Last Kiss: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Luanne Rice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2009

Is it true that old love never dies, that hearts can mend, that a secret revealed can change everything?


New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice spins a mesmerizing tale readers will long remember–the powerful story of a close-knit community grappling with a dark mystery, and of a woman reclaiming a love she believed lost a lifetime ago.

For nearly a year after the tragedy that claimed her teenage son, Charlie, Sheridan Rosslare has lived a quiet life on Hubbard’s Point, tucked away in the beach house where they spent their happiest days. But Charlie’s girlfriend, Nell Kilvert, is determined to find out what really happened on the night none of them will ever forget. She summons the one man she believes can uncover the truth–Gavin Dawson, who long ago thought he would always be at Sheridan’s side. Now his boat sits anchored within sight of the window of the woman he once loved–and still loves. Both of them had believed in the power of love and forgiveness, connection and reconnection, to work magic. They thought they’d lost that faith forever. Can they find it one last time?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Life will never be the same for country singer Sheridan and teenage Nell. Sheridan’s much-beloved son, Charlie, who was Nell’s soul mate, was murdered in New York City after he left Hubbard’s Point, Connecticut, to attend NYU. Nell wants to know why, so she hires Gavin Dawson to find out. Gavin spent the best time of his life in Hubbard’s Point, growing up and then falling in love with Sheridan until his anger and violent outbursts drove her away. Now a private investigator, he is determined to help Sheridan by finding out what happened to her son. Like Gavin, Charlie grew up without a father. As Gavin works the case, he revisits his past and yearns for a future with Sheridan, while Nell cannot let go of the past and her love for Charlie. When Nell encounters a young man who looks just like Charlie, the truth eventually comes out. Rice fans will rejoice as she revisits her beloved beach community in this engrossing story of love and redemption. --Patty Engelmann --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“An element of supernatural whimsy, a dark secret involving a trust fund and a disturbing question related to Charlie's estranged father, Randy, add complexity, while cameos from other Beach Girls characters contribute an engaging, homey touch.”—Publishers Weekly

“A poignant story [with] a Practical Magic feel to it…and a touch of the film Ghost.” —New Haven Register

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Reprint edition (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553589768
• ISBN-13: 978-0553589764
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #80 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Family Saga

More About the Author

LUANNE RICE is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-nine novels, most recently The Silver Boat. Her books, including Cloud Nine and Dream Country, often center on love, family, nature and the sea, and have been translated into twenty-four languages. A number of Rice's novels have been adapted for television, including Crazy in Love for TNT, Blue Moon for CBS, the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations of Follow the Stars Home and Silver Bells, and Beach Girls as a summer drama series for Lifetime Television. She has contributed a theatrical piece to the new off Broadway play Motherhood Out Loud. Rice loves nature and frequently writes about it. Born in New Britain, Connecticut, Rice divides her time between New York City and Old Lyme, Connecticut, in the house where she spent all her childhood summers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting investigative romance, August 2, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Kiss (Hardcover)

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

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually Four and a half..., July 21, 2008

By 

Racheal Kalisz (Long Grove, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Kiss (Hardcover)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grief, Love and Faith, March 14, 2009

By 

Beth E. Settje (CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Kiss (Hardcover)

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.