Kissing Kin - Karen Hulene Bartell

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 wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical? 

My Review

Kissing Kin is not exactly what I expected. This is a romance story, but there are a few more things going on here than just that. It tells the story of Luke and Maeve who are very distantly related, hence the title kissing kin as this is a term for distant family I believe. Their ancestors have some unfinished business and after the two meet it's almost as though someone or something is trying to influence their behaviour.

I did get a little bit confused about the actual family relationship here. I think that it would have almost helped to have some kind of family tree in the beginning or end of the book to refer to, just to get it straight in my head. Not that it really matters in terms of the story, I would just like to know for my own interest.

I enjoyed the romance between these two. They did seem quite slow off the mark, there was lots of interest and tension with little done about it in the early stages. There's a lot of other things going on. Luke and Maeve make a great couple and they both handle the little disturbances and mysteries from their forebears really well. I'm not entirely sure when this is set or how old the characters are supposed to be as it did seem quite old-fashioned in some respects, especially in how they conduct their relationship.

This was a gripping read with lots going on. I really didn't expect or predict half of the things that happened, but I really enjoyed following the story.

Bio

Dr. Karen Hulene Bartell, author of Wild Rose Pass, The Keys: Voice of the Turtle, Christmas in Cahokia, Holy Water: Rule of Capture, Lone Star Christmas, Angels from Ashes, Christmas in Catalonia, Sacred Gift, Belize Navidad, Sacred Choices, and others, is a best-selling author, motivational keynote speaker, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life. She writes multicultural, offbeat love stories steeped in the supernatural that lift the spirit. Dr. Bartell lives in the Texas Hill Country with her husband Peter and her "mews"—three rescued cats and a rescued CATahoula Leopard dog.