Kiss and Tell by Cherry Adair, Ivy Books Contemporary Romance

I would classify Cherry Adair's Kiss and Tell as romantic suspense, and a good blend of the two at that.

Marnie Wright is taking a sabbatical from life at her grandmother's cabin in the high Sierra's. The only girl of five children and having a health ailment throughout her childhood, Marnie was quite coddled and at the point where she was reevaluating her life. Working at her father's computer firm was not fulfilling to her. She imagined a tranquil, sedate weekend spent only in the company of her dog, Duchess.

Jake Dolan was also taking a sabbatical from life, however, for different reasons. Someone wanted his life to be extinguished and he was trying to figure out who while on a forced leave of absence from his "top secret" military job. He had been burned once before by a woman, and wasn't of the frame of mind to trust Marnie or her sudden appearance in the mountains so close to winter.

In her time of need, Jake is unable to turn Marnie away though it's not until some unexpected visitors to their secluded mountain spot that he takes her to his true home, a lair he built underneath his cabin inside the mountain.

Most of the book takes us through their survival of being hunted and their attraction for one another. Jake had his reasons for being gunshy about getting involved with Marnie. Cracking through his tough shell wouldn't have been easy for most people.

I enjoyed Cherry Adair's Kiss and Tell and can't wait to read its sequel Hide and Seek. I enjoyed both characters, as well as the secondary characters. I even liked Marnie's deceased grandmother who we learn about only from Marnie's memories. My only complaint about the book has nothing to do with the prose but the cover art. Jake is described as a "longhaired, mountain man" and the guy on the cover didn't seem to match this description. Not that that's not uncommon! I sometimes wonder if the cover artists are told just what who they're supposed to be drawing look like.

I would rate this book fairly steamy. It's not a book I'd give to my step-mom or grandmother to read, that's for sure.

©Susan Matthews, phantomroses.com