Penny is 34 year-old married mom of a child genius with a successful husband, big house, nice cars, and she's miserable. Gavin is the man she has been friends with for 14 years, her best friend, and perpetually the one that got away.

This is a book about making decisions, some hard, some foolish, and living with them even when it feels impossible. It's a book that'll make you want to scream with frustration, sigh from sweetness, and cry from heartbreak. It's messy, just like life. And it's really, really great.

Oh my heart. Blind Kiss was an achingly beautiful tale of longing, loss and love. Friendship, family and forgiveness. I was hooked from the first page and as much as my heart was put through the shredder, it was worth every second.

It all started with a favor. Penny helping out a friend. A kiss....that changed their lives. Electrifying and confusing for both of them. And they both felt it and didn't know what to do with it. Penny in all her awkwardness. Gavin in all his randomness. These two were so different but on the inside, where it mattered, is where they were the same. Kind. Selfless. Hopeful.

This book spanned a lifetime for Penny and Gavin. One wanted friendship. One wanted more- just never at the same time. And back and forth it went. The push and pull, the fits of jealousy. The angst (my goodness the angst)! The heartache. And not just between Gavin and Penny. It translated over into the other relationships in their lives too.

I have to say that the alternating timeline of the story really made this book shine. To be able to go back and understand the emotional buildup to the opening scene, to learn why Penny and Gavin acted the way they did. How much they had fought through for their friendship. To keep each other in their lives just about broke me as much as it did them. Renee Carlino just has a way with her words that consumes you. That leaves you breathless and wholly satisfied while never wanting the story to end.

No one does messy, unsure and basically makes tragic mistake characters than Renee Carlino and her latest book, Blind Kiss is no exception. If there were two people who is as intimate and connected as any one true pairing could be then Penny and Gavin should be it. But sadly their relationship is a series of missed opportunities and bad timing all together. Blind Kiss reads like a tragedy with both characters meeting in their early twenties and after more than a decade seems no closer to being more than bestfriends despite the obvious feelings they have for each other. Penny’s decisions and Gavin’s behavior appear erratic and illogical which might drive readers crazy! But it really worked out well in the end.

ARC generously provided by NetGalley for an honest opinion.

This is my 3rd book by Renee and hands down my favourite! Once I started I didn’t want to put it down. I was absolutely hooked.

This book seemed real to me, things happen in our lives making us put others on hold. We push and fight what we sometimes really want because we are scared of what the outcome could be. We should do the “right” thing even if it’s not what we really want.
We play out all the what if’s in our mind and sometimes let the things that scare us most decide our fate. We sometimes let our fears lead us a little even when we know better. The unknown can be scary.

I also really liked how this book was delivered. It was told in sections, 14 years ago, 9 months ago and present. I loved seeing how it all began and how the choices they made lead them to where they were presently.

Penny, was a beautiful dancer and kept to herself, without many close friends to count on. She met Gavin in a Blind Kiss experiment that her one and only friend was conducting at school. She felt so much in that kiss but quickly placed him in the friend zone because at the time it is what she thought she needed more. When tragedy stuck Penny’s life, she was convinced she was doing the right thing by pushing for friendship only.
Gavin, I absolutely LOVED Gavin! He made me love this book a little more. He was loving and loyal to a fault but he loved and he loved hard. He was funny, easygoing, talented a bit of a playboy. He wanted more than Penny did but he took what she was willing to give and tried to make he most of it.

I have to say, Penny’s character frustrated me a lot! She was so back and forth, however I found her to be a little relatable. She made her choices (which I hated) but she lived with them, right or wrong.
I felt for Gavin though, he had always just wanted her, so he took her any way he could have her.
I did find that she kind of lead Gavin on for years but at the same time he was still doing what he wanted to do and still holding a flame for her.
Towards the end though, I found her to be very hypocritical towards Gavin. She was faulting him for the same choices she had made so many years ago. She was finally thinking she would get what she wanted but once again life threw some curve balls at the . She wasn’t going to be his everything anymore and it scared her.
I was however happy with the way things ended.

All in all I loved this book, it is a solid 4 stars for me!

“Can you have sexual chemistry without knowing what the other person looks like?” Penny agreed to be blindfolded, make polite conversation with a total stranger, and kiss him. She never expected The Kiss to change her life forever and introduce her to Gavin: tattooed, gorgeous, and spontaneous enough to ask her out seconds after the blindfolds came off."

