Contemporary Romance

IT'S IN HIS KISS

Reon Laudat

Genesis Press

1-58571-079-2

November 2002

(2) Leslie Cannon

PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

Beautiful, spunky restaurateur Savannah Jacobs is where she wants to be...free from the shackles of a passionless marriage and proud owner of a new café. Unfortunately, her ex-husband is out to destroy it all. To make matters worse, Jackson DeWitt writes a scathing review that could shut her down. Savannah’s aim is to make Jackson eat his written words. Jackson’s bedroom eyes and sexy grin may be her undoing. Can she resist the passion she has found in his kiss?

REVIEW: 

I have always admired writers that jump outside of the box, refusing to follow a set and expected formula each time when writing for a particular genre. It was this very thing that Reon Laudat did in IT’S IN HIS KISS with the chosen set of kinks she puts in the armor of the book’s hero, Jackson DeWitt.

Ms. Laudat’s risk taking was a step I greatly admired. However, it is also a step I don’t think the author used to its fullest potential. Scenes in IT’S IN HIS KISS transpired with such rapidity that readers were not allowed to fully enjoy what was taking place before they were whisked on to another scenario. Thus creating a story with numerous good ideas, but very little development of the ideas.

When IT’S IN HIS KISS opens with a feisty heroine, Savannah Jacbos, who is so enraged by a bad review of her restaurant that she marches over to the newspaper to confront the reviewer and the book’s hero, Jackson DeWitt, I was instantly drawn into the story.  The pacing, spice and intrigue for the opening scenes were nicely woven together in a blend that piques the curiosity of the reader. I would have liked to see more of that pacing and spice throughout the remainder of the story.

Though there were times when I felt sorry for both Savannah and Jackson, I did not get an in-depth enough look into their physiques to develop any real empathy for them.

The book does slow down for a bit and gives a more in-depth look at the book’s secondary characters. And though their stories were interesting ones, I would have liked to see this same attention and detail given to the main characters.

Despite weaknesses in the novel, I do, however, look forward to seeing future works by Ms. Laudat. I would love to see her fully develop all the potential that’s evident in IT’S IN HIS KISS.

leslie@romanceincolor.net (15th December 2002)