Review of "Sweet Irish Kiss" by JoAnne Kenrick

Publisher: Decadent Publishing

Release Date: September 28, 2011

Series: 1NightStand #39

Buying Links:  Amazon     Decadent Publishing      All Romance Ebooks

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Shaun Bell, a divorced workaholic, spends all his time tending bar in his Irish Pub. He's ready to love again, but the women who visit his bar are only after his infamous Irish cocktails. At the advice of his darts team, over a tanker or two of Beamish, he applies to 1Night Stand to get back into the swing of things and enjoy the company of a woman specially selected for h...moreShaun Bell, a divorced workaholic, spends all his time tending bar in his Irish Pub. He's ready to love again, but the women who visit his bar are only after his infamous Irish cocktails. At the advice of his darts team, over a tanker or two of Beamish, he applies to 1Night Stand to get back into the swing of things and enjoy the company of a woman specially selected for him by Madame Evangeline.

Rachel Taylor has issues. Her father broke her mother’s heart with his cheating and Rachel swore never to let that happen to her, but one ruined relationship after another and she’s realized she's got to get over being closed off to men. Perhaps a one-night stand is just the baby step she needs to begin to build trust again.

A match seemingly made in heaven...until morning rolls around and Shaun can't bring himself to say good-bye. Can he win her over with his secret weapon, a Sweet Irish Kiss, or is Rachel still too scared to love?

My Thoughts:

"Sweet Irish Kiss" can be summed up as sweet, sexy, and humorous (but not over the top).  It did have some WTF lines - 

“Condoms are in me overnight bag.” “Too far away. I want you in me now.”

"She tasted like honey and vanilla. He’d only have to throw in some whiskey and she would be medicinal."

 

I remember thinking "Don't be stupid woman" when Rachel said the condoms were too far away, happily she was sensible and they did use condoms. The medicinal comment, well, at least he wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud. :P It did pull me out of the story a bit. Is that really something that a guy might think while he's making love to a woman? I don't know if it is or isn't. 

The other thing that I had to adjust to, and it wasn't hard, was the Irish and British slang and a few words that are different from American English. Reading the story reminded me that it's been quite a while since I read a book set in contemporary England. I hadn't realized, from the description, that it was set there so I was unprepared when I started reading. Once I switched gears it was fine. 

The story moves quickly and though it doesn't have an HEA, it has a Happy For Now, which I think is much more sensible given the set up and the fact that the story is from Decadent's 1 NightStand collection. I did question how quickly Rachel trusted Shaun on a sexual level but overall, the story worked and was a delightful read. Shaun and Rachel felt believable and were likable, the story was erotic, and Kenrick has a nice eye for detail. 

If you want a short, sweet yet erotic story, pick up "Sweet Irish Kiss". Oh, and I so want to try the cocktail, "Sweet Irish Kiss", it sounds divine!

I received a PDF from the author for review.