First, let me just say, THAT KISS set up the sexual tension and slow-burn romance for this book. It was magical and soulful and I felt the ground shake a bit when I read it. It was intense and electric.

College students, Penny and Gavin meet when they both join a study in exchange for a coffee shop gift card. They planned to kiss their partner, take the gift card and move on with their lives. But once the blindfolds came off, Gavin didn't want their moment to end.

Gavin is an extremely passionate and kind person. He lives his life to the fullest, doing what he wants not what is expected. And asking Penny out seconds after kissing her was a risk he wanted to take.

Penny was driven and independent, she lived her life in an effort to prove her worth to others. Dating wasn't in her plans, however, a friendship with no strings was, and lucky for Penny, Gavin fell head over heels for her and was willing to take what she would give.

At times, I was frustrated with the storyline and infuriated with the Penny. I wanted to slap her. Seriously, she pissed me off. I couldn't understand why she would not take the leap and try with the man who was bleeding his soul to her. Her continuing to keep him in the friend zone made me ragey. But I was also equally as frustrated with the Gavin that he wouldn't develop a backbone and move on, instead of taking any form of attention she would give him.

That said, this back and forth provided this angst lover with all the feels and checked off all the boxes: Sexual tension? check. Angsty as hell? check. Friends to lovers? check.

I loved the concept of this story. The idea that you could find your soulmate by having one blindfolded kiss was intriguing. But, I would really have liked to have read this story with characters that were ordinary. Sure, that kiss may have knocked their socks off, but once the blindfolds came off, they were looking into the eyes of a gorgeous human being. How would things turn out if one or both didn't find the other person attractive?

The ending was beautiful and satisfying, and it made all the ragey, I'm-going-to-throw-my-Kindle-against-the-wall, moments worth it.

I've never read a Renee Carlino book that didn't evoke strong feelings in me, and in the case of Blind Kiss, I felt many, many feelings!

A slow-burn romance that's sure to make you 'feel', Blind Kiss is a story about what happens when you find your soul-mate when you weren't even looking!

Reviewed by Sharon Thérèse for KindleFriendsForever

Sometimes, describing a good read is difficult to put into words and BLIND KISS just happens to be on of them. I actually rewrote this review since I felt that what I’d said didn’t seem to merit this angst-ridden friends without benefits tale by a long shot. So after deleting it, I reread the book! And I have to say while consulting my notes, I discovered I’d highlighted a good part of Gavin and Penny’s story. Not surprisingly, those very passages, quotes, sentences and whole paragraphs not only brought back riotous emotions, but also left me with a meaningful message. Maybe you can’t see what's right front of your eyes, but it’s there if you look hard enough, and unless you acknowledge your true feelings, all is lost.

Now then, the question is whether or not a kiss with someone you have no relationship with however good or bad, is remembered. Even though there’s no romance attached, it can make us go weak at the knees and lead to something worthy of nurturing. The reverse we’d put down to experience, a growing up learning curve, perhaps? In the case of Carlino’s protagonists, one of them wasn’t too keen on the idea of being used as guinea pig in a blind kiss college project; the other didn’t need much cajoling to participate in a valid experiment. All said and done, the prize we can all easily relate to! Say no more...the story begins on a light note; however, don’t be fooled by this author’s creative purposes ‘cause she’ll put you through an emotional wringer like no other.

“We are friends, Penny. Best friends, remember? That’s why I’m telling you my whole life story.”

Nearly 20% into the read and the story's nearly present timespan changes and man, was in in for a surprise or what! Then it flips back to the past only to throw me off balance. I was absolutely bowled over by this story’s structure. It’s ridiculously easy to follow regardless of the back and forth, the ins and outs and more important, the main character's thoughts narrated in a dual perspective which I have to add, extended beyond any of my wishes. Another thing which caught my attention to the point of tears was how chapter one swung round 360 degrees towards the end. Ooh my, what a bloody excellent writing strategy!

“Are you trying to hurt me now?”
“No, you’re trying to hurt me by making me face these truths right now. Penny, you and I are not the same. Our lives are vastly different.”

