Review: Love and Redemption
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2014
Having read just about everything that Tia Kelly has written to date, it's been fun watching her writing style and voice evolve. The most recent read of hers that I loved was 'And Then' which I thought was such an adult piece of writing. So I was silently hoping that this new installment in the 'Wilkersons in Love' series would live up to that book's promise. It did. 'Taste for Love' follows two of the most interesting characters from 'Playing for Love', Shelly and Carlos.Carlos was the best friend (and potential lover) of the main female protagonist in PFL, Paige. Father to her daughter and protector to Paige, Carlos was a hard man to get to know in that book, but fascinating nevertheless. While he was undoubtedly possessive of Paige and their daughter Melody, his feelings for her seemed to fall somewhat short of romantic. And it often seemed as though he was the anti-romantic hero. So I was actually relieved that Carlos didn't get the girl in PFL.But I was also curious to see what girl he did get, or rather, what girl would get him.This author bit off quite a large challenge when she opted to match this anti-hero with the anti-heroine of PFL, Shelly Gauthier who in that book, almost inexplicably betrays the family that has taken her in and is her most reliable source of love and support after the loss of her parents.So I went into 'Taste for Love' daring the author to make me feel anything other than disdain for Shelly, and curiosity for Carlos. Well, she succeeded.In 'Taste for Love', Tia Kelly made the extremely smart choice to focus on the building of trust, friendship, and camaraderie before taking the leap into love. She knew her characters, and her readers' reactions to her characters in the previous book well enough to realize that a sudden and passionate spark between Carlos and Shelly wouldn't be convincing.Carlos distrusts Shelly too much, and maybe even dislikes her when the book opens. And Shelly is far too cautious and focused on rebuilding a new life for herself. Neither of them is thinking about 'falling in love' and neither of them have a history of relationships that would prepare them to recognize it if they did. But we recognize it.Through a series of short scenes that catalog the process of Carlos managing the development of Shelly's business venture, in which he and the Wilkerson brothers have invested (under pressure from the family matriarch)we see Carlos and Shelly become friends with an undercurrent of sexual tension, mostly on Carlos' side. Then a reminder of a tragedy in her past throws them together so that their physical attraction finally combusts. But Carlos is far more experienced than Shelly and just as he is a partner in her business, he becomes a partner in her sexual awakening as well.I loved that we could see Carlos falling in love, and that Shelly couldn't see it. I loved that we learned more about the man he was and why, and the woman she was (and why) -- just as they were learning about each other as well. I loved his strength and protectiveness, and that he seemed to soften his rough edges the more he fell for her. And most of all, I loved that he emerged as her champion of sorts, when the Wilkerson brothers persistent distrust of Shelly (and reluctance to give her the benefit of any doubt) threatened to derail her dream.And most of all, I loved that in this book, the author wasn't too heavy-handed with the sexual connection. She managed to make their relationship highly sexually-charged throughout, but without explicit of frequent sex scenes. Their connection was VERY sexy WELL BEFORE the actual sex. As a writer myself, sometimes the challenge isn't to get it all on the page, it's having the courage to leave some things off the page, and trust that what you wrote speaks to your reader.This book spoke to me. And I'm betting all five stars that it will speak to you as well.