KISSING KIN

February 12, 2024

KISSING KIN

by Karen Hulene Bartell

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

Maeve Jackson is starting over after a broken engagement—and mustering out of the Army. No job and no prospects, she spins out on black ice and totals her car.

When struggling vintner Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re distantly related. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.

But forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generational mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel them into each other’s arms, they wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?

Enjoy an Excerpt:

His groin aching as his jeans tightened, he wanted her. No longer able to block the impulse, he wrapped one arm around her back as he cradled her head in his other hand.

Her eyelids fluttering, she threw her arms around his neck and, with a muffled moan, pressed closer.

Their bodies silently communing, he ran his lips over her throat, sucking at her supple skin and moving his lips along her collarbone.

Encouraged as she shuddered and tilted her hips against him, he nudged open her shirt’s top button and nuzzled her breasts. Then he drew her to him in a deep kiss that left him wanting to slip off her clothes and feel her warm, soft skin against his. The urge to take her overpowering, he eyed the bed.

Whoa. What am I doing? As if shot with a water cannon, he pulled away, breathless.

She regarded him through wide, shellshocked eyes.

Like the lights coming up in the theater, the feverish mood broke. His arms fell to his sides as he stepped back. “Sorry, I--”

“No, I’m as much to blame--”

“I don’t know what came over me.” A nervous, self-conscious laugh escaped his lips.

“So suddenly, right?” Nodding, she met his gaze. “Like an outside force took over…” She swallowed, took a deep breath, and glanced away. “This isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way.”

“Me, neither.”

My Thoughts:

Do you believe in fate, or believe that we are predestined to meet certain people in our lives? Kissing Kin is set in modern day Texas, but involves the past. Lots of history, food, and mystery in this deliciously written book. This is a quick-read and one you won’t want to put aside until you have read from cover to cover.

My rating: 5 out of 5

About the Author:

Author of the Trans-Pecos and Sacred Emblem series, Karen is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life, who writes multicultural, offbeat love stories. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved often, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her “mews”—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.

Connect with Karen:

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/611950.Karen_Hulene_Bartell

Website: http://www.KarenHuleneBartell.com/

Email: info@KarenHuleneBartell.com

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/karenhulenebartell

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/karen-hulene-bartell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenhulenebartell/

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Kissing-Trans-Pecos-Karen-Hulene-Bartell-ebook/dp/B0CRJ6P13V/ref=sr_1_1