Customer Reviews

Last Kiss

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One year may have past since Charlie died in what the New York police determined was a random act; however, his mother singer/songwriter Sheridan still grieves her loss, numbing her pain with Wild Turkey. Joining her in mourning is Charlie's girlfriend Nell who has worn a ragged anklet cloth he gave her 350 plus days ago just prior to the lethal mugging. Both women who adored Charlie visit his gravesite in Hubbard's Point, Connecticut regularly.

Nell has doubts about the NYPD rush to judgment that her beloved was in the wrong place at the wrong time due to a bad luck occurrence. She needs to prove the cops wrong, but understands this is real life not fiction so an amateur is not successfully sleuthing. Instead she hires private investigator former Hubbard's Point native son Gavin Dawson to uncover the truth of what happened to Charlie. Gavin has an extra incentive as his beloved Sheridan tossed him to the curb for his youthful out of control lifestyle; he prays maturity and solving the case will give him a second chance with Sheridan.

The return to Hubbard's Point (see THE PERFECT SUMMER, SUMMER'S CHILD and SUMMER OF ROSES) is an exciting investigative romance with a touch of the paranormal and a feel of homecoming (appearances by former stars) although mourning is everywhere. The inquiry raises some intriguing questions related to Charlie's death, but though driven by a personal cause Gavin struggles to affirm premeditated. However, the key to the tale is Sheridan whose grief is so strong that her melancholy seems to be overwhelming Gavin's attempts for a second chance at love. LAST KISS is a deep character driven thriller.

Harriet Klausner

This was such a wonderful book with so many beautiful characters, I was sad to come to the last page.

Sheriden lost her son almost a year ago. She quit writing the beautiful music that was such a large part of her life, and now spends her time drinking away the memories of her beautiful boy who had just left for college. She had a bad and quick marriage to Charlie's father, who she does not speak to. The one true love of her life Gavin, comes back to try to solve the mystery behind Charlie's death.

Nell had saved her money and hired the best Private Eye she could, that being Gavin. Nell lost the love of her life too when Charlie was murdered, "a mugging gone bad" in NYC where she had planned to join him after her senior year of high school. She is not going to NYU anymore, and with college looming, she just needs answers to what and who has taken her Charlie away.

Jack is Nell's dad and he has an unlikely love in Stevie (the recluse author from Beach Girls), who is now pregnant with Jacks baby, Nell's future brother or sister. Jack is a traditionalist, an architect. He is miffed that Stevie will not accept his marriage proposal to make them all a real family. After being down the aisle 3 times prior and having them all fail, she just cannot do it again...and if they love each other, why do they have to be married any way?

Agatha and Bunny are around as well. Sheriden's sisters who are sure they can work their magic to get Sheriden to give into her feelings for the only man she has ever loved. Gavin is promising her answers to Charlie's death, but Charlie is gone and answers will not change that.

All of the character's are so well developed, this is a wonderful read. I could not give it five stars due to some redundancy in the story telling that I feel an editor should have caught, but I did really love this book.

Losing a child has got to be one of the most difficult experiences in life for a mother to go through. In Last Kiss, when a young man dies way too early in his life the women in his life are extremely deeply affected. How each copes with the loss is its own story. Rice does a solid job of telling their stories, both individually and interconnecting them. Love emerges in spite of the grief, which helps everyone move forward. What is refreshing is that this book is not a love story in a typical romantic novel way. Instead, it really focuses on women's strength and the faith they have in themselves and those who love them.
Though a stand alone, it does help if the reader has read other Rice books that take place in Hubbard's Point.

This book was awesome on so many different levels. i promise that you will not be disappointed.

Great Book!! Reading it now ... gets you you hooked from the very beginning!! I love that in a book!!

I didn't finish it because, of bad language. I wish books were rated, so you would know before you read them that the language is BAD!!! Hopefully we will see ratings on books, when it pertains to language.

I enjoyed this love story by Luanne Rice. She has a wonderful way of weaving mystery and romance into a story that will keep the reader guessing. Her writing is poetic, mystic and compelling.

It's been a year since the death of Charlie, son to Sheridan and boyfriend to Nell. Sheridan isn't taking his death well and Nell is convinced that something else happened that night. She hires a private investigator to look into Charlie's death. But Gavin Dawson isn't just a P.I., he's also Sheridan's former flame. As Gavin investigates and pries into Charlie and Sheridan's life, Sheridan has to come to terms with more than just Charlie's death. She has to decide whether to live again, to trust, to love and forgive Gavin again.

Last Kiss is a story driven by grief and it never really escapes that. Sheridan just can't bring herself to live her life again and no matter what Gavin does or even what he uncovers can quite bring her back again. But somehow love triumphs and Sheridan finds her strength once again. Like most Luanne Rice's novels, Last Kiss is a good summer read.

Niki Lee
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

A sequel to Beach Girls. A lovely story with warmth and heart.
Thank you Ms RIce.

Now, this novel is a real, honest-to-goodness page turner! Superbly written, it moves along a pathway of lost love and regained love. I'll not discuss the plot here, but insist that you buy it, borrow it, steal it (just kidding!), but find a way to read it before you die. You'll not be sorry! Charles A. Reap, Jr., author, "Devil's Game," and "My Friend Sam."