The Kiss

When you ask for a sign that you're doing the right thing the night before your wedding, expect the unexpected.

When Tess walks into the church that she will be married in the next day, she prays for a sign. However, she would have never thought that sign would be her fiance and the Reverend's daughter getting busy in a back room.

Evgeni Dinev

Feeling like her life has just been taken away by a tornado, Tess decides to get out of town. Away from the gossip, stares, and her evil step-mother who will stop at nothing to make sure she marries Paul, the "Rat Bastard."

And Will offers just that. An old friend of Tess, Will is driving across the U.S., toward California, to bring his friend back her van and adored dog. The idea of having a week to herself to get her life back in order becomes the perfect escape route for Tess.

The Kiss, by Elda Minger, takes an interesting turn when Will realizes that he is having strong feelings for Tess. And for her, it seems that the escape route may just turn out to be her life line to the path Tess was supposed to be on...

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Almost needless to say, The Kiss had me hooked from the first chapter. Perhaps I'm like this with all books... With a few odd stares from laughing out loud so much, I devoured this book in under five hours. 

Elda Minger creates the perfect (pre-) romance novel with characters that are completely relatable. She gives the reader an in-depth look at the internal process of the main characters while keeping external situations true to life. 

The story line was incredible in terms of plot development. As Tess and Will discovered new facets of themselves, other characters, and their lives, the writing style of Minger includes the reader, birthing an air of satisfaction that requires only one deep breath. 

At one point, I'll admit, I cursed Paul (the evil fiance) out loud while walking through my kitchen. 

Can I say that I'm only disappointed that a little more romance wasn't involved... even though, I wouldn't change anything about the novel? I didn't think so either. :) 

             

           

           The Kiss

                                  on Amazon

                           

                               rating: 5/5 cups

To the Depths of the Disaster

Emma is two weeks away from the biggest day of her life. Her wedding. Happy with no pre-wedding jitters. Until an unexpected call from her brother forces her home to search for her missing fiance.

The apartment is empty.

Except for her fiance's unconscious brother laying on the bathroom floor covered in blood.

At the hospital, with no word from her fiance, Emma's mind starts to wonder. What could have happened to Dan? Is he missing or did he leave her? Who did this to his brother? Why isn't Dan picking up his cell phone? Emma struggles to find the answers while the questions keep piling up and the police department doesn't want to wait for an explanation - they want to find Dan and arrest him for attempted murder.

Readers find themselves along side Emma, wondering, doubting, creating theories, and hoping against hope that everything really will be all right in the end. Whether warning her or cheering her on, Pilkington pulls the reader in from the get go, never letting off the gas, dragging them down to the depths of Emma's disaster. The One You Love is a mystery novel so well threaded together that when the back cover is closed, the reader feels (more than) accomplished at helping Emma solve it.

The One You Love on Amazon

rating: 4/5 cups