The Day He Kissed Her (Bad Boys of Crystal lake, #3) by Juliana Stone
Romance Contemporary
E book, 320 pages
April 1, 2014
Sourcebooks

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “What? You think only guys can say that word? Cock?.”

Mac Draper, one of the Crystal Lake Bad Boys, has come a long way from his dark abusive past. A wealthy New York architect, he has almost shed the last of of his childhood ties to a town and family that let him down. When he comes home to visit his best friends who have decided to make Crystal Lake their permanent homes, he is shocked to find his hot steamy one night stand from New Years is not only there but plans on staying indefinitely. Mac decides to stay a little longer; hoping to slack his hunger for Lily enough to leave the town and her with no regrets.

Lily St. Clare fell in love with Crystal lake when she visited before to help her friend, Jake Edwards, deal with the death of his brother and the attraction he felt for his brother’s widow. When life gets to be too much for her, she retreats back to Crystal Lake, looking for the peace and tranquility that always seems to evade her. Seeing Mac shocks and excites her. Their one night together gave her a glimpse at true happiness but she knows that Mac’s emotional scars run deep as deep as her own.

When the sexual tension between them gets to be too much, they both agree to indulge themselves in a no strings affair for the small time Mac will be in town. When their feelings for one another threaten to take over and circumstances demand some tough decisions…Lily fears she has fallen for a man who can’t and won’t return her feelings.

The Day He Kissed Her is the third book in Juliana Stone’s emotionally heartfelt Bad Boys of Crystal Lakes series. Built around four best friends, each book addresses the emotional issues that push their way to the forefront when one in their group dies. An emotional love story about two severely damaged people who meet and discover the missing pieces to their soul. A visually impacting romance that focuses heavily on the protagonists and their journey towards love, forgiveness, and redemption. Heart wrenching emotional dialogue and lush sensual scenes paint a vivid picture that stays with you long after the end.

This story deals with some heavy subject matter. Mac’s childhood was filled with emotional, mental, and physical pain from an abusive father. It was not pretty and it’s made even uglier when he comes home to Crystal Lake and begins to see the patterns repeating themselves. Mac’s childhood shaped the emotionally battered and stymied man we see before us. Fearing that his father’s demons will eventually show up in him, he refuses to allow anyone, besides his two best friends, beyond the wall he has built around himself.

Lily St. Claire has too suffered abuse by her neglectful family. Like Mac, Lily carries heavy childhood baggage that has shaped her into a cool unemotional woman. She refuses to allow anyone to hurt her again which only serves to shore up her already almost unbreakable reserve. Neither Mac nor Lily seem to have the necessary means to form strong emotional ties with other people yet from the first moment they met, their souls call to one another. Though the push and pull of their relationship is abrasive and somewhat cruel in it’s evolution, the incredible physical scenes give readers hope that they may be able to let down their guards and allow each other into their hearts.

“Boston,” he said, his voice low and intimate. “I wanted to talk because we weren’t finished.”
He let that settle.
“We were far from finished.”

Multiple sub plots bring depth and a sense of continuation to the story. This is as far from a simple romance as you can get. We met Mac’s family and learn of the cycle of abuse and how it often repeats itself. Mac’s anger and pain is a physical force that permeates the story. He tries so hard to bury everything while struggling to understand what is happening with various family members and his relationship with Lily. He doesn’t want to feel. And when those emotions are dragged out of him, he reacts as a wounded animal might-striking out at those trying to help him.

The chemistry between them sparks hot and bright from the first moment they meet and only continues to flame brighter and brighter as their no strings affair deepens into something far more poignant and dangerous. Though not an erotic romance, Stone writes some incredibly sensual love scenes that she uses to explore our hero and heroine’s physical and emotional hearts. We are able to see past their public facades and into their very souls.

Watching Mac fight his attraction for Lilly is heartbreaking, especially when you realize the reasons he is doing it. He truly feels deep inside that he isn’t any good for her. His past has left him cold and unable to completely trust anyone and he honestly believes he carries a taint that he cannot bear to see touch Lilly. Fear soon overrides his common sense and we watch as our couple begins to disintegrate as Mac is unable to stop the loathing that resides within him. It is at this point that we see the steel that exists in Lilly.

She thought of the ugliness and pain, and she knew in that moment that Mackenzie Draper was never going to change.
Not for himself.
Not for her.

As per most romances, Mac and Lilly have to run a pretty rough gauntlet in order to overcome the emotional obstacles that block their path to their happily ever after.

RATING: B+

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