‘Just One Kiss’ Review: A Second Chance at First Love

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ABOUT the BOOK
Author: Courtney Walsh
Publication Date: 2019
Publisher: Independently Published
Genre: Fiction; Contemporary Romance
Source: Provided by author through Rel’s Author Services
FIND the BOOK ELSEWHERE: Goodreads
FIND the REVIEW ELSEWHERE: Goodreads 
Rating: ★★★½ just one kiss

Just One Kiss by Courtney Walsh | Book Review

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STORY | For the entirety of the life of her teenage son, Carly Collins has been a single mother. She’s raised Jaden with love, and she’s done it without the help of someone to lean on. But then a scary medical diagnosis brings Josh Dixon back to Harbor Pointe, and Carly face-to-face with the man who was the boy Carly once loved.

Josh has never quite forgiven himself for leaving Carly and the son he loved. But Josh has also changed… his son knows this, and now he’s reminded of how much this place and Carly means to him, he finds he has to show her just how much he has changed.

REVIEW | Courtney Walsh’s stories are like portraits of real life. They’re complex and emotional and full of joy. Just One Kiss follows this same path, only it feels like a different kind of story altogether. It’s one of those books that you have to read in spaces of time because its subject matter is a bit weightier than some of the romance fiction on the market. Don’t mistake me, it’s a beautiful story, it’s just one that I read a bit slower than I ordinarily may have.

BOOK REVIEW | ‘Love at First Like’: A Romance Novel with Famous Tropes

What’s interesting about this novel is that it’s like a snapshot of life’s mistakes, and the present way of life. For Josh, it looks back at the challenging and unhappy past he lives through, and to see how he recalls these moments is, like I said, almost a snapshot of his memory. The same is true for Carly. As the story progresses, we experience these moments through their eyes, which slowly pieces together a collage of their past together and of separate thought. Everything leads up to the “secret” Josh feels most guilty about, and the reason he doesn’t believe he has a place in Harbor Pointe, or Carly’s heart.

Featuring characters from Just Let Go, and a solid story, Just One Kiss is a pretty picture novel that adds extra weight to the story with the fear inducing changes that alter Carly’s life. There’s still plenty to enjoy in these pages. The story is expertly written with great characterization, sigh-worthy swoons, and a masterful experience in the redemption that forgiveness can extend.

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