*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
Title: Stolen Kiss
Author: Spencer Greene
Genre: Romance / LGBTQ+ Fiction
Rating: ★★★★
When Anna Nelson
finds herself newly single, unemployed and apartment-less, she reluctantly
returns to her hometown of Trenton, Virginia. Whilst in a local dive bar run by
an old friend, Anna meets a beautiful stranger named Louise and their instant
chemistry leads to them sharing a passionate stolen kiss before parting ways.
But when Anna reluctantly returns to her family home, she comes face to face
with Louise again and is shocked to learn that Louise is her brother Clay’s new
girlfriend. Anna and Louise are then forced to ignore their attraction to each
other and supress their growing feelings.
I tend to typically
avoid books which are centered around the cheating/unfaithfulness trope but the
combination of instant attraction and forbidden love really drew me into the
plot so I decided to put my reservations to one side and I’m so glad I did.
Stolen Kiss is told
through a dual POV narrative, with chapters alternating between the different
perspectives of Anna and Louise. This was really well executed and the insight
into the thoughts, feelings and background of both women it gave us really
added depth to their characters and made us really want to root for their
relationship.
Anna and Louise were incredible
instantly-likeable protagonists with off the charts chemistry who both have
real depth to them. I loved how unapologetically herself Anna was and through the
character of Louise we were given a beautiful exploration of grief and the
difficulty of allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to open your heart to a
new relationship following the death of a partner.
We also had some
really strong supporting characters through Rachel, George and Louise’s Mum (who
is an absolute gem). I’d really love further books on this gang as I feel they
have so much more to give and it would be lovely to see some of the potential relationships
hinted at towards the end of the story play out.
As you would
expect from an LGBTQIA+ romance, Stolen Kiss has a really diverse set of
characters and we have lesbian, bisexual, gay and non-binary representation.
There’s a great coming out scene and we get some wonderful spicy scenes which
were some of my favourite I’ve read in queer romances.
I liked the simple
choice to set the story around the holidays. The description of the Christmas
market made me fall in love with the fictional town of Trenton and it added a
real cosy element to the story.
In Anna and
Clay’s parents, Spencer Greene has successfully written two of the most
intentionally unlikeable characters I’ve ever come across, which is no mean
feat. They honestly have no redeeming qualities whatsoever and I felt myself
tense up whenever they entered a scene, in the knowledge that it wouldn’t be
too long before something vile and homophobic came out of their mouths. I did
like the choice to give the parents no reprieve and focus more on the characters
cutting ties and focusing on their found family instead as this isn’t something
I’ve seen a lot of in other stories despite it ultimately often being the
reality for LGBTQIA+ people with unaccepting families.
Towards the end
of the book there is a twist involving the character of Clay and I will say
that this was something I predicted very early on and I’m in two minds of
whether or not I think it was a necessary twist.
I would also have
liked an epilogue to give some closure on how their relationship played out.
They do have a real whirlwind romance so it would be really interesting to get some
insight on how their relationship is months or even years down the line.
Overall, Stolen Kiss is a strong, heart-warming queer romance which is hot and flirtatious from the first chapter and very difficult to put down. It would be the perfect holiday read.
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