Kiss and Tell | Suzanne Brockmann | An early Brockmann gem

Kiss and Tell | Suzanne Brockmann | too much telling and not enough kissing...

books:

Kiss and Tell

	Kiss and Tell Suzanne Brockmann Bantam, 2008 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

From New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann comes a funny, feisty, romantic tale about childhood rivals who discover the mystery of grown-up love.

When Leila Hunt is swept off her feet by a ninja at a New Year's Eve costume party, she has no idea who the masked man is?but after he disappears into the night, she?s determined to find him. When the clock struck twelve, what began as a friendly New Year's greeting quickly became the most unforgettable kiss Leila had ever experienced with anyone?including her absent boyfriend. But of all the possible suspects, Leila hardly imagines that the ninja is the same man who?s teased, tormented?and secretly intrigued her?since childhood.

Marshall Devlin is finally ready to face the terrifying truth: he?s in love with his best friend?s sister, and has been for years. There?s just one complication: Leila didn't know he was her ninja. To win her, Marsh will have to woo her. But can he make Leila forget their decades of verbal sparring in time to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life?

for more information click here

An early Brockmann gem

This was the book that "introduced" me to the wonderful Suzanne Brockmann, and so it will always have a special place in my heart. It is not romantic suspense, so don't expect to see any Navy SEALs or terrorist plots. Instead what you have is a very simple yet very intense love story.

Leila Hunt has gone home to Florida for a much-needed vacation. She hopes to spend her days soaking up the sun, hanging out with her best friend Frankie, enjoying her brother's fun parties, and avoiding the British and annoying Dr. Marshall Devlin at all costs.

While at one of her brother Simon's infamous parties, Leila is given the most passionate and arousing kiss by a mysterious ninja (are there any other kind?), who ends up leaving Cinderella aka Leila behind at the ball instead of the other way around. Only instead of a slipper, she's left with the memory of a heated kiss.

Considering all the hostility and angst they went through as teenagers, Marsh can't believe he kissed Leila, but now that he has, he wants to do it again. Excited to see her, he gets quite the jolt when he realizes that Leila has no idea he was the one who kissed the breath out of her. So instead of being upfront and confessing he was her man of mystery, he keeps it to himself, convinced that if they spend more time together Leila will realize that he is the one she's been searching for all along. Of course he also realizes that she will end up hating him even more when she finds out he was her ninja, but it's a risk he's willing to take.

True, it's a contrived plot, one that could have been solved quite easily, but what fun would that be? It works rather well to increase the incredible tension that has always existed between Marsh and Leila. I remember being blown away by the intensity Suz used with her characters even back then, and it showcases hints of her burgeoning talents as a writer. Keep in mind this story was released in '96, and look how far she's come since then. Without cutting her teeth on K & T, we would not have had Sam & Alyssa, or more recently, Max & Gina.

If you are a diehard SB fan, or if you've never read anything by Suz, I highly recommend this book. Even if you have read her books, I still recommend reading K & T. I loved it.

for more information click here

too much telling and not enough kissing...

I really like Suzanne Brockman, she has a consistent energy and a complexity to her characters. Kiss and Tell feels like an early book of hers, it's quite heavy handed, and I have to say I was disappointed.

There was little romantic tension, not much of her trademark humour or energy. Her hero is Dr Marshall Devlin, who kisses his best friend's sister, Leila Hunt, whilst dressed as a ninja. There are fireworks, but to his surprise, she doesn't realise it was him. So instead of telling her it was him, well there wouldn't be a book if he did that, we go through 100 or so pages before she figures it out. There are some funny lines and situations, but the book never came alive for me.

