Customer Reviews

Kiss Of Death

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm usually a fan of Meryl Sawyer. I've found that she almost always succeeds in blending a steamy romance with an edge of your seat suspense. When I grabbed this one off the shelves and read the back, it looked like it was going to be another great read. Unfortunately, in Kiss of Death, both the romance and the suspense fall very flat.

When the book begins, Whitney Marshall is taking over her cousin Miranda's job of dog walking after going through a painful divorce in which she signed over her house (and apparently waived any right to spousal support). She had put her own dream of becoming a vet on hold to support her husband, but he eventually cheated on her, gambled his way into a half million in debt and then divorced her. He married his girlfriend, Ashley, and together they try to do everything they can to convince Whitney that there was a mistake when she originally signed over the deed to her house. When they fail to immediately convince Whitney to sign her name at the end of a large and very suspicious stack of paper, Ashley kidnaps her dog. When that doesn't work, her ex-husband tries to kill her by burning her house down. When that doesn't work, he tries to run her over. And it just goes on and on.

Meanwhile, Whitney has met and fallen for Adam Hunter. Adam is convinced his wealthy and ex-military uncle was murdered over his secret arms dealing business. He meets Whitney, who is living in a cottage on his property, and despite being thrust in the middle of her extremely messy situation with the ex, soon falls in love with her. He admits that he hasn't been with a women in years, and despite his statements to the contrary, I never believed his feelings went any deeper than lust. At what point did he get to know her? Somewhere in between tracking down her dog from her ex or attending the art exhibit to learn more about his uncle's death or maybe flying down to Mexico to find Whitney's cousin? The problem was, there was too much (weak) suspense and not enough romance, and the suspense that was there just wasn't working for me.

The point of view went from Whitney to Adam to Whitney's ex-husband to Whitney's husband's new wife to Adam's friend and back again over and over. We learned too much about the bad guys for them to be interesting: one came across as just pathetic and ineffectual and the other did a very unbelieveable 180 character change at the last second. There was just too much going on and all of what was happening, was simply uninteresting. Add to that, a romance that couldn't have been less romantic and you've got a book that you should definitely avoiding spending money on.

I thought this was Meryl Sawyer's best book in quite awhile. There were a lot of different things going on, and they all intertwined in a way that left you turning pages trying to find out how they all came together. The ending tied everything up very nicely.

Excellent book and definitely well worth the read!

A topnotch mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Whitney takes over thedog walking business and the cottage on the grounds of Calvin Hunter's home while her cousin Miranda goes on honeymoon. Meanwhile, Adam Hunter, a recent veteran of the Iraqi War, returns to his uncle's home to discover if Uncle Calvin was murdered. Naturally, the two--Whitney & Adam--are attracted to each other. But weapons sales, an angry ex-husband, and other nefarious characters conspire to silence the two.

This is a good mystery. The romance is light. I was surprised to see it in the romance section of the bookstore. If you are looking for a romance novel, this isn't one for you. If romantic suspense is your preference, this book is a good choice.

After barely surviving a suicide bombing in Iraq that killed his friends, Adam Hunter is dispatched to the Greek island retreat of his wealthy uncle who reveals that someone is out to kill him and makes Adam promise to investigate his death if it proves suspicious. Two months later, he dies of a heart attack, and Adam returns to Cal's San Diego estate to look into his death, calling on former colleagues in the police department as well as his partner who continued to run their security business while he was called to duty.

Whitney Marshall is taking steps to get her life back. Newly divorced from her unfaithful husband, she gave up her dreams of becoming a vet to put him through medical school, only to be traded in for a newer model when he decides to go into the lucrative plastic surgery practice. Taking over his cousins dog walking business, she has a run in with Adam that scares her, but luckily he is around when ex-husband Ryan gets a little rough when she won't sign additional papers related to the divorce settlement (ironically, the only thing she walks away with is the family dog). Cousin Miranda is off on her honeymoon, but Whitney soon discovers this is a lie, and asks for Adam's help in locating her missing cousin. Meanwhile Ryan's petulant wife schemes to steal Whitney's dog to get her to sign the papers that will allow her to get the house of her dreams, not realizing that Ryan is so in hock. Suddenly, Whitney's dog is stolen, her cottage is up in flames due to a pipe bomb, and she's the victim of a hit and run. Is she the intended victim or Miranda?

Sawyer's latest has great chemistry between the romantic lead, and interesting premise, but just seems to fall flat in some places due to the convoluted plot, and the suspense is pretty light and predictable. But it does have a cathartic ending.

Let's see ... romantic partners constantly sniping at each other, except when they are suddenly falling into bed with each other? Nope! Heroine not listening to sensible cautions about staying out of the line of fire and instead going bumbling out and about and therefore getting herself into all sorts of dangerous situations because of her stupid stubbornness? Nope. Hero, who is normally a pretty nice guy, acts like a misogynistic jerk when in the presence of the heroine? Nope. YAY!! I knew it could be done!! And kudos to Meryl Sawyer to showing the rest of them just how to go about it!

There is a good summary of the plot above and I'm sure that others how given a brief summary - I tend to get too detailed and therefore spoil things, so I'll just say that this is one of the best romantic suspense novels I've read in the past ... decade, at least! If you like your romantic suspense novels to be more suspense with just a touch of romance, and the romance to be more romance and less dynamic tension, this one will appeal to you!

A good suspenseful story with great characters, however the main characters romance could have been hotter.

Wealthy Calvin Hunter flies his nephew Adam to his villa on the Greek Isle of Siros in a private plane because he needs to speak with him. Calvin, who has such limited ties with his San Diego family members that he did not even attend his half-brother's funeral, informs Adam that if he dies, he is to investigate the cause. Adam, a former cop turned private investigator, agrees though the request seems odd as his uncle explains nothing further.

Two months later Adam learns his Uncle Calvin died so unable to accept coincidence; he begins inquiries into the death. Whitney Marshall takes over her missing cousin Miranda's dog caring duties which include living in a caretaker cottage on Calvin's estate in San Diego. When her new abode is bombed, Adam and she assume her cousin is the target and there is a tie to the late Calvin and his money, but nothing except the canines linking anyone. Adam vows to keep the woman he is falling in love with safe and learn who killed his uncle as he believes a murder occurred and that same person is responsible for the caretaker cottage bombing.

KISS OF DEATH is an exciting action-packed romantic private investigative thriller starring two likable believable protagonists who with every step together fall deep in love and even deeper in danger from an unidentified adversary for unknown reasons except the unclear nebulous connection to Calvin. The story line grips the audience from the opening line of "Adam Hunter, You're dead" and never slows down through several intriguing twists including canine capers until the final confrontation. Meryl Sawyer further cements her growing reputation as one of top guns of romantic suspense (see HALF PAST DEAD).

Harriet Klausner