“How far would you go to escape the one you love?

When Zoe meets Dan, he’s everything she is looking for in a man – intelligent, charming, supportive.
It’s only after they’re married that she realises that he’s controlling, aggressive, paranoid.
And there’s no way out.

Or is there?

Zoe knows she has to escape, but Dan’s found her once before, and she knows he can find her again.
But Dan has plans of his own. Plans that don’t necessarily include Zoe.

Be careful who you trust . . .”

I am SUCH a fan of J.S. Carol’s writing. He’s one of my very favourite authors so when an unexpected delivery of book post arrived and his name was on the cover, I have to confess, I whooped for joy! And maybe did a little jig around the kitchen, but unless you have photographic evidence of that it’s not something I’m going to confess to anytime soon.

J. S. Carol is the author of the incredible Jefferson Winter series (click HERE for my review of the fourth book in the Jefferson Winter series, The Quiet Man) plus the awesome standalone thriller The Killing Game). As authors go, I think it’s safe to say that J. S. (or James) Carol is one of my all-time favourites. So I was a little giddy to have his latest release in my paws. So giddy I made a start on it almost straight away (which is kind of unheard of at damppebbles HQ. I regularly leave books on the shelf for large periods of time; some glaring at me, some giving me the eye!) Anyway, to cut to the chase, Kiss Me, Kill Me is published in eBook by Bonnier Zaffre on 22nd February (happy eBook publication day!) and in paperback towards the end of May 2018.

Zoe believes she has met the perfect man in Daniel. He’s everything she has always wanted in a partner. Life is pretty much perfect; Daniel is at her beck and call, he lavishes her with expensive and ornate gifts, and treats her as though she is the centre of his world. So when Daniel proposes, Zoe gleefully accepts. Life is good. They’re married, they’re in love and it’s everything Zoe has always wanted (plus he gives her time and space to write the novel she has wanted to pen for years). But a few weeks into married life things take an unexpected turn and Daniel suddenly starts to show his true colours. He becomes domineering, controlling and threatening. Zoe has no say, no control and no way out. Who can she trust? Who can she turn to, to escape the man she loves?

So, this book made me angry (in a ‘provoking a reaction or an emotion’ way). Reading the chapters set in the present day I was aghast at the way Daniel treated Zoe and in all honesty, it was making my blood boil. To the point where I had to put down Kiss Me, Kill Me on a couple of occasions and just walk away. Regular visitors to my blog will know that I read a lot of crime, which translates to a lot of bad people doing a lot of bad stuff, but this…! This despicable, deviant character with his callous, intimidating behaviour towards this poor woman who had been totally duped into marrying him. Well, this sort of plotline is obviously my breaking point. I felt sick to my stomach for Zoe, I wanted to reach into the pages and rescue her from her nightmare. Hats off to the author for provoking such a strong emotional response in me. Brilliantly written but oh my gosh, hard to read at times.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is told from Zoe’s point of view; her day to day incarceration, her carefully measured and balanced diet, the way her clothes are laid out for her each and every day. The second part is told from Daniel’s perspective and drops a bombshell on the reader that you really don’t expect. I loved both of these sections. By this time, both Zoe and Daniel had gotten under my skin and I was pretty much obsessed with the pair of them. The third part lost a little of the ‘pull’ that the first two parts had, for me. It was still gripping and I was completely hooked but not in the same way as before.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. It’s superb, incredibly entertaining and really quite disturbing in places. I was completely smitten with Carol’s characters in this novel but in quite different ways. There was one section where I could see what was coming but everything else took me completely by surprise. The ending was missing a few undotted i’s and a couple of uncrossed t’s, so it makes me wonder if we will see some of these characters again in a future novel. I certainly hope that is the case! I loved this book. Love, love, loved it!

Five out of five stars.

I chose to read and review an ARC of Kiss Me, Kill Me. The above review is my own unbiased opinion. My thanks to Imogen at Bonnier Zaffre for inviting me to join the blog tour. Keep your eye on the blog next week when I will be featuring a Q&A from the man himself, J.S. Carol!

Kiss Me, Kill Me by J. S. Carol was published in the UK by Bonnier Zaffre on 22nd February 2018 in eBook format with the paperback to follow in May 2018 (please note, the following Amazon and Waterstones links are affiliate links) | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones | Goodreads |

J. S. Carol is the author of The Killing Game, which has been shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. As James Carol, he has also written the bestselling Jefferson Winter series. Broken Dolls, the first of these, was published in 2014 to rave reviews and reached #1 on the Amazon fiction and thriller charts. In addition James is writing a series of eBooks set during Winter’s FBI days. Presumed Guilty is the first of these.

James lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and two children. When he’s not writing he can usually be found in a pair of headphones, recording and producing music.

Author Links: | Website | Twitter | Facebook |