Customer Reviews

A Season Beyond A Kiss

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(66)

 

 

For those of you like myself who didn't know any better, this book is a continuation of an earlier short story. Not having read that piece, I can only review this novel on its own merits and leave it to others to review it as a sequel. While the author goes to great lengths to fill in the missing details for her readers, the numerous recountings slow the book's opening chapters and detract from the story as a whole. A short prologue might have been a wiser choice to provide background information and set the stage for the current events. It might also have lent believability to the circumstances of Jeff and Raelynn's marriage. As presented, Jeff's proposal within an hour of meeting Raelynn and their intimacy so soon after are far-fetched. Since Woodiwiss has already introduced her characters elsewhere, that may explain why she fails to develop her main characters, especially Raelynn, in this novel. Our heroine comes across as a rash, foolish girl besotted with her husband and sex. She lacks depth or personality, unlike some of the colorful supporting characters. Jeff fares better, especially when the author uses actions to describe him rather than lengthy expositions on his traits, but I never felt as solid an understanding of him as I did Brandon in "The Flame and the Flower." The story is slow to unfold and lacks direction until a third of the way through. After that, the mystery and plot twists that readers expect and enjoy from Woodiwiss emerge, leading to the unmasking of the villain and final showdown. Unfortunately and strangely, the author robs her own book of some suspense by giving away her villain early. I was disappointed with "A Season Beyond a Kiss." The protagonists failed to hold my interest, even though Jeff was one of my favorite characters in "The Flame and the Flower," the plot took too long to develop, and the book relied on too much material from the prior short story to stand well on its own. The author's recent offerings have failed to match the richly textured stories and well developed characters of her early works. When her next book comes out, I may choose to check it out from the library rather than buy it.

I was so excited when I saw that Kathleen Woodiwiss had writtena full-length novel about Jeff & Raelynn. I started what I hadhoped to be a life-long love affair with Woodiwiss novels in high school when I first met the Birminghams in The Flame and The Flower. Jeff Birmingham, an almost minor character in that novel, captured my imagination.

Because of that, I had high hopes for Jeff's story, but I was so disappointed with this book. Parts of it are terrific, but the "struggle" between Jeff & Raelynn just doesn't make sense.

In the earlier Birmingham saga, there was a well-crafted plot which established a history for Brandon and Heather - and some real character insight and character development, which made the story believable. In this book, as in many of Woodiwiss's novels written after her initial group of Flame & The Flower, Shanna, Wolf & the Dove, and Ashes in the Wind, Woodiwiss seems to be relying on plot devices from earlier books without spending time developing the character or the plot to make the story believable.

I will always love the Birminghams - and will undoubtedly continue to read any story Woodiwiss creates about any member of that clan, but have been disappointed with both of the recent additions to the Birmingham saga.

I have been a fan of KEW for over 20 years. I've loved all her previous novels; The Flame and the Flower, Shanna, The Wolf and the Dove, Come Love A Stranger, Ashes in the Wind. But the last two were a great disappointment. I couldn't even get through her last effort. It was tedious and the characters were shallow. I hesitated writing this review because I am such a big fan of hers, it breaks my heart to see this obvious deterioration in her writing - it almost doesn't seem to be the same person who wrote The Flame and the Flower.

How many times have you spent hard earned money on a book and was sick when you started to read it. It is not only the fault of the author, but the publisher as well. We the public deserve better. I have been reading romance stories for 30 years and have a collection that is unbelievable, so I feel that I paid and deserve to give my true thoughts. The Flame and The Flower is a 10 star book in my estimation and the author deserves much credit for the writing of that book and I would gladly pay $9.00 or more to read it. In fact,I know it practically by heart. Think before you buy - the cost of this book would give you 2 books and probably much more enjoyment . There are too many authors to choose from, Just don't buy because of a name. I do not write this to be cruel but truthful. We loved Jeff in The Flame and The Flower and he deserved a lot better. How many years did we wait? Its too late to give him another story! Remember, you want a book that you can put on the shelves that can be reread again and again. To my disappointment this is not one of them. Thank-you Amazon.Com for allowing us to be the critics for once, We should have the right for it is our money that the publishers and authors take to the bank.