I loved how open Gavin and Penny were with each other in their new friendship. His desires seeped off the pages, she had her reasons for not wanting to be more than his bestie even though her attraction for him was obvious from the start. I can’t even begin to say how much her uptightness frustrated me. Clearly, it wasn’t a cat and mouse game because bad timing and upsetting circumstances dictated their destiny. As time goes by, their brutal honesty with each other hurt me. Then, their unspoken words weighed heavily. Nonetheless, when Penny started living as she did, I was even more gutted. What the heck...she’s too damn considerate, too smart and put together to let the side down. Desperate worlds apart, I wanted them to be in one, to be whole, and the waiting seemed an eternity, an impossibility.

“You’re afraid if something happens, we won’t be friends?”

My goodness me, the songs Gavin sung literally broke me in two! What he couldn't say up front, he put to music and my soul cried out loud for him. His anchor, his everything, was Penny. She’d slipped under a current too strong to control and my heart shattered for both of them. Right, did I think she deserved to be on the pedestal Gavin had put her while he was living in limbo? Hmm...yes and no. I honestly don’t think she lived the pain he did. His patience and sincerity became his virtue even when I thought the communication between them had broken down in its totality. You’ll see Penny’s adult life after many years of that BLIND KISS is demanding. You’ll see jealousy, frustration, moments that take your breath away, what seems to be insignificance banter becomes so much more.

‘Ooh my, the song. Gavin sung what he couldn’t say and my soul hurt.’

Carlino’s character development is sublime, the storyline incredibly engaging. It’s one of those reads you shouldn’t start in the evening since putting it down for me was a no-no, so be warned. The dialogue that breaks boundaries will make you laugh, cry and scream out loud. Most of the book is taken up by it and keeps the story flowing at a pace which is fast in the right places, slower when it needs to be. I adored the secondary players...Lance kept me on my toes, Ling and her sound advice I found becoming regardless of her feminist ways. I’d really like to mention other folk but since I don’t want to spoil this read for you, all I can do is recommend that you read it and find out for yourselves. Ooh, and I haven’t touched on the ending. Should I? Of course not! One-click...you won’t regret it! BRAVO to the author for such an outstanding read!

I'm starting to think that Renee Carlino is a hit-or-miss author for me. When the books are good, they're really REALLY good. But sometimes they're...not good. And that was Blind Kiss for me.

I think it was the storyline that didn't work for me in this one. The writing is great, the storytelling kept sucking me in even when I had a feeling this whole thing wasn't going to work for me. There were moments where I felt myself softening toward it, moment that felt like that sweet swooniness I was looking for.

However, I couldn't shake my anxiety and irritation enough to really indulge my heart in the story. It kept pulling all the wrong feelings out of me - the ones I don't enjoy, and the ones that don't provide the escape that I hope for when I sit down with a new book. I had trouble connecting with the flashbacks (of which there were many) because I felt like I already knew the ending of their story and it wasn't a happy one. I felt bad for Gavin and I was afraid to allow my heart to connect with the story enough to see it through. Ultimately, and sadly, it wound up being a DNF for me.

*** ARC WAS GENEROUSLY PROVIDED BY NETGALLEY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW***

Let me start by saying that this was my first Renee Carlino book. Yes. Shocking. I have heard a lot about this author and I had pretty high hopes from this one. But, I am definitely with the unpopular opinion here.

This book was a Gigantic case of FRIEND-ZONED FOREVER SYNDROME.

Gavin is the guy who has earned 1.5 out of the 2 stars that I rated. He was the guy who sailed hard till the end before the ship sunk for me. (Fuck I'm being brutal :-( ) He was THE PERFECT GUY you could fall for. He was perfectly imperfect. He had his insecurities, his mood swings and manwh*re ways. But, he was the sweetest and the most understanding and rock solid guy in the book. He was funny and charming and could easily lift a sad person's mood. He was also extremely loyal and fell in love too easily. But, he had one weakness. PENNY.

Penny sucked the joy out of this book for me. She is the queen of bad decisions and stupidity that I have ever read. I understand that she was a teenager at the time some important decisions were made. But, fuck. On one hand, she was a lonely dancer, while on the other hand, she had kept two guys on the hook for years.

This book has 3 timelines. Present, 14 years ago and 9 months ago. Today, Penny is married to her husband with a 14 yr old genius kid, who is off to MIT. In her 14 years of marriage, she has been married to one guy and is best friend with another guy, Gavin. This book started with stupid insecurities and bad decisions and it went on like that for 92% of the book. This book is not a love triangle. But Penny and Gavin went back and forth (mostly Penny. She had friend-zoned Gavin so deep,it wasn't funny) God, I am so mad at her. She was the most insecure and indecisive character I have ever read. The smartest person in the book was her husband, who finally did the deal.

