Last Kiss (Hardcover)

by Luanne Rice (Author)
Key Phrases: New York, Black Hall, Squire Toby (more...)

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

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


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1 edition (July 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553805126
• ISBN-13: 978-0553805123
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #301,664 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 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 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

5 of 6 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 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.

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

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

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.