reviewed by
Jean Lamb
The Perfect Kiss is clearly the fourth in a series that I seem to have missed, and plan to find the rest of. However, I was not lost.
The story begins with our heroine being told that she'll never find love, and talks about her attempts to do so within the confines of an heiress's social circle. Grace Merridew is losing confidence in ever finding love, and plans to seek a life of adventure instead.
Surprise! Dominic Wolfe, long out of England, enters her life. Unfortunately, he's betrothed to her best friend. Grace intends to protect her friend, and finds herself trapped in a strong sexual attraction instead. Dominic ends up having to choose between the estate he's learning to love and the woman he knows he does. In fact, the sexual attraction is so strong and constant I was delighted to see there was still a plot.
The secondary characters are reasonably strong; Mellie Pettifer is a sweet girl in the wrong match, and though her father starts out as a twit, he finally sees the light. Dominic's friend Frey is a delightful piffler suddenly placed in authority and terrified of misusing it. I would love to see him in a book of his own.
This is not the deepest book I've ever read, and the hero's requisite horrible childhood seemed rather familiar from my huge collection of Mary Jo Putney novels, but it's still a fun read and worth the trouble.
Now I have to go look for the rest of them!