All this book taught me was to NEVER BE LIKE PENNY.

I am sorry guys, I know there are people in the world who have had to give up their love and make taught choices for the sake of your family. And I respect their choices. But, making these choices out of fear of being alone and not having the balls to end it when you know you are not happy, you shouldn't keep people on the hook for 14 years..

"Life will change and change again. You just have to find a port in this storm."

Renee Carlino is, without a doubt, one of my favorite authors. She writes with such depth of emotion and raw affection, that you'll find yourself getting lost in her words.

Blind Kiss is a classic tale of being friend zoned. Penny and Gavin have the type of chemistry that people wish for, yet Penny denies it in order to keep their friendship. She's afraid that giving in to temptation could lead to losing her best friend. So, she keeps Gavin in her perpetual friend zone.

"I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to keep you close."

The angst in this one is enough to stop your heart. I've never held my breath so much when reading a book. No joke... I am exhausted, emotionally, from Gavin and Penny's story. The sexual tension is so thick that I found myself thinking... if Penny doesn't want Gavin, I'LL take him. He isn't perfect, but he's honest and so friggen charming. We all have faults. You need to find those people who see the best in you, even on your worst day.

If you read one book this year, make sure it's this one.

Talk about a slow burn! This book had me all over the place emotionally. I was spellbound from the very first page and on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen next. It was full of heart pounding anguish that left my gasping for air. It was such a beautiful read!

I'm conflicted about this story. I did enjoy it and it kept my attention all the way through. Thats why I ended up giving it 4 stars. But this wasn't my favorite Renee Carlino book.

I will say this the 4 stars are definitely for Gavin. I absolutely fell in love with him....HARD!! As for Penny... I don't know what I feel for her. She isn't my favorite heroine. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way for part of the story. At one point I wanted to smack her upside the head and say WAKE UP!!

This was an unique story and for that I couldn't put it down. This is a friends to lovers story. There was so much angst and sexual tension in this story, I thought I was going to pull my hair out at one point. I will say this isn’t your typical romance story. This book is truly about friendship.

This is a standalone novel and is told in dual POV. This is also told in both the present time and through flashbacks of the past. I thought the way Renee wrote this story was great.  Although I will say that at times the switching got a little confusing. As for the ending...I don't know how I feel about it. I was happy with the ending but I also thought it was abrupt and kind of anticlimactic. I guess I just wanted more!!!

I know this review may sound as if I didn’t like this story much, but I truly did. My thoughts are quite jumbled up from this book and I just don’t know how to express what I am thinking very well.

I would recommend this book to all Renee Carlino fans. I think this is a story everyone should read. Also if you are a person who loves a story that is a slow burn, full of emotions and angst then this is the story for you.

Renee’s writing is always such an amazing emotional journey and I look forward to her words of love.

This is the ultimate story of push and pull. A love destined but fought.
Why was it not five stars for me...because Penny kind of irritated me but that’s also one of things I adore about Renee’s writing. A character you just want to shake gets under your skin and is part of the book hangover.

One moment in time can alter your entire life. One kiss and she found her everything but she was too scared to accept it.

A story of life, living and meant to be. A uphill battle to keep what you love in a little box only to be enjoyed in small does. A journey beyond feelings and into obligation. Love is a slippery slope with feelings, hearts and devotion. Renee offers a beautiful look with tons of angst and OMG

Recently I was gifted a beautiful box of chocolates with a French name to say “thank you.” Those chocolates were so good…creamy, decadent…ones I wanted to savor, and I hid from the rest of the family. I only allowed myself one as a special treat every now and then. This is the way I feel about Renee Carlino -- She is the savory, sweet chocolates of the Hershey world.

“Blind Kiss” broke my soul…not just my heart…but my soul. Gavin and Penny had a back-and-forth friendship for 14 years. Penny put Gavin in the place nobody wants to be…the friend zone. But Penny was in college, devoting her time and her future to being a dancer. She had aspirations and was not going to let love stand in her way. The only thing she had to give Gavin was her friendship. Penny knew in her soul that she and Gavin needed to be together, but she talked herself out of it.

I was scared we would become exploding stars if we gave in to each other. Our energy would be exhausted too soon and we’d have to float through space like lifeless rocks, bumping into each other, drifting through our own stardust.

