AFTER THE KISS

Author: Suzanne Enoch ISBN: 9780060843090 7/2008 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: Regency, 1813

Sullivan Waring wants only two things: his rightful inheritance, and revenge against the man who stole it from him. By day, Sullivan is the most respected horse breeder in England; by night, he plunders the ton's most opulent homes to reclaim his late mother's beautiful paintings. His quest is going swimmingly...until the night he's discovered by Lady Isabel Chalsey. Clad only in a revealing nightdress, she's an entrancingly different kind of plunder, and how can a thief resist stealing a kiss? Except that instead of being afraid, Lady Isabel decides that discovering the secret of the masked man in her home is a challenge. She'll dare anything to uncover Sullivan's secret—but she may instead convince him that she is the greatest prize of all.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

There are so many things that I want to say about AFTER THE KISS, but mainly I want to say that this book is pure perfection. On every level. The heat, the romance, the plot, the characters, even the name of the book is perfect. Perfect for the storyline and EXACTLY how things unfold.

Mainly I love the characters because there is so much to love about them. At the beginning of the book, we find a spoiled little creation of a girl confronting a thief who is right in the middle of robbing her family. She is plucky and mouthy and sets the entire tone for the book. And when said thief delivers a hot and heavy kiss to her at the same time that she is about to call in authorities, her life changes... literally, overnight. When Isabel, or Tibby as she is known, figures out who the masked man is that she confronted in her house, she sets herself to the task of putting him in his place, and he lets her and thoroughly enjoys it!

But not everything is as it seems, especially not for our scarred hero, Sullivan Waring. He has revenge on his mind and when he kisses the haughty little Isabel Chalsey to keep her from ruining his very life, he never realizes what that kiss is going to signify. He has no idea what he has set in motion, but it soon becomes clear that Tibby is going to have her say, and that she is going to do things her way and all he can do is hope for the best.

My second favorite thing about this book is the growth of the characters. Both characters grow and develop by leaps and bounds, and as they grow, so does their relationship. What starts out as a simple revenge plot gone wrong, suddenly becomes so much more...

Suzanne Enoch has an absolute gem on her hands with The Notorious Gentlemen series! And now that I have finished AFTER THE KISS I am just in time for the release of the second book in the series, BEFORE THE SCANDAL!

Kristal Gorman