Review's Resort: Tome Thursday: Kiss and Make Up

Hello everyone!

Trying to pick a book to write about is becoming a bit of a test for me on this end, considering I'm currently in a funk where I keep going back and re-reading stuff I've either already written about or at the very least I've mentioned it somewhere, so new books just ... have to wait.

This does mean I sometimes have to dig a little bit deeper, not that I mind, considering the results are usually pretty fantastic for all it's worth.

And of course, when in doubt, the one thing I can be absolutely sure of is that Serenity Woods will have a fantastic book ready for me, one I haven't yet read, and one that will keep me smiling for a long while after I've put it down.

So here I am tonight with one more from one of my favourite authors of all time, only this one was really more of a shot in the dark for me in terms of why I picked it up (I mean, okay, it's in New Zealand, it's got a handsome Kiwi guy, what more do I need, right?). I can't honestly remember, although maybe it was free in e-form. Who knows?

In any event, let's get into Kiss and Make Up.

This is slated as the first in Ms Woods' standalones, which is actually kind of nifty when I'm labelling books on my computer so that I don't necessarily need to keep checking what arrangement they're in. As these don't connect like her series do, however, it's a bit beside the point, but my inner OCD is quite happy with it all.

As far as other reviews of mine which cover books by the same author, I will be putting links to them down below at the bottom of this blog post so you can cheerfully head there to see which one's I've already reviewed.

NOW.

Kiss and Make Up.

I didn't actually get the word play in the title until I started reading; my one-track mind just figured oh, there's a couple, they argued, now they're going to get back together, so kiss and make up.

But nope.

Well, alright, TECHNICALLY it could also be that definition, but what I didn't bank on was that the main female character, Tabby, would be a makeup artist.

I know. I'm slow like that.

Anyway, Tabby's had a bit of a rough ride in the past, where she dropped her dreams and pretty much all she was doing to accompany her then-boyfriend, who turned out to be not-so-good when she walked in on him cheating on her with another woman. So, heartbroken, she packed her bags and has secured a position (once again) in a prestigious London school which will help further her in her chosen profession.

It doesn't help that her home situation isn't the best, either, with her sister constantly bombarding her with pleas to come home and help because their father has quite severe Alzheimer's disease and their mother refusing to hire help, stating that it should be family taking care of him.

Tabby's on the fence about this, but she's putting her foot down as best as she can against the emotional blackmail: she NEEDS to do this for herself, and afterwards she'll be able to earn more money and thus help her family better.

So while she's waiting for her semester in London to start, she decided to apply for a fill-in job at a New Zealand movie set where the main makeup artist unfortunately suffered an accident.

This brings her in contact with one Eli Black.

Now, Eli is a fantastic stuntman who made a promise to his brother before the other boy died of cancer: he would definitely take his skills all the way to Hollywood, like they dreamed of together. This does mean that he has a bit of a one-track mind in terms of what he does or doesn't do, however, and one of the don'ts is not to date girls on set.

Of course, that foundation kind of wavers a little when Tabby becomes his new makeup artist.

Not only is the setting incredibly intimate (I mean, she needs to body-paint him every single day, up close and personal) but equally he's just attracted to her in general, and she's attracted right back judging by all the flirting going on.

So now we have a problem: Tabby knows she's off to London after this is over, and Eli knows he's headed to Hollywood. What to do?

Have a fling, and not fall in love in the process. How hard can it be?

Turns out, harder than they anticipated.

While filming in the studios, things are more-or-less under control, but the affair spirals further down the love rabbit hole as the team hit the road to shoot on location for a while. Both Tabby and Eli share bits and pieces of themselves with one another, slowly falling more and more (to the eternal delight of Eli's best friend Mitch and his wife Madeleine). During this process, Eli helps cheer Tabby up while her family keeps applying the pressure, and Tabby realizes Eli feels much more since he basically punches another guy in the face for drunk-approaching her.

Oh, and, also, they forget to use the condom one time.

Oopsie?

Neither of them is willing to give up on their dream to be with the other, though in Tabby's case she argues that she'd been there, done that AND gotten a lousy T-shirt, too; she's not giving London up for anything, no matter who it is. Eli, on the other hand, feels that the promise he made to his brother is set in stone, although he's willing to do certain things if the pregnancy test turns positive.

Before this all unfurls, however, Tabby and Eli are invited to a beach house with the other couple I mentioned, to spend the last few days together after filming wraps up.

It's not exactly the best possible outcome at first, though: Eli's already bought the engagement ring because ... well, he actually knows what he wants but he's a bit stubborn and thick-headed. However, when the pregnancy test is revealed to be negative, both Eli and Tabby say things they don't necessarily mean outside the heat of the moment, which results in Tabby breaking things off and Eli getting himself into a bar fight that lands him in the hospital.

Nothing overly serious happens to either him or his buddy, until, that is, the women walk in, at which point both of them tuck tails and decide maybe pissing off the female parts of their equation is a BAD idea.

Still, it does give us one satisfaction, which is Eli proposing to Tabby, apologising for being an idiot, and telling her he'll go with her to London. Finding jobs for a professional stuntman with the kind of connections he has is basically a piece of cake.

Overjoyed, Tabby says yes, and having managed to smooth things over with her family enough, she and Eli actually hot foot it to the UK for the fourteen months she needs in the program. And obviously she's now Tabby Black, too, so there's that.

And to wrap it up in a nice little bow, Tabby tells Eli he's going to be a father.

The end!

As with most Serenity Woods romances, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I mean, I was hooked the moment Madeleine admitted she hooked up with an orc from The Lord of the Rings and ended up marrying him (where can I find someone like that?). The one thing that irked me was the couple's inability (or perceived inability) to sit down and discuss their situation like adults, but maybe I'm being way too logical about this. In any event, however, with the HEA I'm not complaining WHATSOEVER. There wasn't too much conflict and it was very believable, which is basically all you can ask for in a book.

Plus, let's be honest, if a stuntman stumbled my way I'd have totally been a goner, too.

*image not mine