#BookReview: “Kissing Kin” by Karen Hulene Bartell

Blurb

Maeve Jackson is starting over after a broken engagement—and mustering out of the Army. No job and no prospects, she spins out on black ice and totals her car.
When struggling vintner Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re distantly related. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.
But forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generational mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel them into each other’s arms, they can’t help but wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?

Review

After Mauve Jackson musters out of the army, she heads to West Texas to visit a little town her recently departed grandmother had told her stories about. Then she wrecks her car and finds help from Luke Kaylor, a local vintner who turns out to be her third cousin. As they get to know one another and read Mauve’s family’s journals, they discover romance and stumble upon a five-generational mystery that’s anything but dead.
At first, I was a little nervous about reading this book because the H/h are cousins. Thankfully, Luke and Mauve aren’t related by blood since Luke’s immediate line was somehow adopted into the family. I’m still fuzzy on the particulars. All the family branches and connections were a little confusing.
Mauve and Luke are strong, flawed, well-rounded characters. There’s a dual timeline that follows their ancestors in the late 1800s, who make appearances as ghosts and cause trouble in Mauve’s and Luke’s lives and relationship. The book is well-written, though a little slow in the beginning. Then it picked up speed and kept my attention to the end.
For readers who enjoy a mix of contemporary and paranormal romances, Kissing Kin is a fun book to try.
4.5 Stars

— I’d love to know what you think of the book or my review. Please comment below.