Wasn’t that little piece of decadent chocolate delicious? The entire book is composed of words coating my taste buds with love, angst, heartbreak, soul break. I was left yearning for more, but I had to remind myself to slowly savor each morsel.

“Why can’t it be more?” I whispered.
She shook her head. I couldn’t read her expression. “This isn’t enough for you, is it?” she asked.
“I want all of you.”

My heart.. My soul… It hurts into my bones. This is how much I want Penny and Gavin to give in to each other. But Penny is so focused on her future. She can’t take the chance she will lose herself in Gavin. Gavin is full of charisma. She can barely keep him at the distance of her best friend. Life changes and it hits Penny hard, and even though Gavin said he would always be there for her, even he has his own life to follow and maybe the friend zone isn’t enough for him.

The moon, the sky, the stars, all the planets in the universe – they all crashed into me with one single, heavy thud.

Take my word on this book. It is so good. I can’t give it enough praise. It is everything I love in a book – the angst was A plus! The years of friendship and love makes it so satisfying. This is my favorite Renee Carlino book to date!

Penny is a suburban housewife living in a McMansion and feeling completing unsatisified with her life. On the outside, she has the perfect life--a 14 year old genius who is going to MIT in the fall, an attractive husband, volunteering at her son's school, yet nothing feels right. She loves her son Milo dearly. But he will be leaving soon for college. Penny sits outside of a Subway that used to be the ballet studio she studied at in her youth. She dreams of what could have been before her dance partner dropped her tearing two of her tendons and ending her dancing career.

Gavin has been in the friendzone since shortly after he and Penny participated in a psych study to help out Penny's best friend Ling. Gavin and Penny were blindfolded and asked to kiss to determine whether people can have chemistry without the physical attraction. Gavin asked Penny out immediately after the study but Penny needed to focus on her studies and dancing. But a decision Penny made her senior year changed their relationship.

Gavin has always loved Penny even after the decision she made that changed their relationship. Now, the table have turned. It's Gavin's turn to decide whether their relationship can be pursued or if they will forever be stuck in the friendzone with each other even though they both have incedible chemistry together. But horrible timing. Will Penny find that something to fulfill the emptiness in her soul? Will Gavin make the same mistake that Penny did 14 years ago?

Talk about angst galore. My heart is beating overtime after finishing Blind Kiss. Holy moly I’m exhausted emotionally after have experienced Penny and Gavin’s story. Their story is one emotional roller coaster. My primary emotion while reading Blind Kiss was frustration. I was frustrated with Penny and Gavin. Frustrated by their choices and of course because their story didn’t went where I wanted it to go but that’s also why I enjoyed Blind Kiss so much. Their fourteen years of friendship is filled with so much love and pain but despite their struggles they were always there for one another. As years went on they were never out of touch with one another. When it finally did happen it was because it was what they both needed in their life. To gain perspective and to be ready for their next chapter in their lives.

Their first meeting, the blind kiss is truly a remarkable and intense scene of human connection. Emotionally and physically. Wow. I felt their kiss and their connection instantly. Penny and Gavin were inseparable from that moment and a beautiful friendship was formed. Not only with one another but also with each other’s parents. Their dads played a very important role in both their lives. Their scenes were highlights of mine.
To watch Gavin and Penny holding back and not just say screw it all and try a relationship was excruciating at times because their love was so obvious but life always came in the way making years fly by but they always drifted back to one another. They truly were each other’s constants and best friends.

Blind Kiss is angst at its best. I really enjoyed Gavin and Penny’s story. I had my doubts as the story went on but Renee Carlino delivers flawlessly with a perfect ending. The last five chapters almost tore my heart out but that’s really what this talented author do best and I welcomed the hurt. The epilogue healed me and left me feeling content. If you want a story about unconditional love, friendship and angst then Blind Kiss is THAT BOOK.

4 BadAssDirtyLifetimeStars

Eh. That's how I felt reading this book. I'm a huge fan of this author but this one fell flat for me. The one thing that still worked for me is that Renee's writing is some of the best I read and although the story and characters were not my favorite her writing was still good and consistent.

This one just didn't pull at my heartstrings like all the other books this author has written. To be honest I think I was more annoyed and wanted to come through and shake some sense into the characters for the ENTIRE book. What is that? The back and forth between feelings, jealousy, not talking to each other, then talking to each other, and so on and on and on was hard to read and the timelines a bit hard to follow at times.

