His Every Kiss

For romance novel fans, this book has it all. Engaging lead characters, interesting secondary characters, humor and enough of an entertaining plot to keep you reading. This was one of the more entertaining romance novels I've read in a while. And one of the few times I didn't find myself wanting to smack the heroine upside the head for being so silly!

I had never heard of Laura Lee Gurhke before I read His Every Kiss. Nothing I've read by her since has impressed me very much. However, His Every Kiss is a keeper. I read it years ago, and then a few years later, but I keep it in my room at all times. I could walk into my bedroom and walk straight to it even if I were blindfolded. Dylan is a wonderfully broody hero. Grace is a little too gracious. But their good-girl/bad-boy thing works. She has not always been a good girl, and he was once something more than a bad boy. Their initial meeting will rock you. Their subsequent meetings will leave you turning pages until the end of the book no matter how early you have to be to work the next day. You will learn some things about musical notation you may never have known before and you will hope that someday the author will write about their daughter. Hers is definitely a story that will need to be told.

Dylan is probably the most tortured hero I have read about in a long time. And because of this afliction (the ringing in his ears) he really is tortured. Can anyone imagine how horrible that would be and especially for a gifted composer. Grace early on saves Dylan's life by keeping him from killing himself. and that moment Dylan never forgets. When he meets her finally a couple of years later he has to have her in his life. She is so fearful of giving her heart again, especially to another artist. Her husband was a tortured painter and he became almost insane with his extremes before he died. So when Dylan asks Grace to become his newly found daughter's governess, only desperation on her part allows her to agree. The torture this man goes through, fighting his demons, not being able to compose is excrutianting to read. And truly many writers can write joy, pain and bliss and all the other emotions but when you read the part when Dylan truly lets his daughter down by exposing the worst parts of his nightly activities well it is one of the most compelling parts of any book I have read recently. You just are racked with the pain Dylan feels at what a horrible person and father he is. I absolutely could not put this book down. It is such an emotional read and Dylan and Grace are just beautiful together. I did feel the ending was a little hurried. I think this is one book that badly needed an epilogue. Perhaps if there is a book about Ian maybe we will learn how Grace and Dylan are living on. there is no known cure I do not think even now for the ringing in ears- but I would hope in the contentment of Dylan's love for Grace he will find some peace. Wonderful book!!!

Dylan is a refreshingly original incarnation of the ol' Tormented Hero in Need of Redemption. Grace, aptly named, is just the woman to give it to him. She retains her dignity even when tragic circumstances find her pushing a broom. Which makes her an excellent foil for a man whose own tragedy hasn't been handled nearly so well. The familiar themes of seduction, betrayal and redemption are given new life here, thanks to finely drawn characters, sensual love scenes, and the unusual nature of Dylan's private torment. I was mad as hell at his about-face when he found a flaw in Grace's perfection. But I was eager to forgive him. He was worth it. All too often, we're given bad-boy heros whose cruel behavior toward the heroin is relentlessly unfair. Desperate to see some sign that he has a conscience, and that I didn't make a mistake when I bought the book, I've let myself be led through chapter after of chapter emotional abuse presented as romance. When the abuse is spiced with sexual tension, the heroines - and the authors, presumably - seem to interpret the man's rampant libido as evidence that he's in love, but is just too vulnerable to express his feelings any other way. Right. As a first-time reader of this author, I'm delighted to announce that Dylan is different. His darkness is credible, considering what he's lost. More importantly, it's offset by genuine tenderness and charm, making Grace's love for him believable and not proof that she's a masochist. I enjoy an emotional rollercoaster, provided there are as many high points as low ones. This was a great ride.