Review: Kiss Me, Tate (Love in Rustic Woods) by Karen Cantwell
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 6, 2013
Don't mistake this series to be like Cantwell's Barbara Marr mystery series. These look like they are going to be sweet romance stories with Cantwell's special brand of humor. Bunny Bergen is probably like no other person you have ever known. She is one of those misunderstood people that really are coated in sugar and filled with optimism most of the time. The worst thing she could ever be called on was referring to her control freak of a sister, Deena, as "Demon," a name she deserves by the way.In this book Ms. Cantwell introduces us to two dysfunctional families dealing with elderly parents and how their own brand of dysfunction has affected both families. When Bunny a beautiful, busty, blonde divorced mother of two teenaged sons is hired as a receptionist for the Rustic Woods Nature Center she is reintroduced to her old high school crush, Tate Kilbourn. Tate, a widower with a smart, sassy, but well behaved, teenaged daughter is now the head naturalist at the Nature Center. The sexual tension between Bunny and Tate is immediate and neither is willing to acknowledge this because of their own damaged psyches.It didn't take me long to become fully immersed into both family dramas and I sympathized with every member, except perhaps Demon; I suppose every family has one of those though. The way Cantwell dealt with these damaged families was realistic and handled with care. The only complaint I have is I wish the scenes between Bunny and Tate were a little less PG-13, the heat was there. As you can well imagine there was a lot going on between trying to raise teenagers and deal with their school projects, brothers who are finally ready to face reality and deal with the past, and then add elderly dads into the mix while trying to deal with a budding romance. Stir in a sister from hell and you could say things were hopping. I think this could be a fun series as we get to know the residents of Rustic Woods on a more personal level.FYI: Although Barbara Marr and Colt Baron make appearances they are just cameos. I don't think you would need to have read the Barbara Marr's mysteries to enjoy this new series if you are just looking for a little romance.Format/Typo Issues: I found a small number of proofing errors in this book that mostly involved missing or extra words.**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. ** September 29, 2013