Licks
Author: Kelly Siskind
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: A+
What I’m Talking About:
Growing up as neighbors, Gwen never told her best friend August that she was in love with him. And instead, stopped talking to him in high school when he started dating someone else. After a year and a half of the silent treatment, Gwen drunk texts August on her birthday, which leads to a mistake that ends their friendship for good.
Fast forward nine years later. August is a full-time musician touring in Europe, and he never got over his feelings for Gwen. He returns home to see Gwen because he has an important message for her from her deceased mom. As one serendipitous event leads to another, the pair begin a 36-hour quest to discover the identity of Gwen’s father.
What can I say about Licks other than it is one of the best stories I’ve read? There are so many things that are perfect about this story, it’s hard for me to capture my emotions and thoughts in a review. Right from the opening chapter, I had all the feels for Gwen and August. Their history is gutting, and so relatable. And as I read each page, every chapter, I fell hard for August and Gwen. I was flooded with emotions and the need to keep reading because I had to know they would make it.
It’s always difficult for me to write a review of a book I just absolutely adored. How do I express why I liked a book that I connected with down to my very soul? But that’s just it… I found that I connected with every aspect of the story. Everything Ms. Siskind created resonated with me. The character’s emotions, from joy to despair, from heart ache to love… I’ve felt them all, and they are written so genuinely, so sincerely, that I experienced them along side Gwen and August.
While the romance is utterly emotional, both tender and gritty, the plot to uncover the name of Gwen’s father is captivating. The unexpected turns shocked me, taking my breath away. There are plot twists that feel as natural as they are surprising. And the whole quest gives Gwen and August a route to emotional clarity and freedom from their past mistakes.
The dual aspects of the plot—unrequited, unrealized romance and the search for Gwen’s father—played together perfectly, weaving and dancing around one another and together with sublime effect. Following the clues Gwen and August find in her mother’s diary leads the pair on a scavenger hunt, bringing them closer together as Gwen runs the gamut of emotions.
Licks is hands down one of the best books I’ve read. The characters come to life in an intense, emotionally packed journey that captivated me from the first paragraphs all the way to the closing epilogue. Gwen and August’s story will stay with me for a long time to come.
My Rating: A+ Personal Favorite
About the Book:
36 hours is a short spell when racing the clock.
2,160 minutes is an eternity for old friends to fall in love…
August Cruz is the only man I’ve ever loved.
He’s the one who got away.
He’s the one I totally screwed over.
Now he’s standing on my doorstep, nine years later, but he’s not the only thing that turns up. My mother’s lost diary is in my hands, and it might lead me to my father. A possibility I wished for one year ago, at my last birthday.
I have 36 hours to fulfill that wish.
I have 36 hours to drag August on a wild scavenger hunt.
I have 36 hours to protect my heart before I lose him again…because there’s something he’s not telling me.
Release Date: April 4, 2018
Publisher: CD Books (self-published)
Series: One Wild Wish #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): paperback (342 pages), e-book
Book Source: Blog Tour
Purchase Info:
Amazon
Reviews in the Series:
Legs by Kelly Siskind (One Wild Wish #1)
Stud by Kelly Siskind (One Wild Wish #2)
Licks is one of…