All serial romances are by definition contrived, but many wear their plots more gracefully than Kiss and Tell does. I would still buy a Brockman on name alone, but if you don't need this to complete your collection, I would let Kiss and Tell go.

for more information click here

Retread with no chemisty: 2.5 stars

While on holiday at her brother Simon's house, a sensuous New Year's kiss from a stranger dressed as a ninja sparks more passion in Leila than all the kisses from her current absentee boyfriend combined. She enlists the help of Simon to find this stranger, not realizing that it is her childhood nemesis who kissed her, British transplant Dr. Marshall Devlin. He meant to return for more, but a patient's page sent him to the delivery room. When he returns and is ready to take up where he left off, he learns that she had no idea it was him and that she's determined to find her mystery man. The plan is simple, wit the help of her PI friend Frankie, she will confront the three other guys dressed as ninjas and get them to kiss her... Marsh figures she'll know its him if they spent plenty of time together, but after the lukewarm kisses from the ninjas, clueless Leila wonders if she'll ever find her guy.

Penned over a decade ago, Brockmann's first in her "Sunset Keys" series shows its age with the kind of stilted unrealistic dialogue typical of the genre even a decade before that. You know, where a woman in her 20's says stuff like dreadful? And she's contemplating marrying a man she doesn't love but has dated for a year yet has never been intimate with him? While she doesn't have to be a slam hound, I found that a little hard to believe. I liked the love/hate thing between the two, but after awhile it got tedious and there was so little chemistry between the two that the story never really came alive. Frankly I wondered what Simon saw in a dreadful woman like her when he could have had a spitfire like Frankie.

© Tracy Vest, November 2008

for more information click here

A Re-release of a Classic!

Leila Hunt is expecting her New Year's Eve to be dull and frustrating. Her boyfriend is not going to be able to make it to the party and her brother's aggravating best friend, Marshall Devlin of course is in attendance. The fact that Marshall ticks her off at every turn only frustrates her. Than at the costume party, Leila is kisses senseless by a mystery Ninja and like Cinderella he disappears with a promise to return. However to her dismay he doesn't and she wonders if she'll be able to forget that unforgettable kiss.

Marshall Devlin is in love with his best friend's sister and the fact that he has been for years does not ease the knowledge. He can't seem to be in the same room for long before he and Leila are at odds. When he kisses her on New Year's Eve he thinks that maybe they finally have a chance of putting a relationship together but he soon finds out Leila doesn't know he was the one who kissed her. That's fine, he'll woo her but will they be able to put years of animosity behind them or will they end up making the biggest mistake of their lives and walk away from each other.

This is a re-release of one of Ms. Brockman's earlier titles a perfect way for her fans to catch up with what she's produced if they are new to her writings. This is a sweet, fast read, a perfect way to pass a weekend. Kiss and Tell will only whet the readers appetite for more of Ms. Brockman's other stories!

for more information click here

We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.-Eduardo Galeano

This is the first book in the Sunrise Key Trilogy

On a vacation back home Leila Hunt is staying at her brother's house and attending his New Years Eve masquerade/costume party when she engages in a knee weakening kiss with a stranger in a Ninja costume at midnight. The stranger slips away and disappears for the rest of the party but Leila can't get him or the kiss off her mind. Determined to find her mysterious man, she hires a PI to locate him; all the while dealing with her ongoing rivalry with her brother's longtime friend and current roommate, Marshall.

I have mixed feelings on this book. It's well written, easy to get through and hard to put down. Having been published originally 12 years ago, it showed no signs of being dated. I liked the story line, it was very fairytale and Cinderella-ish. The idea of meeting a stranger and thinking you found your soul mate based on a kiss, appeals to the hopeless romantic in me.

Here comes the BUT...The actual romantic couple in question have a relationship based on teasing, insults and well a long history of being very unkind to one another. I have known people in my life who have enjoyed relationships that were in some sort of constant upheaval and I never understood the appeal of that. Just like I couldn't understand the appeal these two finally see in one another. Honestly, I found the bickering and their being at odds all the time, tiring. The fighting really brought down the rating on what could have been a fully romantic and sweet story.

The Kissing Game

Cherise Everhard, November 2008

for more information click here

products you might be interested in