Price of a Kiss – Linda Kage

 

Synopsis

Goodreads  –  I don’t care what my cousin says; I am not the queen of impossible relationships. I mean, just because my last boyfriend tried to kill me and left a bit of a scar on my neck, then forced me to move across the country and legally change my name to Reese Randall to escape him, does not mean—

Oh, who am I kidding? For a freshman in college, I have to have the worst dating track record ever.

It’s no wonder love is the last thing on my mind when Mason Lowe enters my life. But the chemistry between us is like bam! Our connection defies logic. And he’s just so freaking hot. Being around him makes me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt before. I even like bickering with him. He could be my soul mate…except for one teeny tiny glitch.

He’s a gigolo.
Boy, do I know how to pick them.

Review

Price of a Kiss is the first book in Linda Kage’s Forbidden Men series and it is also my first experience with her as an author and as a whole I found her writing style easy to get into and I didn’t have any trouble getting into the story.

As soon as I had read the synopsis for this book I became very intrigued because I haven’t read any other books with a protagonist who is an abuse survivor, therefore this set the book apart from my usual reads and added an interesting element to the story. Reese survived her ex boyfriend Jeremy, but only barely after he attempted to kill her. Now she has had to change her whole life plans and move to her Auntie and Uncles place whilst attending a community college. Firstly it’s worth noting that her Aunt and Uncle aren’t present in the story, they are merely mentioned. I think it would of been really interesting if the story incorporated Reese’s initial move to her new home so we could experience her just after her abuse. That way we could of also seen how she developed as a character.

Another element which I found really interesting was how Mason’s little sister had Cerebral Palsy therefore she was in a wheelchair and required some assistance/care. I have to take a moment to applaud Linda’s diverse characters in her book, it thoroughly sets it apart from many other romance novels with the inclusion of a disabled character and an abuse victim. Reese also (despite having any experience) becomes babysitter/ temporary carer for Mason’s sister which reminded me a lot of Me Before You by JoJo Moyes, simply because they both entered the lives of the character suffering from a disability and made them happy again. Ultimately changing their lives on a big scale.

I rated Price of a Kiss 3.5 stars because I was disappointed by the lack of Jeremy in the book, despite their being a sense of tension throughout as you wonder when or if he will ever enter the novel there isn’t really much focused on him. Furthermore I would of liked if the reveal of Reese’s past came from herself, rather than another character. This element and the ending in fact seemed a little rushed to me.

Despite this the book made me laugh on numerous occasions and the fact that Mason is a Gigalo is unlike anything I have read before. It did add something to the story as he is simply doing it for pure sacrifice for his family.

Characters

In terms of characters, I didn’t really have any trouble liking Mason or Reese I found them both to be very likable. Eva however… boy oh boy was she annoying.

Eva is cousin to Reese and throughout she is rude, snobby and acts like she is being a good cousin to Reese by trying to warn her off Mason or by warning him off. I mean one or two times its not too bad but it seemed to happen so often I felt myself wanting to shout ‘oh just shut up Eva’.

Useful links:

Goodreads – Price of a Kiss | Goodreads – Linda Kage

Thanks for reading! 🙂