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Spirited conversation about reading romance 

THE PERFECT KISS

Susan: Christie Ridgway's latest contemporary romance THIS PERFECT KISS is set in Hollywood. Rory Kincaid, having grown weary of his celebrity family's many scandals has sets his sights on becoming the Blue Party senatorial candidate and salvaging his tarnished name. His hopes for political office are threatened when he meets Jilly Skye. Jilly, a sexy, eccentric vintage clothes dealer, has landed the job of the century. She'll be responsible for cataloging and selling two generations' worth of Kincaid family memorabilia. As the sparks begin to fly and Rory's straight-laced reputation falls to threads, the two arrange a fake engagement to make Rory look better in the eyes of his party and to satisfy Jilly's need to continue working in the Kincaid mansion. Rory and Jilly must fight their strong attraction to each other in order to save themselves from what they believe will be their downfall--his to scandal and hers to love.

Ann: This is the second book by Ridgway, and the first one by her that I have read. I found that there was a lot of humor mixed with heat in the book. And the mixture worked well for me as a reader.

Susan: I agree Ann - though at times I thought the humor was a tad forced. It definitely took me awhile to get into Ridgway's style of writing. Once I did I really enjoyed it.

Ann: I never felt it was forced, but I will agree that some situations, while funny, were a little contrived.

Ann: Aha! Got over the "family reputation" point? Or did it just fall into place for you?

Susan: The family reputation was definitely hammered home numerous times. The family with the exception of the brother all sounded like pond scum.

Ann: Yes, but then I realized that it is used in many, many books by many authors. I do not believe the use here was any different or more & "heavy handed" then the use of the family reputation in Melanie George's DEVIL MAY CARE or in some other historicals.

Susan: What fascinated me the most was the subplot with Kim and Greg.

Ann: Yes!! I really enjoyed the subplot of Kim & Greg. I thought it was an excellent counterpoint to Jilly and Rory.

Susan: I agree. I think the writer needed motivation and this "family reputation" angle fit like a tee.

Ann: Did anything specifically grab your attention about Greg and Kim?

Susan: I think the agony of their relationship is what caught my attention.

Susan: Did you find the back blurb somewhat misleading? I did.

Ann: Yes, I found the back blurb misleading. Left to my own devices, I might have let this book linger in my TBR pile based solely on the back blurb.

Susan: I found Iris to be extremely annoying!! I understood why to an extent, but it still bothered me! I don't know that having a bratty child really enhanced the story that much.

Ann: I didn't see Iris as bratty. I saw her as an unhappy 4 yr. old, and she was expressing it the way most 4 yr. olds would. The whole - "I hate you" is very 4 year old. If a 4-yr. old figures out you will give in to them, the demands become more outrageous as they test how far you will go.

Susan: That part is absolutely true!

Susan: One aspect of this story I really liked was Rory realization of the depth of character of Jilly at the end. That really made me smile and gave a nice added depth to the story.

Ann: Yes, I agree. Also his beginning to realize the depth of Greg's character. To me, Rory's realization that Greg knew Iris's favorite book and Rory (the so-called responsible one) didn't.

Susan: I'm glad you pointed out the incident with the book - that was definitely when the door started to open.

Ann: Rory's moment of "truth" so to speak, showed that Rory had some depth to his character too. It seemed to show he could admit he was wrong and that he was beginning to look at himself

Susan: For me it really made me sit up and take notice. Rory was not just another cardboard cutout character.

Ann: Yes, that was really the first time in the book that Rory was really a three dimensional character.

Ann: I liked Kiss (the pet) but thought the choice of animal was a little "out there". Of course, it was Hollywood.

Ann: Back to the humor for a moment...

Ann: I was pleasantly surprised that the passionate heat and the humor was blended so well in THIS PERFECT KISS. I've never read Christine Ridgway before, but many authors seem to have trouble blending humor with passion and have it flow well. I though she did a fantastic job with that.

Susan: I expected a Hollywood novel with one-dimensional characters and I'm glad I was wrong!

Ann: I thought another strength of THIS PERFECT KISS was the characterization of Rory and Jilly. Particularly in the ability to have the reader (me!) feel what they were feeling as they tried to get a handle on what was happening between them.

Susan: This was my first time reading Christie Ridgway and I wholeheartedly agree. She did a wonderful job blending humor and passion. Though I probably would have gotten rid of Kiss!

Ann: I probably would have made a Kiss a different type of animal - but that's purely a personal preference!

Susan: Both characters were confused and I believe that we the reader watched the relationship untangle before our eyes.

Ann: I only wanted to smack Rory once in the entire 375 pages! (Laughs)

Susan: I'm glad we chose THIS PERFECT KISS Ann. This wasn't a book I normally would have picked. I'm glad I had an opportunity to get acquainted with Ms. Ridgway's work! I'm giving THIS PERFECT KISS a BEATING HEART. I enjoyed the story and I will definitely look for more books by this writer.

Ann: I'm giving it a BEATING HEART as well and I'm putting it on my keeper shelf!

THIS PERFECT KISS Christie Ridgway ISBN 0380812568 Avon Books

Susan Gives This Book A

Ann Gives This Book A

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