KISS ME BACK (Panic #3) by Sidney Halston-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 27, 2018

The only thing hotter than the Miami sun is the sexual tension at Panic, the South Beach nightclub where love knows no boundaries.

Lola: I’ve seen the way women in line behind the velvet rope look at William Fox, like he’s an Armani-clad St. Peter at the pearly gates. Except Panic isn’t heaven, and this bouncer is no saint. He’s been tempting me to sin ever since I started working here, but Fox’s slick smile and bad-boy swagger tell me everything I need to know about him. Still, a girl has needs. And Fox looks ready to fulfill every last one—at least for a night. . . .

Fox: I’m not used to being ignored—especially by women—but Lola Daye is different. The pretty bartender with the red lips and icy blue eyes seems perfectly happy pretending I don’t exist. Too bad, because the more she ignores me, the harder I fall. So I’m floored when she answers my drunken, flirty text with a yes. Lola claims she only wants a fling, but after one kiss, our bodies are speaking the same language. And I’m ready to prove that what we have could be forever.

No cheating. No cliffhangers. And no dress code.

••••••••••

REVIEW: KISS ME BACK is the third instalment in Sidney Halston’s contemporary, adult PANIC erotic, romance series focusing on the men and women who work for the high-end Miami night club Panic. This is security specialist William Fox, and bartender and graduate student Lola Daye’s story line. KISS ME BACK can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person points of view (Fox and Lola) KISS ME BACK follows the building relationship between security specialist aka bouncer William Fox, and bartender Lola Daye-a relationship with an end date that will come all too soon. Lola knows that her time at Panic is drawing to a close; only weeks away from completing her Masters degree, she intends to head to Ecuador to work with the under-privileged but her attraction to bouncer William Fox is met with an equal attraction that has been ongoing for close to six months. What ensues is the building relationship between Fox and Lola, and the potential fall-out as their time together draws to a close.

Lola Daye has a secret she believes will set her apart from the people she has grown to love. It is this secret that has shaped the woman our heroine has become, a woman who refuses to accept help or aid at times when she needs it the most. William Fox is a man determined to be successful as a security specialist but success is represented by the persona he wants everyone to see. Fox, too, keeps secret a hidden past, a past mired in loss, abuse and rejection by the man he no longer acknowledges. Fox’s acceptance of Lola’s secret is heart warming and all encompassing to the degree that any help offered is met with resistance and fire.

The relationship between Lola and Fox is one of immediate attraction but Lola knows her time at Panic is limited as she intends to finish her degree working with the children in the villages of Ecuador. Throughout their growing relationship there are many misunderstandings between Lola and Fox, due in part to Lola’s hyper-sensitive take on Fox’s need to protect and worry. The mutual vulnerabilities are hidden behind fake facades that mask the truth about who they really are. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic, and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Nick and Katherine (Pull Me Close), Matt and April (Make Me Stay), and bartenders and servers Helen and Jane. Helen’s story line is next.

KISS ME BACK is a story of friendship and love; struggles and anxiety; moving forward and letting go. The premise is engaging and inviting; the romance is seductive and passionate; the characters are sassy but broken. Lola’s commitment to be independent is counter intuitive to Fox’s need to protect and defend, and in this our heroine’s feisty attitude leaves something to be desired.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Pull Me Close
Make Me Stay
Kiss Me Back

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy