ARC Review: Kissin' Tell by Lorelei James

Kissin’ Tell BLOWED MY MIND.

With that being said, I must confess that Tell McKay has officially DETHRONED Kane McKay as my #1 cowboy hottie. I am mentally prepared to drag myself on my bare feet all the way to South Dakota to WORSHIP Ms. James for this book!

Georgia Hotchkiss was the high school beauty everybody girl wanted to be and every boy wanted to bang. The awarded cheerleader, the high school hottie’s girlfriend, the goody two shoes who actually wore a purity ring through her senior year. Her life was all butterflies and roses until tragedy strikes. Her life  did a 180. She learned the hardest way that ‘real life’ is bigger than high school and too short to waste in things that have no possible outcome. 

Tell McKay was always the helpful, fun and sweet boy. He didn't have a great childhood and was taken advantage of often. The Tell from ten years ago would have done anything to get Georgia’s attention, even her homework. But the Tell Georgia meets a few weeks before their ten year high school reunion is the absolute opposite. He is beyond anything she could’ve ever asked for in her dreams, and reality, but mostly in her bed. And the way things start between them ignites memories, regrets and love neither one of them knew existed.

Mrs. James has written a MASTERPIECE! I thought I had read the most epic of her McKay books when Chase’s story came out, but nothing, NOTHING prepared me for a story I could’ve sworn she wrote for me. FOR ME! The similarities with my own love story end with Georgia’s tragedy. But the love and other awakened feelings that will possibly never leave my mind are so similar to Georgia's, I felt like I was literally inside this story from page one. 

Once again, Ms. James left me anticipating what happens throughout the book. She opens up a whole new world you never thought about because let’s be honest: You (as well as myself) would never live in a small town like Sundance, Wyoming. What are the odds of you dating a cowboy or working for a Rodeo circuit? I know that may never happen in my life but as my Gramma says: “never say never”. This time, through Tell’s eyes, I saw beyond my standards and thought about possibilities I never wanted to include in my list of “what if’s”. Tell showed me that love can be just were you left it, so many years ago, waiting for you to be ready to embrace it. 

One of the main reasons why I love Ms. James’s books so much is because no matter what the characters story focuses on, the main ingredient that makes her books a winner is the FAMILY VALUES. This time, I think she described reality in a way she’s never done before. Tragedy happens to even the greatest people in history, and of course to us simple mortals. In the end, I’m pretty sure you will agree with me that in some major ways this book is very different from the rest yet is has all the best elements to make it a MAGNIFICENT romance story! I had to hold back tears many times. For a book to touch me so deep, it could only mean it’s MAJESTICALLY written.

A for the rest of the elements, I applaud the well descriptive scenarios, the absolutely HOT AND DROOLING SCENES only Ms. James can bring to life, the incredibly flawless timeline and inclusion of members of the McKay clan to spice up the story, the neat and realistic dialogues, the fun and tease, and the way she can jump from scene to scene without losing perspective. How Ms. James is able to open the gates for new story lines is so natural. She leaves you in suspense as to what will happen next! And from what I see it, there will be A LOT going on in Gavin’s story and also in Dalton’s. If I am allowed to put my two cents in, Keely deserves ANOTHER short story after all the fun conversation she had with Jessie.

I would also be scared to death to have kids if any mother assured me my nipples will bleed while breastfeeding! 

Above all that, Tell & Georgia rocked my world. Tell is the most loving, sweet, passionate, caring, and adorable character Ms. James has created- even above the twins and Colt, whom I always considered the sweethearts. They got NOTHING on Tell!

Ms. James did it again and did it PERFECT! Hands down. It was a real surprise and a complete privilege to have read this book in advance and write my thoughts about it. It’s the first time I do something like this and I hope it won’t be the last, especially if it is a Lorelei James book.

For you guys to understand a little bit more about WHY I ADORED this book, I’m going to tell you a little secret: 

Three years ago I was reacquainted with my high school sweetheart via Facebook. I haven’t seen him in person since 2003. It was due to the fact that one day he just got decided we could no longer be together and he broke up with me. Five years later, he was married and divorced to another high school friend of ours.

Not long after, I started my new life in Southern California and we started talking again after his divorce. One day out of the blue he just asked me what had we done wrong all those years ago. Note: this is a man…no, this is THE MAN I wanted to share my entire life with. The only man who I actually loved and confessed my love to. The one and only man who I have actually mourned as if he was no longer here on earth the day he got married. I decided I rather think him dead before loving him as a married man. Yes, tragic, but hey! After all I am a romance reader.

One day during a (very x-rated) chat, we actually decided we would follow an agreement ‘similar’ to the one Tell McKay and Georgia Hotchkiss settle.

I won’t tell you what it is though! That would ruin the fun for you before reading this book.