The Kiss

by C.A. Popovich

Kate Willis’s marriage to a possessive, abusive woman is the biggest mistake of her life. Worried about her three-year-old daughter’s emotional state, Kate attempts to convince her wife they need marriage counseling, fails, and files for divorce. Moving from Ohio to start a new life, she settles near her sister in Michigan and joins a hiking group where she meets Leslie, and they share the most incredible kiss ever.

Leslie Baily runs the family restaurant she’ll one day own. On days off, she hikes. The last thing she expects is to meet an intriguing woman she can’t stop thinking about, let alone be kissed senseless.

Kate has a child to support, is waiting for her ex to sign divorce papers, and has absolutely no business falling for Leslie. When her wife refuses the divorce and begins to stalk her, threatening not only her chance at happiness but her life, Kate realizes to protect Leslie she has to let her go, even if it breaks her heart.

Genres: Queer

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

C.A. Popovich, a Michigan native, has worked in the automotive industry for most of her life. During the many layoffs in the unpredictable field, she earned a certificate in dog grooming, an associate’s degree in veterinary technology, and worked in maintenance at a condominium complex. She’s been working as an AutoCAD operator since 2009 and looks forward to retiring to be able to write full-time. She believes her passion for writing began at birth and has maintained a journal since high school.
Since discovering Bold Strokes Books, and her love of lesbian romance, she’s written numerous short stories with happily-ever-after endings. In 2012, she had an article titled “The Choice” published in Sinister Wisdom. It describes her experience on a flight aboard the tiny plane into Provincetown, MA.
She hates spiders, loves to read, write, spend time with her family, and travel to as many BSB events as finances allow.

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

C.A. Popovich always seems to have great story ideas. She also creates settings for her books that make me want to visit those places. Both of these things are true for her latest novel, The Kiss.
The premise of this book sounded really interesting. There are so many things you can do with the story of a woman fleeing an abusive relationship with her three-year-old daughter only to find herself being stalked by the ex, just as she finds someone who might be “The One” for her. The trouble is, I had several reservations about the actual story as it is written.

My first problem was with “the kiss” itself. We don’t really get to see it in the tale. The prologue shows Kate packing and leaving secretly with her daughter Portia. The first chapter of the book happens a year later after they are settled and living near her sister in Michigan. The kiss occurs six months after they leave and six months before Chapter One. I don’t like that. While not technically wrong, I think the reader should be able to see the day Kate and Leslie meet and have their first kiss. It’s important enough to use as the title of the book. It bothered me that I could only see this through brief flashbacks in the plot. I was also unhappy with some of the decisions Kate and Leslie made about dating while they knew Kate’s ex had found her and was stalking them both. Actually, I didn’t agree with many of Kate’s actions in the novel.

The book as a whole kept my interest, and I liked the ending. However, the problems mentioned above keep me from being able to recommend it.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don’t know about this one. The writing is choppy, I feel like it has continuity issues and the story is just bland.

Kate is fleeing from her abusive (soon to be) ex-wife. She shared a magical first kiss months ago with a woman she just met on a hike, Leslie, and Kate fled. They meet again at a speed dating event. They are instantly in love or something but Kate doesn’t want to put anyone in harms way with her stalker of an ex.
I feel no tension or fear or anything really when it comes to this ex. It has to do with the writing, it’s choppy, it really is the best way to describe it. It should pull you in but just doesn’t.
The development of the romance is weird to me. And the book is just not really enjoyable.

I can be a scatterbrain at times but this book is of a whole different level. I was constantly lost and confused. I wouldn’t say the book is all over the place, because it isn’t really, but it lacks consistency and continuity.
Just not a good read for me 2 stars.

*ARC received in exchange for a voluntary and honest review*

[Ashlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kate is about to finalize her divorce from an abusive ex and finally in a place where she is ready to start a relationship with the woman she met and kissed while on a hike 6 months ago. Leslie hasn’t been able to get Kate off her mind since their impromptu kiss and Kate’s disappearance after. Unfortunately Kate’s almost ex wife shows up and starts stalking Kate throwing a wrench into Leslie and Kate’s plans for their future.
Unfortunately this one wasn’t a hit for me. I felt the narrative was very disjointed and the timeline hard to follow. There was one part where Leslie and Kate say goodbye at a restaurant and then Kate packs up her daughters leftovers only to then knock on Leslie’s front door in the next sentence and somehow Leslie is there to answer even though they just left her at the restaurant. Even without these timeline issues the Wendy storyline was not very realistic, I can’t believe that a drunk woman who always seems to be lurking would be that difficult for anyone to find and catch, especially if she is violating a restraining order so consistently. I really hated that Kate attempts to go back to Wendy to save Leslie as well as the fact that Leslie’s genius idea to catch Wendy is to install security cameras. Seems to me that would have been a basic first step in a situation like this and it was already said that Kate’s sister also had cameras at her home. One other thing to note is that the kiss referenced by the title is actually not in the book, The characters describe it but it happened 6 months before chapter 1 and 6 months after the prologue. I feel like a romance is built off the character meeting for the first time and it’s missing from this book. Combined with the continuity issues, MCs that seemed to react robotically to issues and the unrealistic plot this wasn’t a book I enjoyed as much as I thought I would. Overall this just didn’t work for me, I have enjoyed other books by this author so hopefully this was a one off.

