This Perfect Kiss by Melody Thomas

On the night of a masquerade ball, Christel goes in her cousins place so that she can try to get a moment alone with the dashing Camden St. Giles. She succeeds in keeping Camden in the dark as to her true identity and the two share a smoldering kiss that leaves a lasting impression on both of them. It is now nine years later and Camden is returning home to his castle in Scotland with his young daughter to deal with business and also confront his painful memories that reside there. As he is preparing his ship to sail, he learns that a woman wants to board as well and he is surprised to find Christel. As she is family (he was married to her cousin), he knows it is his duty to take her back but also remembers how he feels about her and the smoldering attraction between them is still very much there.

There is quite a bit going on in this story that help keep it moving along and fresh and entertaining. First, there is the mystery surrounding Camdens wife death. How could she jump to her death and leave her young daughter even though the couple was having problems? I must say, I really did not see the resolve of that issue at all! Also, there is Christels family issues with her shameful past and how that has affected her relationships with her half sister and cousin. Camden also has family issues involving his brother and his supposed involvement in a smuggling ring with some evidence pointing to Christel being involved in the smuggling and/or with Camdens brother that causes quite a bit of tension between Camden and Christel. The brothers also have a hurtful past that they must talk about to move forward, but of course, refuse. And of course we have the growing love and passion between Camden and Christel who must overcome all these hurdles to find their long awaited happiness with each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It is fact paced, sexy, has great characters, tension, and suspense. I thought all the different intertwined relationships played out well and were resolved quite nicely. This was my first Melody Thomas book and I will definitely be reading more of her work as her writing was excellent. 4 stars

I received this ebook from the publisher via netgalley.com