Kiss Shot by Carolyn Elizabeth is a slow burn romance packed inside a flash bang crime thriller.
Detective Lucky Sorin of the Street Crimes unit has such a horrible, terrible very bad day that she ends up off the force and hustling pool for a living. Months later in a very low dive a woman shows up and takes her breath away. If only the woman wasn’t the girlfriend of the biggest crime boss in the city.
Living in a world of loud motorcycles, seedy bars and the sharp crack of high stakes pool games, mysterious and gorgeous Mira Grant is super irritated by the ex-cop who pulls no punches. Still, she tries to help Lucky avoid conflict but the woman just cannot seem to stay out of trouble.
Writing
As is typical of this author’s works the story unfolds at a great pace, with smooth dialogue, an interesting set of problems to be solved by the protagonists, and thrilling action sequences.
Preternaturally unlucky Detective Lucky Sorin is just put together enough to be good at what she does, and is a caring person who always tries to do the right thing. The mysterious Mira comes more slowly into focus and is just as great a character as Lucky. They’re easy to root for and fall in love with.
Narratio
As good as the book is, listening to the audio version propelled it into a much higher level of enjoyment. Amy Deuchler narrates with a breathy voice that immediately raises anticipation for what’s coming next. Characters were mostly easy to discern from tone of voice and speed of delivery, though the narrator never quite hit really low notes for the male characters. The author gives the narrator a tough time now and then, like, “Her voice was exactly like you’d imagine – a dump truck driving over a gravel road.” I was impressed that the character did sound like that.
There’s a lot of humor in the book, as well as action, and the narrator’s timing was spot on for all of it. I laughed sometimes when Lucky went through her inner mantra, “Be cool. Be cool.” With a beautifully timed dramatic pause, or a theatrical rendition of dialogue, there is no weak spot in the performance. I was completely sucked into the book by the narration and never wanted to pull off my headphones.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Lucky is a really easy character to root for because she’s street smart but compassionate, hardworking and dedicated if somewhat unlucky. Actually, Lucky is very unlucky, repeatedly. The scrapes she gets in had me on the edge of my seat a few times. There is a lot of violence and Lucky continues to find herself in the middle of the fray. Fortunately, she’s also quick with a humorous quip which lightens scenes that could easily get too dark. She’s not superhumanly heroic, making the action more realistic and thrilling.
There is a lot of gritty action, which I enjoy very much, and a pretty good mystery. It’s debatable whether Lucky solves the mystery or is dragged along by it like cans strung off the back of a wedding car. Just as gritty is some of the dialogue, which made even me blush a time or two. I’m not sure if I’ll ever eat a fruit roll up ever again.
As with other books I’ve read by this author the femme romantic character is the tougher, smarter and more capable of the two, and I like that a lot. A person doesn’t have to be muscly with six black belts to be heroic. There are a number of well choreographed fight sequences. I never got lost in who was doing what to whom.
Cons And Heads Up
Not kidding about gritty violence, and there is some purely nasty sex talk in one section.
The Conclusion
Kiss Shot is a gritty action thriller starring the unluckiest person ever to be named Lucky. She loses her job as a police detective after a horrible series of events, has to hustle pool for a living and falls for the girlfriend of a notorious bad guy. Fast paced action sequences are leavened by humor that is also sometimes gritty.
Excerpt from Kiss Shot by Carolyn Elizabeth
“You got a cue for me to use?” I kept my expression carefully neutral when his brows went up. He had expected me to walk away and I cheered inwardly. I was already in his head.
“Ghost, give her the L28.”
The tall guy with the neck tats and three day stubble pulled a McDermott maple cue with Irish linen wrap off the rack. It wasn’t mine, but it was a good starter cue and I had run tables with far worse. In college I won a bar game with a broom handle like that scene with Kevin Costner in Tin Cup.
“Thank you.” I was happy with the weight, the tip was good and the shaft straight. I took my jacket off and hung it on the back of a chair and looked at Griffin expectantly.
“Guests break.” He gestured grandly to the table.
I tuned out everything else and chalked the cue, breathing deeply in through my nose and out through my mouth to slow my heart, as I rolled the cue ball into position. I bridged the cue across the rail and slid the shaft between my fingers, feeling the wood warm against my skin with each stroke. I hit the cue ball hard and fast and it cracked into the one-ball and exploded the rack, sending the nine-ball firing into the corner pocket ending the game. I won. I exhaled and stood slowly, waiting for the total silence to die down.
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-1-64247-384-1
Publisher: Bella Books
Audiobook Publisher: Tantor Audio
Narrator: Amy Deuchler
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