Last Kiss of Summer by Marina Adair (Destiny Bay #1)
Released: August 30, 2016
Contemporary Romance
Forever
Reviewed by Mandi
After catching her long-term boyfriend cheating on her, and giving up her dreams of moving to South America with him and to start life together, Kennedy is down in the dumps. Wanting nothing but the comfort of home, Kennedy drives straight to her grandmother’s house for some pampering. Her grandmother gives her much more – a chance at a real future where Kennedy doesn’t have to rely on a man to get what she wants. An old friend of her grandmother’s named Fiona owns a very successful bakery shop, that specializes in apple pies. Fiona and her business partner are getting older and want to sell it – and they think Kennedy would be the perfect fit. While Kennedy has a degree and job in finance, her passion is baking. She has never worked as a professional, but has won prizes when she was younger at state fairs with her yummy creations. She heads west to a town called Destiny Bay and takes a look at the business she is about to own.
Luke lives in Destiny Bay and after his NHL career ended, his good hockey buddy and him decided to go back and open a bar. Luke’s late father was into the hard cider business, and to honor him, Luke and his friend Hawk decide to pursue hard cider as well. With a big contract on the horizon with many restaurants, they know they have to get producing cider and quick, to meet the demand. This also means they need apples, certain apples, that a cute little woman who just arrived in town has possession of. Kennedy needs these apples for her pies – Luke needs them for his cider. Luke tries to charm her into giving them up, but Kennedy has put too much into this new business to give in that easily.
First, I was dying for a hard cider and a slice of apple pie as I read this book. I made plans in my head to go get hard cider for the weekend. There is so much apple talk in this book, I actually hoped for autumn, even though I’m a die-hard summer girl.
Luke and Kennedy are both well-developed characters that have nice chemistry. Luke comes on strong – with immediate flirting and charm. While I liked him, I at times thought his flirting was too much. Kennedy really doesn’t return his flirts, and yet he never lets up. They are strangers when they meet and it felt a little forced at times. I would have whacked him with a rolling-pin had I been Kennedy. But once I got past that, I enjoyed their relationship. It’s slow to burn – with nothing really happening with them until late in the book. I wouldn’t have minded a few kisses earlier.
This is heavy into cutesy bakery, small town, meddling old ladies. The two women that sell the bakery to Kennedy stay on as employees to guide her, and they are fussy and in the story a lot. I could have done with less page time from them and more with Luke and Kennedy together. Luke’s bff Hawk is hot and I’m definitely interested in his story which comes out next.
This is cute, although I would have liked a little more ramped up physical romance and less old ladies.
Grade: C+
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