Title:  His Kiss
Series:  Summer in New York #2
Author:  Jolyse Barnett
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  July 7, 2015
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

After a motorcycle accident and subsequent alcohol abuse, Jeremy Engel has managed to claw his way back from the dark depths of personal hell. He’s now a successful comic book author and working on his second book, and when the woman he met while on a rare getaway—the one he hasn’t been able to forget—opens a shop in his neck of the woods, he thinks he’s even learned to trust and hope again.

Elizabeth Desmond may have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she’s determined to make a success of her shop in the Adirondack tourist town of Lake Placid. And just when she thinks it can’t get any better, the mysterious stranger she kissed on a moonlit resort beach walks back into her life.

But when Jeremy’s old demons return, it’s up to Elizabeth to show him they’re not so different after all.

Read on for my thoughts on His Kiss.  No true spoilers, promise.

Isn’t it ironic how the events of our past can continue to color how we see new people in our present?  Jeremy hit bottom and he clawed his way out of that madness, yet he still believes that a woman who was born into a wealthy family can never see him as an equal partner in a relationship.  He can thank his former witch of a fiance for that but her actions stuck longer than she did.

Elizabeth has her own demons to battle.  Her struggles with anorexia have left her in an almost constant conflict with her self-confidence and her image of herself.   Just because she was part of a family with money does not mean that Elizabeth won’t make her own way in life.  She has opened her shop in Lake Placid and works toward its and her success every day.

When Jeremy and Elizabeth meet again the attraction is obvious.  So are Jeremy’s demons of self-worth.  Elizabeth recognizes the battles he has fought, and is still fighting – as is she.  Her understanding will be a solid rock for him, if he will get past the belief that simply because her family is wealthy means that he is not good enough for her.  As if she’d ever believe that.

His Kiss is a wonderful story of two people who have their own inner demons to fight each and every single day – and they accept each other as they are.  Of course, nothing runs smoothly in fiction nor in real life, there are issues they had to sort, fix and overcome.  But ultimately the love they had for each other was stronger than their demons.  That’s part of what loving someone does, you fight together and you win.

I would recommend His Kiss for anyone who enjoys a very touching love story.  No one is perfect, every deals with what life tosses at us differently but Elizabeth and Jeremy found each other and in doing that they found what life could be when the one you love truly has your back.

*I received an e-ARC of His Kiss from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

His Kiss is available for the Kindle