Book 892: Spiced Kisses (Kiss Me #3) – Charlie Novak

After thoroughly enjoying the first two books in Charlie Novak’s Kiss Me series, I was most definitely going to read any follow ups, but I wasn’t expecting there to be a non-twink model on the cover. Hello, body diversity (sort of, I mean he’s still totally ripped, but there’s like actual fur on him!?).

This was a quick read picking up not long after the last book and gives Ben (Aaron’s best friend from Summer Kisses) the story he needed with Ianto, a tattooed and pierced Welshman who plays rugby with him. And I am ALWAYS here for a Welshman in a romance novel, the lilting accent even if I have to make it up in my head, yes please.

The reason for their close proximity was of well written with Ianto egging Ben on during a rugby practice and of course Ben breaks his collar bone, Ianto feels bad and boom romcom.

The problem was that this wasn’t A Christmas Prince or one of those Hallmark films where the overworked hero suddenly realised his friend was the key to all his problems. For one thing, most of those movies were about straight people. And for the other, they all happened either in London or some small American town with a Christmas tree farm. And you needed to have a condemned building or something too, and everyone had to wear red and green knitted jumpers. I was far too alternative-looking to even be allowed near one. Snakebite piercings and tattoos did not a romance hero make. (50)

Novak did a really good job of pacing the book and it didn’t feel super rushed or like it took place too quickly. And when you add in that both Ben and Ianto were aware of the ridiculousness of their situation and I thoroughly enjoyed their friendship as it developed into a relationship.

She also built the tension and heat of the novel really well. Thanks to the convenient excuse of Ben’s collarbone they didn’t actually have sex for a good chunk of the novel and then when they did, they were of course accosted by Ianto’s twin brother Rhys, the next morning. The scenes were well written, not rushed and I liked the twist, but wish she would’ve walked the walk on the verse talking characters.

Ianto’s back story was adorable and hilarious (read the next-to-last additional quote) and of course the big crisis of the novel was going to be Ben not taking seriously meeting Ianto’s grandfather and having to sort it out.

I wanted Ben to like Tadcu too, but Tadcu’s approval was different. He’d raised me, cared for me, and always made me feel safe. He was the first adult to ever make me feel loved, and he’d told us he loved us every single night, even when the day had been a bad one. He was the one I’d cried to when I’d come out, so scared that nobody in our tiny Welsh town would accept me, and he was the one who’d hung a pride flag on his boat alongside the Welsh one and dared anyone to have a problem with it. He’d never given up on me and Rhys, even when we were teenage dickheads who’d been this close to getting kicked out of school. Instead of getting angry, he’d found outlets for our energy—even on his limited budget—and we’d ended up doing whatever sport we could fit into our schedule. (194)

Not going to lie, I teared up a little bit when I read that bolded line (my emphasis), it was just so sweet and Novak dropped it at the perfect time.

If there’s one thing I’m still on the fence about, it’s the text messages leading into each chapter. Some of the time they were hilarious, other times I just rolled my eyes because it was like meh. Overall, I thought this was a great series, but I felt the first two books were stronger than the last. I already have more of Novak’s works queued up and am looking forward to them.

Recommendation: This was a decent end to Novak’s Kiss Me series. Although, it didn’t have the adorableness of Strawberry Kisses or the passion and fire of Summer Kisses, it had a slow burn warmth that was perfect for a winter romance. Novak is a solid author and I’m looking forward to exploring some of her other series that interact with this one.

Opening Line: “Cold November drizzle pattered on the car windscreen as I pulled into the rugby club car park and glanced up at the grey sky that was thick with clouds.”

Closing Line: “And I knew as long as I had Ben, every Christmas would be a perfect one.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Spiced Kisses
“I was still muttering to myself five minutes later when there was a little knock on the dining room door. I looked up, half expecting it to be Piotr or Lucy, but it was Ianto. He was wearing dark jeans and a knitted Christmas jumper with Darth Vader’s face plastered across the chest and the words ‘I find your lack of cheer disturbing’ surrounding it. On anyone else I would have thought it looked ridiculous, but on Ianto . . .
The bottom dropped out of my stomach as he smiled at me. Dammit.
‘Hey, I was told you were lurking in here,’ he said.
‘I don’t think lurking is the right word.’
‘Not really. Makes you sound like Gollum.’ I chuckled. Ianto looked over my hoard of decorations.
‘You know, I didn’t think we’d bought much, but looking at it now, I think we might’ve gone overboard.'” (64)

“I’d always found buying presents hard, especially if the person hadn’t given me any ideas. I’d much rather people just tell me what they wanted so I could buy it for them. It might have sounded uncreative to some people, but I preferred to think of it as practical. I’d rather give people something they actually wanted rather than saddling them with something they hated and had to force a polite reaction too while simultaneously wondering how quickly they could get rid of it. Christmas was bad enough already without shitty gifts.” (137)

“‘And I’m pretty sure Ben gets that we’re a weird package deal.’ I snorted.
‘Buy one, get one free.’
‘Except without the twincest. I’ll just be the weirdo that lives in your attic. You’ll just need to leave food out for me three times a day. And snacks.’
‘Can’t you buy your own snacks?’
‘I could, but what’s the point of being a creepy attic person if people don’t give you snacks.'” (214)

“Food was an experience that shaped all of us, and restaurants were a part of that. This room could change lives, and over the years it had. We’d had birthday lunches, proposals, engagement dinners, prewedding meals, christening celebrations, and wakes. We’d had people announcing pregnancies and people celebrating loved ones lost. I’d seen the good, the bad, and the beautiful parts of life here, and I treasured those memories, even if they’d come from times of immense stress.” (248)