[Domi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read, but not a great read either. I had some issues with the development of the feelings when it comes to both parties. I get that they shared a magical kiss during a hike a couple of months ago, but that didn't fit with the depth and rapid development of the relationship in my opinion.
The stalker plot was a bit too much and mainly used I believe to let Kate make, sometimes very weird, decisions in order to create the necessary problems and bumps in the road any romance has.
In short, I am a little indifferent about this book. I am sure some readers will enjoy this more than I did and it's not so badly written that I would discourage anyone from picking it up. It just wasn't for me.

*** Thank you Netgalley en Bold Stroke Books for the chance to read and review this book ***

[Sloan Stryker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Kiss brings us Kate Willis, a woman to after trying to salvage her marriage has decided she needs to find a safe place for her and her young daughter after her soon to be ex will not accept their divorce.
Kate moves to be with her sister and soon she meets Leslie Bailey. Although Kate is attracted to Leslie she also fears that her exes next move could put Leslie in danger, she isn't wrong.
Kate's ex has found them and she isn't going away.
What will Kate do to keep her family safe?
Leslie isn't going to just sit by and do nothing which will put her in kate's wife, Wendy's crosshairs.
This is another great story by C.A. Popovich that I enjoyed.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Boldstrokesbooks for this ARC.

[Bee Sherrard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I made it to the fourth chapter and I just couldn’t go on. Usually Ms Popovich’s books are very enjoyable reads but…
Leslie Baily is an only child and helps run the restaurant her family has owned for years. She’s at an age where she’s looking for more than a date, she wants a relationship. Just last year while on a hike with a group of friends she met a woman that she was instantly attracted to. Hell they even kissed. But after that very short interaction, Kate disappeared from her life. Apparently Leslie can’t stop thinking and longing for time with Leslie.
Kate Willis was married, mother of a little girl and in the process of getting her divorce from her abusive wife. The attraction she feel’s for Leslie is over the top. One and kiss and for the next year that’s all she can think of. Now when her divorce is finalized she again meets Leslie.
This is when I decided I couldn’t be bothered reading anymore. Now Kate feels free to tell Leslie why she disappeared. Where she disappeared to I don’t know. But she’s back from where I don’t know or care. Leslie’s father lands in the hospital and instead of calling one of her friends she just has to have Kate by her side. Keep in mind they have only talked once since meeting again.
I know relationships can sometimes move fast but this is ridiculous. The plot is just too strange. If their meeting led to the two women dating and getting to know each other, great. The writing is very chopped up. All over the place. Having said all that, keep in mind Ms Popovich can and has published some pretty good reads. This is not one of them. Please read other reviews. Some fellow reviewers might have had a completely different experience.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found ‘The Kiss’ to be a good story but I wouldn’t say it was one of my favourites.
The story centres upon Kate who is trying to set up a new life for her and her daughter after a terrible marriage to Wendy. However her possessive and manipulative ex just won’t let them go and continues to stalk and threaten Kate and those close to her. Previous to the beginning of the book she shared an incredible kiss with Leslie, but Kate knows that getting close to someone new could put them in danger and so she shys away.
I did like the way Popovich constructs Kate and Leslie as individual characters because if that chemistry and care was not there between them it would make for a very unrealistic relationship considering Kate’s situation. Instead the dynamic between them and Kate’s daughter feels very natural and entirely plausible.
The downside I found with this book however was the lack of flow in the writing; personally I found it quite steppy and that takes away from the tension that could have been created whilst Wendy is around. The story had all of the ingredients to feel a bit more intense but the choppiness hindered it from being a really great read for me.

[isa Simonet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ms Popovitch wrote better books
Disappointing

[Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

You want out and your wife does not. So, what are your opinions? Do you even have any options? You will have to read the story to find out. The story line is engaging but as the story unfolded, I drifted in and out of the read. The repetition was getting to me. The story as presented was choppy.

Leslie Baily, future family restaurant owner. Leslie is a good person with alot of love for family. Katie Willis, mother of 3-year old, needs to get way from her abusive environment. The topic was tough to read but I learned alot as I "listened" to the story.

ARC provided by Bella Books via NetGalley

[Michael Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a different kind of romance. There is romance, danger and fear. The plot kept my interest and the characters were good. I felt the book was a little too wordy and there was a lot of interaction between all the characters. I was drawn into the story and was intrigued by the plot. I was bogged in all the conversation and it all started with one kiss. Laurie and Kate had feelings for one another with one kiss but there was a problem which became the focus of the story.
I would recommend this story for romance readers who like a plot with a twist. and some romance
I received this book from Net galley for an unbiased review.

[Jessica Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well written and had a pretty good plot... only reason it's not 5 stars is that it does drag on a bit. Very long and sometimes I just felt it dragging. But good characters and a legit problem.

[Illustrious Illusions · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story with it's twists issues that need to be set with. there is some slow burn, and a lot of sweet and growth with the characters.

[Stacy Daure · Rating 1 out of 5]

IT SUCKED!!!

There was no flow and continuity to the story line. The story line is a great one but it was written very poorly. What needed detailed information had too few and what need few information had too many. It was a waste of money and my time.