Romance

Just Kiss Me
4 Stars

As the housekeeper's daughter, Vivien Leigh Rochet grew up in the shadow of the wealthy Whitley-Shuler family. After leaving for Hollywood and becoming a famous actress, Vivien returns to Charleston upon the death of her mother and learns that while some things never change, others actually do ... namely Henry Whitley-Shuler. The boy she once loved to hate has become a man she cannot get out of her mind or her heart.

To begin with, Vivien is a heroine that one either loves or hates. She initially comes across as spoiled and irritating, but she does eventually mature and ended up growing on me. Henry on the other hand is an incredible hero - gorgeous, caring and loyal to a fault. He and Vivien have intense chemistry and their banter is one of the highlights of the book.

That said, the conflict that develops between them toward the end of the book is annoyingly contrived and could have been easily resolved if Henry and Vivien had actually listened to one another rather than jumping to conclusions.

Gibson's writing is delightful and she captures the whimsical charm of Charleston as well as the pretentious and artificial Hollywood lifestyle perfectly. The snippets from Vivien's childhood diary are wonderful and provide essential insight into her character.

The twists and revelations in the storyline and characterization are quite obvious, but this is a romance not a mystery, so that is to be expected.

All in all, a lovely romance as always from Gibson. ( )

More fun reading from Rachel, again with some nice twists. I heard the lyrics from 'Shame and Scandal in the Family' playing in my head while reading the last few chapters. ( )

Very good book and a fun read. It starts out with excerpts from the diary of thirteen year old Vivien, with all the teenage drama that implies. We hear about the boys in the "big house", the sons of the woman that her mother works for. Vivien has a bit of a chip on her shoulder and it comes out in the way she talks about them all. Her descriptions of them are vivid and it is easy to see things from her point of view. There are similar excerpts throughout the book.

It then switches to present day, as Vivien arrives back in Charleston after learning of her mother's death. She had done what she planned all those years ago - got out and made it big, and is now a famous movie star. But her mother's death devastates her, and she feels like a lost girl all over again. Then help comes from an unexpected source.

Henry has returned to Charleston after his fast paced financial career in New York nearly killed him. Now he makes furniture and does renovations and is much happier. He didn't expect his mother to rope him in to helping Vivien. He remembers what a pain the butt she had been to him and his brother, and isn't interested in spending any time with her now.

I enjoyed the development of their relationship. It starts out just as snarky as it had been when they were teenagers. I loved some of the banter between them as they dealt with those old memories. But Henry also sees the vulnerability hiding beneath the tough façade, and the southern gentleman inside him wants to make it better. When his mother enlists Henry's help in making sure that his brother Spence doesn't get involved with her, he doesn't really want to, but his mom has her reasons. And Henry suddenly finds himself a lot more willing to spend time with Vivien than he ever expected.

There is a steamy chemistry between them that they can't resist at all. What neither expects is that they find they actually like spending time together too. Vivien still has work commitments, but in between she returns to Charleston to work on settling her mom's affairs. She and Henry discover that they have much more in common than they ever thought. I loved seeing them grow closer, though each tried to deny what they were feeling. Then Vivien took her courage in hand and told Henry how she felt, and Henry was too freaked out to realize that he felt the same.

Unfortunately for both of them, Henry's mother is something of a snobby bitch, and has been guarding several family secrets. Henry is aware of them, and has gone along with his mom, until those secrets come back home to roost. Now Vivien is devastated by the thought that Henry has been lying to her all along, and he has no idea how to convince her of his feelings. I loved seeing Spence step in to take care of her, especially since those secrets have affected him, too. Both Henry and Vivien have to come to terms with their own pasts before they can look toward a future together.

I loved the various characters and how unique each one was. Vivien was tough, yet vulnerable. I loved her diary entries and seeing some of the ways she coped with her mother's illness. She also had some pretty vivid descriptions of Nonnie and the boys. Nonnie was the epitome of the Southern society maven, so worried about appearances and reputation. I had a feeling there was something behind the relationship with Vivien's mother, and wasn't too surprised by what it was. I did have a hard time deciding whether her treatment of the adult Vivien was real or just part of her desire to protect the family name. I felt a little bad for Henry, having to deal with his mother's secrets and the hold she had on him because of them. I liked the way he became protective of Vivien, and loved seeing him stand up to his mother because of her. I especially liked seeing him force her to come clean about the family skeletons. I also liked Spence. He's definitely something of a rogue. I felt bad for the pain he was in over the end of his marriage and that he was being so reckless because of it. I hurt for him when he found out the truth and that Henry had never told him. I hope that he gets his own story because I would like to see him get his own happy ending. ( )

I'm always happy to see when Rachel Gibson has a new book out. I only wish they were so few and far between. I really enjoy her brand of humor and romance.

Just Kiss Me filled me with so many emotions. It's one of those books that run you up and down, I wasn't sure if I loved it, hated it, or something in the middle.

I went with something in the middle.

I really enjoyed both Henry & Vivien as people. I even liked them as a couple. I just didn't like how they acted together as a couple. Who I didn't care for was Henry's mother. Which was okay, you need someone in the story to dislike and Nonnie is very unlikable. I also didn't care for Vivien's assistant, Sarah. She really shouldn't have made me feel anything thing, she's only in the story very little but she did.

For the most part I really liked the story and then...it just explode and not in a good way. (yes there is a good way) I don't know what happened. I really loved all the deep dark secrets, of course I figured them out right away, but whatever. One minute I was enjoying the story and then I wasn't.

I was kind of shocked when that happened. I really didn't care for the way Vivien acted at the end of the story. Like a child. I would love to say more but I don't want to ruin in for you. You might now be bothered by the way she acted. Hell, some might have even agreed with it.

I'm just not one of them.

Of course even though I didn't care for all of the ending, I did like some, enough to find out the story on a high note. If anything, the story gave me something to talk about.

Reviewed for Romancing the Readers Blog:
http://romancingthereaders.blogspot.com/2016/08/review-just-kiss-me-by-rachel-gi...

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