As a devoted Kathleen Woodiwiss fan, I was very happy to find her newest novel, "A Season Beyond a Kiss," in print. Unfortunately, this book was an extreme disappointment, which has been the case with her most recent novels. I was hoping for the type of story and character development that she displayed in "The Flame and the Flower" and "Ashes in the Wind" (my all-time favorite book), but I could barely get past the first few chapters. The plot is weak, the dialogue is inane, and the characters are regrettably forgettable. This is NOT the quality of the Kathleen Woodiwiss of the past. For new Woodiwiss fans, check out her earlier novels ("The Wolf and the Dove," "The Flame and the Flower," "Ashes in the Wind," "Shanna," "A Rose in Winter"), and you will be able to see the difference.

Horrible! The story seemed a bit slow to start with, but what really put me off was the author's constant use of what I can only assume she thought were more classy and literary words than those anyone else would have used. Example: she used "orbs" to describe both eyes and breasts dozens of times (within the 20 pages I read) and rarely used "eyes" or "breasts". Other phrasing seemed overly wordy and pretentious as well, as if trying to impress the reader (or critics) with all the big words and synonyms that she knows - I don't enjoy a book that takes me away from the story with eyes rolling and "oh, brother!" comments regarding the way it's written. Too bad, even though the beginning of it was a bit slow, I would have continued and probably would have enjoyed it, but the writing was unbearable. Tossed into the "donate to the library" pile.

I noticed that some of the reviewers mentioned that they felt like they were missing some of Jeff and Raelynn's story. If you don't read Three Weddings and a Kiss, Woodiwiss's anthology with Lisa Kleypas, Loretta Chase, and Catherine Anderson, then you will indeed miss the beginning of this book. The story in the anthology is named The Kiss, hence the title for this book - A Season Beyond a Kiss. I didn't realize that either. I read them in the wrong order, and so I thought I'd tell you about it. Be forewarned though, The Kiss is very, very short - the shortest story in the anthology consisting of only a few pages.

I wanted to like it. I really did. I even went so far as to ignore the mostly bad reviews it was given here at Amazon. I just loved Jeff Birmingham in Flame and the Flower and fully expected a continuation of a great character in this book. But I couldn't even finish it. It doesn't even seem like a Woodiwiss novel.

In fact, I actually felt embarrassed for Ms. Woodiwiss while reading A Season Beyond a Kiss. WHAT HAPPENED!

I AM STILL TRYING TO READ THIS BOOK.. I'VE HAD IT FOR OVER SIX MONTHS... I AM SOOOO GLAD THAT THIS IS NOT THE FIRST BOOK I READ OF KATHLEENE WOODIWISS......I JUST WANT TO KNOW IS WHY DID SHE NOT START FROM THE BEGINNING OF HOW THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS MET.... AND WHY WAS THE VILLAIN/STORY LINE SO WEAK? I WAS JUST SO SURPRISED THIS CAME FROM HER....(ARE WE SURE SHE WROTE THIS?)I HOPE SHE THINKS ABOUT REWRITING THIS BOOK..

Well I must say that I have loved every book this woman has written. It all started twenty years ago when I read "The Flame and The Flower" I was hooked. This is Jeff's story and there are only two things that bothered me about this book. One was that "The Elusive Flame" which is Brandon's son's story came out before this and in it we found out that Jeff had married Raelynn and that they were deeply in love so we knew that everything had worked out well before this book made it's apprearance. The second was that this book seemed to start in the middle. The are already married and its a bit confusing finding out the whys and the hows. I did like the secondary characters in this book very much. I will still recommend this book to anyone but I think I'll tell them to read it before reading Beau's story.