Publisher: Blue Feather Books
A Kiss Before Dawn is a romance
and a story about horses, two things almost sure to appeal to many people.
Chris
Martel works very hard to make her horse breeding business successful. She devotes her time to her horses, her dogs
and her eighty-one year old neighbor, Frances Cook, the only real friend Chris
has. Occasionally she visits a lesbian
bar to pick up a woman, but she prefers to be alone and doesn’t make commitments. Chris isn’t impressed the first time she meets
new vet Mary Jo Cavanaugh because Mary Jo is over confident and handles a
situation with a horse badly. Things
begin on a rough note, but, with Frances acting as a matchmaker, the women
become friends and discover that they have a number of common interests. A romance grows between them and when a woman
from the past tries to wreck vengeance on Chris, it clarifies for the women
what they mean to each other.
A Kiss Before Dawn is a standard
romance. The characters are set up, tension
arises between them and then it’s resolved.
The two major characters are well defined and there is a lot of
information about horses, maybe too much as the plot drags in places. The flaw in the book is in the pacing. It meanders along as the relationship develops
and covers a lot of information that doesn’t obstruct the plot, but really isn’t
necessary. It might be argued that this
is because Chris is slow to trust anyone, but the primary reason seems to be
that it adds length to the story. Then
when the crisis arises it appears out of nowhere. There’s practically no set up and it
concludes quickly. The situation doesn’t
ring true and it appears to be there simply to add a stressor to the story.
Anyone
looking for a decent story to read and something to pass the time will find
this book suits both purposes. It’s a
good example of a first novel and shows enough promise to give the author a try
when another book comes out.
Review
by Lynne Pierce
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