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Hannah Elliot has returned home after living in Las Vegas where she had a failed marriage and then found out she was pregnant. Now she must tell her family and knowing how they'll react she decides to wait until the right time arises.

Matteo Della Bosa known as Matt walks into Hannah's family furniture shop whilst Hannah is there helping out. Matt is wanting to purchase furniture for his mother and when he comes across Hannah there is instant chemistry between the two of them. But Hannah knows she's not ready to confide in Matt about her past when she hasn't told her family and with Christmas just around the corner she's really not sure when she's going to get an opportunity. Will Hannah get the support she needs from her loved ones?

This was a sweet, fun and light romantic read by a talented Aussie author. A delightful short read which I highly recommend.

The Kissing Season, a short and sweet romance novella by Rachel Johns, is an enjoyable distraction during the busyness of the holiday season.

Hannah Elliot has returned home to Wildwood Point after an ill-advised adventure in Las Vegas. Facing her family's disappointment with her impulsive marriage, and the annulment that followed barely a week later, is difficult enough, so admitting she is going to be a single mother is impossible. Yet Hannah is determined to keep her baby, vowing to make more sensible choices for the sake of their future...until the gorgeous Matteo walks in the door.

I'm not too sure how I feel about the first meeting between Hannah and Matt, it made me a little bit uncomfortable, but the progression of their relationship was good within the constraints of the format. There was definitely that delicious sense of anticipation around the 'sooner or later' question, and the couple sizzle when they finally get it together. I appreciated that there was actual conflict rather than inane misunderstandings (a pet peeve of mine) and of course there is the obligatory happy ending.

This is an entertaining, light romance to enjoy on your next lunch break or commute.

I'm not crazy about the perpetuation of rape culture in the romance genre, but I guess if you like that kind of thing . . .

The Kissing Season is such a gorgeously sweet quick read. Perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit.

The Kissing Season is a delightful Christmas themed novella that is sure to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.

Hannah Elliot is renowned for making bad decisions, it is after all what made her the black sheep of the family. Having returned home to WA in time for Christmas nursing a bruised ego, broken heart and the biggest secret of her life, the last thing she expects to stumble upon is the gorgeous Matteo Della-Bosca. Sworn off men after her disastrous Vegas wedding, Hannah isn’t looking for companionship or love. In fact she’d love to just hide out for a bit longer, especially if it means she doesn’t have to listen to her parents lecture her on her life choices once again. But while Hannah would love to lie low for some time, Matteo has other ideas. For since his first encounter with Hannah at her family’s furniture shop, he hasn’t been about to get her out of his mind, not can he keep his hands off her when they are in close proximity!

I quite enjoyed this humorous and heart-felt novella about what it means to let go and take a chance on love. The Christmas setting is brilliant sweeping the reader up into fast paced timing of Christmas and family relations. The romance for the most part is well -paced; kudos to Rachael for dropping that first scene on us so earlier on in the narrative. I’ll admit I was bit dazed by it for a second and slightly confused by the character’s actions, but I recognise the humour and fast paced of the relationship and I thought it worked over all. It certainly got out attention anyway! I’ve noticed a lot of people are commenting on this scene in particular, but if you do feel a bit weird-ed out by it, I urge you to keep reading, because The Kissing Season is a beautiful love story that you won’t want to miss. It’s short, sweet, and heartfelt – what more could you ask from a Christmas Novella?

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the copy I received to review.

Read as part of my Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2013.

This review also appears on my blog - The Never Ending Bookshelf - and can be found here: http://nevendbookshelf.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/review-the-kissing-season-by-rachael-johns/

‘She didn’t know if she could just have sex with Matt. With him, she feared she wouldn’t simply be handing over her body for a couple of hours; she might be inadvertently handing over her heart.’

What a lovely holiday novella we have with The Kissing Season. Equal parts fun and touching, Matt and Hannah’s romance was definitely worth reading.

I have become a huge fan of Rachael Johns over the past couple of years. So what fun I had with this reissued Christmas story. I mean, look at that gorgeous new cover! This romance had everything I’ve come to expect from Ms. John’s writing: genuine characters, solid plot, loads of flirty bantering, and incredible sexual tension between the protagonists.

