Kiss Me in the Rain

Layla Anderson comes home after a summer as a tour guide only to learn her family’s finances are in shambles. On the verge of bankruptcy, there is only one way to save their business and home – Layla must date Grant Davenport whose father will invest in Cypress Grove, the Anderson family business. Layla and Grant reluctantly agree to the proposition, but they are both in love with other people. At the first event the couple attend, Grant’s dad announces their engagement. Grant and Layla are floored! When Layla starts investigating the books for Cypress Grove, she finds things aren’t adding up. Someone is embezzling, but who, and why?

“Kiss Me in the Rain” is a poignant love story catching the reader’s attention from the very beginning. The characters are colorful, and Layla is well-developed and intelligent yet naive. Layla’s lack of resistance to date the pariah, Grant Davenport, is hard to believe and takes away from the story. The other characters are not well-developed. While needed to make the story progress, Mrs. Anderson and her husband mostly take up space in the tale. Unfortunately, a clue is revealed early in the novel that is so obvious that the reader can immediately guess the identity of the embezzler, which spoils the remainder of the tale. Layla’s love story is sweet and innocent and the kind of love that can stand the trials of life. This is a clean novel, suitable for everyone.

Belinda Wilson