio
Contemporary Romance released by Samhain 16 Sep 08

Well Sybil did it again. I’ve been down in dumps about my youngest kid heading off to school all day and she said, read this and cheer up. Sybil has a good track record for introducing me to books and authors I most likely never would have tried without her recommendation, so I loaded this book up to my eReader and started reading. Let’s just say not much housework got done while I was reading this one.

Ethan and Kira broke up six months prior to the start of the story after a three year relationship. Kira felt that the relationship was going nowhere and Ethan might love her but he would never make a full commitment. He’s a workaholic and Kira was tired of getting so little of Ethan’s time. What Kira didn’t know was that Ethan had planned to ask her to marry him that very night she walked out.

When a co-worker starts making unwanted advances, Ethan reaches out to Kira for her help hoping that if the co-worker realizes he and Kira are a couple again she will back off. Ethan realizes he will do anything to win Kira back including telling her that he is finally going to go for his dream of starting his own company, which he really has no plans of doing. With the encouragement of his best friend Peter and with Kira’s offer of help, Ethan starts to wonder if he can have his dream and Kira back in his life for good.

Ms. Tenorio did such a good job pulling me into the lives of the characters and really caring about what happened to them. Both Kira and Ethan’s back stories are told slowly over the course of the book, which I found to be a refreshing change rather than having everything up front. Their biggest problem seems to be communicating with each other their needs and desires, which led to the breakup in the first place and continues to cause tension in their renewed relationship.

The secondary characters play heavily into the storyline with both helping and causing the tension. Kira’s roommate Betsy, who sets her up on dates, many without Kira’s knowledge and including one who is a gigolo. The gigolo that keeps pursuing Kira to heal his ego and reputation after she refuses him. Rita, Ethan’s co-worker, who makes life very difficult for him at work. Then there’s Peter, Ethan’s neighbor, best friend, and another co-worker, who was is my favorite. Despite the “McNaulty’s on commitment” that appear at the beginning of each chapter and his “never gonna commit” attitude you see in him, he is really the voice of reason for Kira and Ethan. It was a real surprise to me that I liked him so much.

After reading this book and liking it so much, I decided I needed to go check out some of Ms. Tenorio’s other books and immediately purchased and read one of her older books Betting Hearts. I absolutely loved and will be reading her other older titles while anxiously awaiting more from her.

Grade: A

Summary:

An unforgettable man. Irresistible temptation. One last chance to get it right.

Magazine layout artist Kira Weston knows all about frustration. She wasted three years loving Ethan Roarke, a man who played her body like a fine instrument—but wouldn’t let her anywhere near his heart.

She doesn’t believe for a second that Ethan needs her to pretend they’ve reunited in order to deflect his boss’s carnal advances. Once Kira realizes he thinks she’s dating a gigolo, however, the urge to teach him a lesson is more than she can resist.

She only meant to torment him with seduction without fruition, but suddenly revenge is the last thing on her mind. This could the one chance she long dreamed of when they were together—to finally break down Ethan’s emotional walls.

Or get over him once and for all.

 Warning: Includes sensuous torture of a guy who seriously has it coming…or would like to!

Read an excerpt here.