Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Book Review: Kiss Me That Way: (Cottonbloom Novels #1) by Laura Trentham


A river divides Cottonbloom in two: the upscale enclave on the Mississippi side and the rundown, rough and tumble side in Louisiana. They’re worlds apart—but nothing can build a bridge like love…
 
Cade Fournette never had it easy Cottonbloom. He stuck around long enough to raise his orphaned siblings and then hightailed it out West—and never looked back. Even though he’s made a success of himself in Seattle, Cade never lost the toughness and the angry edge that helped him survive down South. His only weak spot: the girl he left behind…

Monroe Kirby came from the wealthy side of town, but that didn’t protect her from her mother’s drinking—or her mother’s boyfriend. It was Cade who did that, on a long-ago hot September night, before he disappeared…along with a piece of her heart. Now Monroe is a physical therapist who can fight for herself, and it’s Cade who could use some conditioning when he makes an unexpected return back home. Will he and Monroe pick up where they left off and finally explore their mutual passion—or will the scars and secrets of the past divide them once more?







This is the first book in Laura Trentham's new series about Cottonbloom, Louisiana/Mississippi. This is the first book that I've read by Trentham and I'm a bit on the fence as to whether I'd pick up another novel by her in the future. 

There seems to be a new trend going around these days with romance novels. The leading ladies all seem to have some sort of sexual abuse in their past. And this sexual abuse all seems to happen when they are children. I just can't stomach this shit. I know that it's a horrific thing that happens probably more than I want to acknowledge because there seem to be more and more sickos out there but it is possible to create a character that has not been sexually abused. Every once in a while when you pick up a book, it's not too bad but when it seems to be every single book that you read, it gets tiring. It's like the dystopian thing in the young adult genre ... one comes out that's successful and everyone else has to do it. Anyhow ... I almost put the book down because of the child molestation. 

Unfortunately, the book is just really slow. There was quite a bit going on but there were just stretches of pages where nothing was happening and it slowed the book down tremendously. I felt like I was trudging through a swampy marsh during the last part of the book. I wanted to crack a whip and get the plot moving again.

That being said ... I did like the characters. I thought that Cade and Monroe were interesting separately and then together, it was a perfect fit. I instantly just adored Cade and throughout the entire novel, I couldn't get enough of him. I would get irritated when he wasn't involved in a scene and then super excited when he was. Monroe was okay ... she was a bit boring to me as a character, even given her past. Monroe read like wallpaper ... you didn't really notice her until someone directed your attention there. But like I said, the Cade and Monroe characters really complemented each other, so maybe Monroe's boring-ness was intentional to get that balance. 

The author did an exquisite job of setting up the next novel. You're told quite a bit about the supporting characters and it amps up the excitement for their own story. This book was okay ... definitely not close to being the worst that I've read. A lot of my friends liked this one, I'm (once again) in the minority.

* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *



Available Now



No comments:

Post a Comment