Review: Another great kiss
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 23, 2013
As with all Kisses books, I pick them up at release and usually have a hard time putting them down, fighting for time with the words throughout my work day and during bedtime.  Freshwater Kisses had me doing much of the same, taking peeks or blazing through a chapter when I should've been reading reference materials or working on other projects after work.I've always enjoyed the writing involved in the series, it's been poignant and evocative of family life, characterization and binding ties.  It's evolved over books, engaging with various characters, both main and sub characters, that are never left behind, never forgotten, and never used out of sheer convenience.  While this new edition is great, the previous entry felt very well-balanced for both characters.Sam used to take sailing lessons with Robbie when they were younger, and moving changed both of their lives when they were just learning they might become more than friends.  They eventually fell out of touch, Robbie settling into the life of a billionaire's son and Sam struggling to make ends meet and have sailing at the same time.This is where the book feels unbalanced.  Everything Sam experiences relates to her past with loss, money problems, family, and losing her sailing partner.  Being with Robbie essentially means that she always has something to be wary of and that there is always something she's at stake of losing.  At the same time, Robbie has it all, he's a made man, and though he relates to her through the pain of loss, his mentions of it are few and fair between.  There is no real overarching circumstance to ever truly drive him away from Sam, while the odds seem almost impossible for her the entire way through.  She's constantly reaching for solid ground, he's constantly there, save a few beginning chapters.The sailing action and words combined with the jetsetting really ties things together.  It gives Sam her own perspective of the world, influenced by Robbie, that we get to see change and evolve with time.  Sam goes from worrying, to confidence to catharsis, and it all works.I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but I feel as though if one hasn't read the other books directly involving the Saunders family and those close to them, Saltwater Kisses and Champagne Kisses, there is something to be lost in Robbie's characterization.  The sheriff swears by Robbie's rule of not mixing drinking and sailing, but from this single book's point of view Grace feels very right, why should we trust him?4.5 out of 5.