Title: Saltwater Kisses (The Kisses #1)

Author: Krista Lakes

Publisher: Zirconia Publishing 2014

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 216

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

When small-town girl Emma LaRue won a vacation to an exclusive tropical island, a last minute cancellation meant she would be going by herself. Shy and studious, she never had time to fall in love, and often wondered if she was just meant to be alone. However, that all changed when a handsome stranger literally walked into her life while on the beach and sparks began to fly.

New York's most eligible billionaire bachelor Jack Saunders thought this vacation would be the perfect escape, one last hurrah, before taking full control of his father's company. When an innocent Emma didn't recognize him, he figured that he might get a chance to have a vacation from being rich. He didn't tell her about the cars, the yacht, or the penthouse. All he did was let her fall in love with him.

That was terrible… The first half of the book was okay. We get an instant love story at beach resort. Fine fine. A bit unrealistic, but a sweet love story with a few steamy scenes. But then the second half of the book goes in a completely different direction. Our male lead becomes a major asshole. Emma becomes a naive whiny sheep willing to do anything to keep Jack’s family happy. Things turn really bad relationship wise and yet she does everything he wants (or at least what his people say he wants; we rarely see Jack in the second half). This is a relationship gone wrong. Emma should have run as fast as I could away and back to Iowa. And no, an “I love you” does not magically fix things. Terrible story.

The Kisses

• #1 Saltwater Kisses

• #2 Rainwater Kisses

• #3 Freshwater Kisses

• #4 Sandcastle Kisses

• #5 Hurricane Kisses

• #6 Barefoot Kisses

• #7 Sunrise Kisses

• #8 Waterfall Kisses

• #9 Island Kisses

Next up on the TBR pile: