Just A Kiss

Just A Kiss
Written by: Denise Hunter
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Month, Year: September 6, 2016

A brief summary from BookLook Bloggers:
Riley Callahan’s plans to reveal his secret feelings for his best friend are derailed when his life is drastically altered in Afghanistan.

Watching the love of his life fall for his brother was enough to send Riley straight to boot camp. But over a year later, he’s officially a marine, and Beau and Paige are no longer an item. When Riley’s tour in Afghanistan is up, he intends to confess his feelings to Paige and win his best friend’s heart once and for all.

But all that changes when an IED takes the life of a comrade and leaves Riley an amputee. Now he’s heading home, injured and troubled. His plans to win Paige are a distant dream. She deserves so much more than the man that’s left. All he can do now is put some healthy distance between them. But upon his return he discovers his family has arranged for him to stay with Paige.

Paige is a nurturer at heart and happy to take care of her best buddy. By all appearances Riley is adjusting miraculously well to his disability. But as the days pass, Paige begins to see that the smiles and laughter are just a mask for the pain he’s hiding. To make matters worse, her job is in serious jeopardy. The animal shelter that she’s poured her heart into has lost its funding, and she has three months to come up with the money needed to save it.

As the weeks wear on, Paige’s feelings for Riley begin to shift into uncharted territory. Why is she suddenly noticing his arm muscles and the way his lips curl at the corners? Will she be able to deny her feelings for another Callahan brother? And will Riley let his heart heal so he can let Paige in?

My Thoughts:
Wowwww!!

What a way to end the Summer Harbor series!! Just A Kiss is mesmerizing. I loved everything about this novel – the characters, plot, setting – everything!! Denise Hunter’s writing makes me want to pack up everything and head straight to Maine. Or at least go there on vacation! 🙂

Riley Callahan returns home less of a man than when he left, or so he thinks. With a stump for a leg, he takes on the most difficult challenge yet – rebuilding his life with a disability. But not all disabilities are physical and when PTSD kicks in from his tour in war-torn Afghanistan, Riley is confidant he can overcome the depression, anger, and hurt on his own. Yet, as the weeks pass by, he slowly but surely pushes family and friends away as the walls in his heart and mind rise even higher. Eventually, his pent-up anger is taken out on the person he treasures the most, his best friend and secret love of his life, Paige Warren.

Juggling an animal shelter slowly at the end of its life, a guy who demands all her attention, and planning a close friend’s wedding, its all Paige can do to keep up with life swirling by. But when her best friend comes back from war, Paige determines Riley can stay with her, and that she can help him better than anyone. Quickly, Paige learns that the Riley who left is not the same man who came back. Will she learn that even she can’t heal the brokenness in Riley’s life?

Its hard to put Denise Hunter’s books down, and now that Just A Kiss ends the Summer Harbor series, I’m bereft on what to read next of her’s. Any suggestions?? I suppose I could just start back with book 1 again 🙂

I was graciously provided a free copy of this novel from BookLook Bloggers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.