This Last Kiss by Madeleine Reiss

This Last Kiss by Madeleine Reiss

Published: 30th June 2016

Publisher: Zaffre (twenty7)

Pages: 327

Available in paperback and on Kindle

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Rating: 3/5

Blurb

Rora Raine is finally coming home to Hastings, twelve years after she left her grief-stricken father, and fled the love of her life, Carl.

Struggling to support her bright but troubled daughter, Rora has convinced herself she'll never love again.

When she meets a bumblingly charming stranger, Rora's heart begins to thaw.

But, try as she might, she can't run from true love forever.

Funny, warm-hearted and soaringly romantic, This Last Kiss is the redemptive story of two star-crossed lovers, told through each and every kiss they share.

Review

This Last Kiss is Madeleine Reiss’s second novel but the first which I have read. Rora Raine has finally come back to her hometown of Hastings to visit her estranged father who is dying. Twelve years ago Rora fled to London after a beach party went badly wrong, leaving behind her grieving father and the love of her life Carl. As Rora and her daughter Ursula begin to rebuild their life in Hastings can the events of the past ever be laid to rest?

The Last Kiss is written through 22 of Rora’s “kisses” starting back in 1996 when she first met Carl moving back and forth between then and the present day of 2010.  I thought this was a very clever way of writing the book as many of us have special kisses which have defined important events in our lives and this is reflected in the book.  The writing flows seamlessly between the different times making the story flow well.

I enjoyed reading This Last Kiss, my favourite parts were when Rora and Carl were teenagers and were experiencing there first flushes of love and romance. Madeleine Reiss has captured their youthful innocence perfectly, making them quite endearing at this point in the book. As grown I wasn’t as keen on Rora, she seemed a little be too self-absorbed in her own problems to pay full attention to daughter Ursula’s problems. It isn’t until Rora’s father makes a passing comment that Rora even realises her daughter is being bullied at her new school. I liked the characters of Carl and Krystof very much as felt they added some light-heartedness to a very emotional book. Carl with his extreme dare-devil behaviours and Krystof with his over the top declarations of love.

I felt overall this was a book that was incredibly sad and left me feeling a bit flat. So many sad things happen in this book that it’s hard to imagine Rora and Ursula will ever get their happy ever after as every time they come close something happens and it’s snatched away from them.

This Last Kiss is a book about forgiveness, about first loves and true loves and of being able to find peace in things and move on. If you enjoyed reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, One Day by David Nicholls or One Summer Night by Emily Bold then I think you will enjoy This Last Kiss as it has the same emphasis of enjoying love and romance before it ultimately ends.

Thank you so much to the publishers for sending me a copy to review in exchange for my honest opinions.

GIVEAWAY - The publishers have kindly offered three copies of This Last Kiss to giveaway on my twitter account so pop on over to @joanne2913 and enter - UK only please at the publishers request.