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I must admit that I was first drawn to The Kissing Season by Rachael Johns’ name (she did write the spectacular Outback Dreams after all). But when I saw the cover…isn’t it gorgeous? The heroine has gorgeous eyes and she’s just like I picture Hannah (the heroine). The scenery also reminds me of around Gracetown, in Western Australia’s south west – good thing as the book is set in the South West around Busselton and Margaret River (known for wine, cheese and surfing).

Rachael writes a fantastic story, and The Kissing Season is no exception. Packed into this novella is a mainly sweet romance (with some spicy scenes), a family Christmas with drama and a secret baby. Oh yes. A secret baby! You see, Hannah’s returned home after a lot of travelling. That’s not what her parents would have liked, preferring her to go to university or help run the family business (gorgeous wooden furniture). Along the way, Hannah happened to get married in Vegas…and pregnant too. But the marriage didn’t last and now she’s home to try and work out how to tell her family, who never take her seriously.

When Matteo Della Bosca (you just know he’s going to be hot from his name) comes into the showroom to order furniture for his mother, he practically sets the place on fire with his smouldering looks and charm. Add to that jumping on a bed, then kissing Hannah and everything’s topsy turvy. Matt doesn’t do commitment and Hannah is thinking of one last fling, so what can go wrong? (Plenty.)

Matt’s a hero with a heart of gold – the way he’s portrayed as someone who really cares for his mum balances nicely with his own admission that he’s a player. He’s definitely a hero you wouldn’t mind wrapped (or unwrapped) under the Christmas tree! Hannah is a girl you’d be happy to have as a friend – she’s not perfect, she’s real.

Told in the days leading up to Christmas, Rachael gets it just right from the building heat of an Aussie Christmas to the events of a small community. I loved the parts devoted to the town’s Christmas tree event – it brought back memories of attending one in the country when I was small. Although Wildwood Point’s Christmas tree sounds like a bigger production, the essence of community spirit and happiness abounds in the writing. The big ‘oops’ moment at the family Christmas event is also brilliantly written – I was squirming in my seat for Hannah as the scene filled with awkward silence. I also liked that Christmas wasn’t the major theme of the novella at the expense of others – there’s still plenty of room for the strong family and friends and of course, romance. The pacing was also just right – not too hurried and I felt that the romance developed realistically over the time period.

I read this book in one night – simply put, I didn’t want to sleep until I’d finished it!

Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Australia for the eARC.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

The Kissing Season was a short, romantic and amusing christmas story set in rural Australia. Generally this story was pretty sweet but it also had some sexy moments.

This story stood out from other contemporary romances I've read before, in my opinion. Just like the synopsis says Hannah, one of the two main characters, is pregnant. I think it's pretty unique to start a book out like that. I really liked this aspect of the story.

I really liked how Hannah and Matt first met each other. It was pretty funny but also got straight to the point that Matt is interested in Hannah, even though Hannah was a bit unsure about it all at some because of her pregnancy.

And I have to say I liked both main characters well enough. Especially Matt was a favorite of mine. He was very charming, handsome and oh so sweet. Hannah was also a likable character. I really thought her and Matt made a good pair.

It's a pretty short book so the romance develops pretty fast. Maybe a little too fast... but like I said before it's a short story so in the end I'm okay with that. The writing was not bad either, it read very easily so I ended up finishing it fairly quickly.

Overall, I think this is a nice short story with a sweet romance and little spice that's easily read and isn't just perfect for Christmas time but any time really!

This is a sweet, uncomplicated romantic holiday novella. It centres on Hannah, a woman who is a few weeks out of a whirlwind Vegas marriage to a stranger, who left the moment she found out she was pregnant. She comes home to her family in the beautiful Southwest of Western Australia, determined to raise her child alone and forgo romantic flings for the foreseeable future. Matteo throws a spanner in the works when he turns up to her family shop to buy a houseful of furniture. The events in the shop ooked me out a bit - consent is not an afterthought, people! - but the rest of the story is rather sweet. It's nice to have two characters who are equally keen on sex, not one pushing for it against the other's wishes. I did find the jumping from one MC's head to the other a little disorienting at times, but that's a matter of taste and style, not a fault as such.

There's not much time in a novella to get from "I don't want to get involved right now" to the Happily Ever After, but the insta-love wasn't too insta- for me. And I was delighted to spend some book-time in the Southwest at Christmastime, a happy stamping ground for me.