Morgan
The Kissing Game by Marie Harte
Goodreads Summary:
“I bet you a kiss you can’t resist me.”
Game on.
Rena Jackson is ready. She’s worked her tail off to open up her own hair salon, and she’s almost ready to quit her job at the dive bar. Rena’s also a diehard romantic, and she’s had her eye on bar regular Axel Heller for a while. He’s got that tall-dark-and-handsome thing going big time. Problem is, he’s got that buttoned-up Germanic ice man thing going as well. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Rena’s about ready to give up on Axel and find her own Mr. Right.
At six foot six, Axel knows he intimidates most people. He’s been crushing on the gorgeous waitress for months. But the muscled mechanic is no romantic, and his heart is buried so deep, he has no idea how to show Rena what he feels. He knows he’s way out of his depth and she’s slipping away. So, he makes one crazy, desperate play…
My Review:
I saw several negative reviews on this book before I started reading, so I went in skeptical but hopeful. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but I still would not recommend this book. First of all, there are SO MANY minor characters in this book. I could not keep them all straight. There were the main characters, then there were secondary characters, but then there were even more that were only mentioned a handful of times. It was difficult to follow at times.
The overall storyline was fine, just maybe not executed in the best way. The conflict between Axel and his family towards the end just felt kind of random. Like there needed to be another conflict, so let’s throw this in here. I liked the bet at the beginning of the book, but I was under the impression that the betting game was going to continue throughout the rest of the book. I think it’s interesting that the book has “Game” in the title, but the bet at the beginning of the book was really the only thing that was game related. The relationship between the main characters was fine, but I was not a fan of Axel’s “dirty talk.” I couldn’t feel the chemistry between them through the writing. It just made me feel cringe-y and uncomfortable.
2.5 stars.
I received this book for free in return for an honest review.