New Release Review! LAST KISS UNDER THE MISTLETOE by Melanie A. Smith

From award-winning and international best-selling author Melanie A. Smith comes a steamy holiday murder-mystery romance with a psychic twist.

Holidays should be filled with cheer…

CJ Roberts just wants to be a normal girl, have a normal job, normal friends, maybe even a normal boyfriend. Unfortunately, she’s about as far from normal as it gets, because she can See the future. And like two sides of a coin, her twin brother, Matt, can See the past. Sounds like a neat party trick, right? Actually, it’s frustrating and sometimes even dangerous. And if the past is any indicator, CJ can’t do much to change what she Sees. 

Drew Davies lives and breathes his job as a chef at one of the hottest restaurants in San Francisco. He’s content to focus on his craft, and dating has always been on the back burner. That is, until he meets CJ. When sparks fly, things heat up quickly between them. It’s an unexpected but welcome connection as the holidays approach.

But just as hope blooms, CJ has a vision that changes everything. She doesn’t know how it will happen, but she knows Drew is going to die. Now she’s left with a decision: Does she risk exposing herself to save Drew, or does she play it safe and let fate deal its hand? Secrecy has protected her until now, but can she really do nothing when the life of the man she’s falling for hangs in the balance?

Review:

Someday I will actually read the synopsis of a book before picking it up, not just say to myself, “Oh! I love that author! Yes, please!” while making grabby hands…

OK, that’s a total lie. I will always just grab all the books from the authors I love, barely even giving the synopsis a second thought before settling down to read. Being completely surprised about the plot of a book I’m reading–we’re talking the basics here, like that the MC has precognitive abilities, and that a man’s life will depend on what she does with her powers; good grief, I didn’t even read the bold portion of the blurb, people!–is what makes life exciting, right?

Maybe that’s just me, though…perhaps normal people have more excitement in their lives *outside* of books…?

Nah, that can’t be! (Please, don’t burst my bubble here…just nod and smile for me, ‘kay?)

Anyway…yes! I was completely surprised to find out (but 100% pleasantly, let me assure you!) when I started reading Last Kiss Under the Mistletoe that CJ and her twin brother have psychic abilities and that CJ was going to have to try to use them to prevent her new boyfriend’s death. I mean, that cover! It’s all sexy holiday goodness, amirite? “Last kiss” surely means the last guy she’s going to kiss under the mistletoe, not that death is imminent?

But I digress. Again. Even though I was mentally unprepared for the actual storyline of this book when I started reading it, I still enjoyed the heck out of the experience. CJ and her brother Matt’s abilities are fascinating, though we definitely get a much closer look at CJ’s in action here. (Dare I hope that’s because we’re going to get a book from Matt’s POV too? I have questions about that murderer he helped put behind bars. So. Many. Questions…) We know that she sees things that will likely happen, and that she’s tried with no real success to change some of those things in the past and therefore has decided that changing fate just isn’t in her wheelhouse. But that was before the man she thought she was falling for was going to be the next to die…

I mean, that cover surely indicates that CJ will succeed at saving him, and that the “falling” is definite and a mutual thing. But how will they get there? What will they do to save Drew from his fate? Well, I’m not going to tell you–so unless you share CJ’s precog abilities, you’re going to have to read it yourself and find out! 😉

Rating: 4 stars / B+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.