ARC Review: THE THING ABOUT LOVE by Kim Karr

The whole stethoscope-and-white coat thing isn’t my cup of tea.

I prefer a man with an artistic vein in his body. 9 - 5 hours. And I can definitely do without the half-lidded, sleepy bedroom eyes. (Okay, so those are kind of sexy.)

Tall, dark, and handsome doesn’t change the fact that he’s arrogant, cocky, and rude.
Not that I care, but he’s made it clear he wants nothing to do with a quirky girl like me, which is why he said no.

Turns out no isn’t an option.

I have a quickie wedding to plan, and Dr. Jake Kissinger doesn’t have a choice. He looks at our situation like he’s stuck with me, but in reality I’m stuck with him. Stuck with his pouty mouth. His long, lean body. And stuck with those loose, low riding scrub pants. (Okay, so the doctor thing is growing on me.)

When spending time together turns into more than it should, I know I’m in trouble.
He isn’t supposed to make my heart pound.
I’m not supposed to make him look twice.
And we aren’t supposed to spend the night together. (Okay, so he has more than one artistic vein in his body, and other places.)

Falling for him is definitely a mistake.

Here’s the thing…
Jake is unavailable, and I know it.
Just not in the way you might think.

I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Add to your TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31179248-the-thing-about-love

MY REVIEW

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Anyone who has paid attention to the books I read or the authors I one-click, you’d know that Kim Karr’s collection always makes the cut. While I haven’t read everything she’s written (yet), I’ve read tons of her books. So when I say that The Thing About Love was unlike anything I’ve read by her so far, you know that I’m onto something.

Juliette was having a really rough go of it. She took over her uncle’s successful event planning business and she’s failing at it. While she’s great at creating the visual and putting the event together, the actual day-to-day operations go over her head. She’s drowning and she needs one stellar client to put things back on track. The only thing standing in the way of her landing her latest potential client is the brother, Dr. Jake Kissinger, or Dr. Kiss, who is decidedly unimpressed with Jules, especially after she throws a cake in his face.

I’ve gotta say, that cake did sound super delicious though. Well, circumstances change and all of a sudden the wedding has to be rushed. So lucky for Juliette, her schedule’s wide open. The only hitch… she has to work with Jake. But then things turn out for the better because these two finally act on the sparks that fired off from their first meeting. Unfortunately, there’s an unspoken deadline to their romance. Will their hearts come out whole on the other side?

★★★★★★

As I said, this book was a bit different from what I’m used to from this author. It had heavy doses of pain that threaded throughout the story that stayed with me right to the end. It’s never easy to tackle an event that still gives ripples of anguish through many of us who witnessed it. I’m thrilled that the author wove this tragedy into the plot and tied it to the characters. It added another element of depth to their relationship and continued to strengthen the traces of fate that could be found everywhere.

Both Jake and Juliette were fighting their own personal demons and it was difficult to watch. It made me just want to give them huge hugs. Especially Jake. His guilt was potent and the driving force for everything he did. The fact that his demons rode him so hard for most of this story made me want more of him. It felt like from one second to the next he was fighting the inevitable connection he had with Jules and then diving headfirst into forever. I think I needed more of his perspective to make this transition truly believable.

Regardless, what won me over from the start, aside from Juliette’s awkward, clumsy quirkiness, was the banter between her and Jake. It was hard to get a real read on him but I loved the ways Juliette tried to decipher the meaning behind his words, looks and actions. I was busy trying to figure him out right along with her. Together, these two were insanely hot and sweet, which is one of my favorite combinations.

Now I’m going to not-so-patiently wait for Jaxson and Finn’s books. These side characters have me curious as all heck and I’m desperate for their happy endings!!

Expected Release Date: January 3, 2018

Genre: Contemporary Romance

POV: Dual - 1st person

Heat: 4 out of 5

Type: Standalone