Review: Sweet Read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 15, 2013
I gave Every Kiss 3.5 Stars.I really enjoyed book one in this series, Every Breath and now we travelled back in time to learn the story of how Makenna's best friend Callie fell in love with the man who was now her husband Wes.I really liked the idea of finding out Wes and Callie's journey, when we met them in Every Breath, they were a married couple, still dealing with issues from their past and I couldn't wait to find out the whole story.Callie and Wes are introduced through Makenna and her then boyfriend Shane who is Wes' brother. However their first meeting doesn't go down well and the version of Wes Callie meets is a mean, moody douche. But Wes has deep secrets from his past that are encroaching on his present and the way in which he deals with them, or pretty much anything, is to run. But this time he has met his match in Callie and she is more than determined to catch him.It took me a while to get into the story, I don't know if that was due to having a picture of Wes and Callie in my head already as I met them in book one or perhaps I didn't like reading them at odds with each other, I'm not sure what it was but the story took a while for me to find the rhythm of it. There were a few scenes that I felt were a bit forced in the beginning, in order to get Callie and Wes together sooner after they just met. Like sleepovers and thunderstorms etc it didn't feel organic. They had quite a serious relationship from the start and perhaps I was missing the fresh, flirty feel that you quite often get in the beginning.I really liked Callie's character, her straight shooting was prominent in this story, she didn't know how to sugar coat the truth and would tell everyone how it is if they wanted to hear it or not. Sometimes her approach paid off, but other times it did backfire and feelings were hurt.Wes had a lot going on, I found it hard to get a handle on him, he was closed off to any kind of relationship and what happened in his past was locked away in a vault, he didn't confide in anyone. It was clear both he and Callie were interested in each other but he was upfront with Callie and stated they could never have anything more than physical. He was adamant he would never love again.I loved Callie's determination, even though Wes was hurting her by shutting her out, she never gave up on him. She wanted the best for him, even though she knew the risks to her fragile heart.When the truth finally came out, my heart did feel for Wes, he had been through a lot and I couldn't blame his reluctance to let Callie in. There were a few points in the story I felt we would have gotten more if we had Wes' point of view. He had so much going on and even though it was obvious he had feelings for Callie and he was punishing himself by not acting on them, I thought it would be good to get into his mind just then.It was also bitter sweet to read about Makenna and Shane, at first it was odd to read about Makenna with someone other than Sawyer but I really liked getting a glimpse into Makenna's past and to witness her relationship with Shane who meant the world to her.Every Kiss was a sweet walk down memory lane. It was a great insight into Callie and Wes and the difficulties they had to face in order to survive and be where they are today. I perhaps didn't find the story as compelling as Every Breath but that's just my own preference. I enjoyed the author's writing and the story did flow well.If you love drama, angst, a little bit of heart ache but a sweet, sweet ending then you need to check this one out today. ~Ava*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*