Review: Kiss Me in Paris by Kimberly Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov

Kiss Me in Paris by Kimberly Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov

Series: Kiss Me, #1

Published: July 2nd, 2013

Publisher: Daring Books

348 pages (ebook)

Genre: Contemporary new adult romance

Acquired this book: From the authors in exchange for an honest review

Warning: May contain spoilers

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When the city of love brings two lost souls together, only their darkest secrets can tear them apart.

Winter Deveaux tried love once. It didn't end well. Unable to open herself up to another heartbreak, she hides in her romance novels as she struggles to break out as a real author. She thinks Paris holds the answer to a new start, but when her nightmare follows her across the world, she's forced to face the darkness living like cancer inside her soul. If she doesn't, she might miss her chance to become the kind of writer she's always wanted to be. But more than that, she'll miss out on the greatest love she's ever known.

Cade Savage is heir to the largest ranching family in Texas. Part cowboy, part architect, Cade has his feet forever in two worlds. When he receives an acceptance letter from the school of his dreams, he must decide between family and destiny. But ghosts from his past still haunt him, and circumstances beyond his control may decide his fate.

When Winter and Cade meet, everything they believe about life, love and what it means to be happy is put to the test.

Will the magic of Paris pull these two lost souls together? Or will their darkest secrets tear them apart?

 

Kiss Me in Paris is a beautiful love story about Winter and Cade, two people with secrets and haunted pasts. It was incredibly romantic, but it was also laugh-out-loud funny, which was something I wasn’t expecting, but enjoyed immensely.

Winter and Cade had so much in common: they were both passionate people with big goals, and they were both trying to run away from their pasts. These characters were so well developed, I really connected with them and felt for them. I wanted things to work out for them individually and as a couple. I found myself getting really emotionally invested in them - again, individually, and as a couple - and even got teary a few times through their struggles and triumphs.

As for the ‘laugh-out-loud funny’ that I mentioned earlier…the book felt like a comedy of errors at times, which I loved. It was like ‘the misadventures of Winter Deveaux’ - she had so many embarrassing things happen to her, I found myself both cringing and laughing. Some of the stuff that happened to her was absolutely horrifying, and it was made even more horrifying by the fact that Cade was often there to witness it. In a weird way, it helped them bond and showed Winter that Cade would accept her, no matter what.

Cade and Winter both went through a lot during the course of the book. They brought a lot of emotional baggage with them to Paris, and it was hard for them to work through it. I really enjoyed watching their growth and development, and thought the authors did a terrific job. They also did a really good job with the secondary characters. I don’t know how Winter tolerated Jenifer (or why they were even friends, let alone best friends). Jenifer was the most self-centred, self-destructive person, only thinking about herself and her own needs, and pulling Winter along and getting her into bad situations. I hated her through most of the book and didn’t think there was anything she could do to redeem herself, but she did…kind of. I still think she was a crappy friend, but even though I hated her, I loved what she represented in the story and how she helped with Winter’s growth.  

Winter was a writer, and I liked that the authors brought attention to self-publishing, and showed it as a viable means of publishing, but what I didn’t like was how quickly it all happened. The actual writing process wasn’t fast - Winter slaved over her book - but when she finally finished writing it, she had her cousin look at it and then she published it. As a self-published author myself, I kept thinking ‘wow, it’s so great that they’re shining a light on indie publishing’ but then it turned into ‘wow, if only it were actually that simple’. Self-publishing gets a bad reputation because of people who don’t have their work properly edited, or who think it’s as simple as writing a book and hitting Publish. It didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment, I just thought it was an unrealistic aspect of the book, and something worth pointing out.

Kiss Me in Paris is a beautiful story about fate, believing in yourself, overcoming obstacles, and making things happen. It’s about not letting other people hold you down or hold you back or crush your dreams. It’s romantic, sexy, funny, and leaves you with a satisfied, almost triumphant, feeling. With something for everyone - romance, drama, heartache, comedy, tension, and some ooh la la sexy-times - Kiss Me in Paris is a must read for fans of contemporary new adult romance.

 

 

 

When Karpov and Kinrade originally announced the impending publication of Kiss Me in Paris, they did so with the cover on the left, which I really liked. Then when the book was published, it had the cover on the right. This cover makes me think of erotica and I’d likely pass it by without a second glance, especially paired with the title (not that I have anything against erotica - I do read it, but it's not my first choice). There’s nothing WRONG with the cover - it's pretty (and from what I understand, Dmytry designed it himself, and kudos to him for that; I design my own book covers and know the work that goes into them) - but I just don’t think it represents the book well. The inside of the book was beautifully designed - probably one of the nicest ebooks I've seen.

 

Have you read Kiss Me in Paris? What did you think? If you haven't read it, does it sound like something you'd be interested in?

 

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