When actress Valentina Valverde arrives in Scotland to film Braveheart 2, she’s at breaking point. Driven by demons, she’s worked tirelessly since she was a teen. But she can’t stop now: everyone she loves depends on her. Yet despite all the glitz and glamor, Valentina can’t shake the feeling that she isn’t really living.
Bodyguard Charlie Hamilton’s lived too much. With looks and charm, he should have it all. But he’s broken. Estranged from his family, sacked from his job and with nothing left to lose, he flies to the Scottish Highlands to help his best friend protect Kinloch castle from a crazy Hollywood film crew.
But falling hard for a movie star isn’t in Charlie’s contract…
Thrown together on set, chemistry crackles between them. When Charlie suggests she take a holiday from life, Valentina is tempted to let down her guard and live a little. But as fun crosses the line into love, disaster bursts their bubble.
Can they let go of the past and find a future together? Or is this just a Highland fling?
| Title: | Kissing Games |
| Author: | Evie Alexander |
| Series: | Kinloch Series (Book 3) |
| Pages: | 332 |
| Category / Genre(s): | Contemporary |
| Trope(s): | Opposites Attract Fish Out of Water Celebrity Romance |
| Point of View: | Third Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h) |
| Location: | London, England and Kinloch, Scotland |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 22nd September, 2022 |
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Not the book – or the hero – for me
I have read and enjoyed both previous books in the Kinloch series, Highland Games and Hollywood Games. This is the third book in the series and follows a different couple than the first two books did, although Rory and Zoe do still feature as we’re back in Kinloch, still shooting the movie that was taking place during book 2. While the love story does stand alone, I can’t say for certain that you won’t get along better with the rest of the shenanigans if you haven’t previously read the first 2 books.
After giving the first 2 books 5 stars each, I was quite disappointed to only be able to give this one 3 stars. Having said that, without Ms Alexander’s way with words, it’s entirely feasible that it could have been less. The storytelling is still there and I was still engaged with the story and always willing to read it. I just didn’t much care for the characters – mostly Charlie, to be honest – and as a result didn’t believe in the happily ever after.
Charlie had all the elements of the perfect book boyfriend – a big, burly ex-soldier who just wants love and to be loved. He’s a bit boorish but his heart’s in the right place. The man regularly visits an unloved, unwanted, deformed dog in the pound, for goodness sake. But… at the start of the book we find Charlie getting dumped by “the love of his life” – the married woman he’s been having an affair with for 10 years. Say what? Amoral is never on my list of book boyfriend attributes, thank you very much. Then he’s estranged from his parents because they dared to intervene when he was a victim of statutory rape. Yes, an attempt is made to make it more palatable to the readers, but a spade is a spade is a spade, I’m afraid!
“It’s really not that I didn’t like him – I just, I mean – okay fine, I just didn’t like him.”
Charlie’s overzealous fixation on a woman being his soul-mate made me immediately question his attraction and relationship with Valentina. Wasn’t she just the next girl that he was pinning all his hopes of happiness on? The ending merely cemented my belief when Charlie said he would give up his own life to help Valentina follow her dreams. Could be classed as sweet until you view his history. Plus, the way he treated Valentina was, at times, a bit thoughtless. It’s really not that I didn’t like him – I just, I mean – okay fine, I just didn’t like him.
Valentina was okay but she was a wee bit too melodramatic for my tastes. Perhaps she suffered from my dislike of Charlie but she was a bit of a wet blanket and I didn’t really have strong feelings for her either way. Not the best description of half of the whole reason I’m reading a book.
As I said, the book was readable and the end was sweet – but this just wasn’t the book for me. As you can see, most other people adored it, so maybe it’s just me being grumpy again. I’ve been on a bit of a ‘meh’ streak with books of late and this is sadly just another in a line of books getting 3 stars.
* I received this book in exchange for my honest review *
Evie Alexander is the author of sexy romantic comedies with a very British sense of humour. She takes a method approach to her work, believing her capacity to repeatedly fail at life and love is what has given her such a rich supply of material for her writing.
Her interests include reading, eating, saving the world, and fantasising about people who only exist between the pages of her books. She lives in the West country with her family.
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Kinloch Series:
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