Gavin was by far my favorite and at one point I just wanted him to give Penny an ultimatum and make her grow up and take some responsibility in her feelings and the way she treated people. I think even I felt like he would be better off if he just walked away forever. I don't know that I have ever felt that way about a story.

I don't think I will say much more about this book. I think if you're a fan of this author then you will either love it or feel the same as I do. If you're new to this author I think your feelings could go anyway. I'm just confused I guess. I love this author though and will look forward to her next book.

Renee Carlino never disappoints me! This book felt so real and raw, and just so relatable. I loved the characters and could connect to both the main characters prettt easily. It had me laughing and my heart hurting at the same time. This was such a quick read and easily had me navigating between the last and present and different point of views. Loved everything about it!

I'm not going to lie to you, THIS. BOOK. KILLS. As I sit here writing this review, my heart is still pounding out of my chest. I'm a burning pile of fiery rage and shaky nerves and conflicting thoughts and intense feelings at this very moment and I dont even know how to turn all of that into a coherent review. This book is INFURIATING. It's MADDENING. It takes ANGST and sexual tension and raw emotion and catapults it into another realm. I don't even have words to describe how angry and sad and desperate this book made me feel. Sure, it's also deliciously romantic and slow burning but the fact of the matter is that the longing and the fury and the heartbreak on these pages fought for center stage and won. Blind Kiss is on another level of angst and I can't even decide yet if that's good or bad.


I don't for a second want to deter anyone from reading this book but I have strong feelings that all the reasons i loved this book are going to be the very same reasons other readers throw their kindles over it. I live for angsty reads that shatter my heart and infuriate me and make me want to scream. Angst is my jam. But even me, the angst addicted, drama loving, heartache craving reader that I am strongly recommends you stock up on alcohol while you read this book. Before, during, and yes, even after, you'll need a strong drink or nine to help you cope with the ULTIMATE roller coaster of emotions Renee Carlino will put you through on these pages. It's rough. It's brutal. It's worth it. 


This is a friends to lovers romance that will systematically shred your heart and soul through a proverbial meat grinder. Do I think you should read it anyway? Absolutely. Did I devour this book in one sitting? Yes, I did. Am I still angry about certain choices this author made on these pages? Hell yes. Will I sleep tonight? Highly unlikely. 


I'm still enraged. Even the sweet romantic sugary parts of this story have left me sore and achy and wounded. I suppose that's also what I loved most about it. All the things I hate about this story are also what I crave in a good book. I love to feel angry and torn and devastated and infuriated and lovesick and Renee Carlino delivers all of that. I also love when love prevails but the journey is impossibly difficult and unpredictable and riddled with pleasure pain and sensuality and drama. Blind Kiss checks all those boxes too. 


This book is going to have us all talking. This book is going to garner vastly different opinions. This book is going to haunt me. This book will hurt. This book is probably my new favorite from this author even though I haven't forgiven her for it yet. This book is gut wrenching and beautifully brilliant and shocking and full of the most tender moments and the most infuriating twists and you'll ABSOLUTELY feel ALL. THE. THINGS. I loved it and I hated it and that's also why I loved it so much.

Penny is in her last year of college studying dancing and has put all her focus into it. Her friend Ling who is a psychology major asked Penny to take part in test in which Penny will be blindfolded and kiss a man a complete stranger to see if attraction is visually only or can a kiss without seeing the individual make you still attracted to the person? This novel switches back and forth from present day fourteen years ago, months and is told from Penny and Gavin point of view. This story have every angst you can imagine. I was heartbroken angry sad and eventually happiness. Great addition to Ms. Carlino body of work. Review goodreads and amazon.

It's a tough task to explain how I felt about this book but not give anything away at the same time. Carlino is very good at describing emotions in a very raw, unmasked way. Her characters are always very special to me and she can do angst in spades.

"Blind kiss" is a tale of "what if" and "what could have been" in it's purest form. I think there is a point in everybody's life where we ask ourselves one or both of those questions. Sometimes the outcome is uplifting and we're glad things are the way they are. Then there are the scenarios that devastate us with a possible outcome so much better than the actual one was. In Carlino's new novel we get a very clear picture of two people trying to come to terms that if they'd have even taken one tiny step in another direction, blinked and looked away too fast, their fate might have been a whole different story. I'm only glad I'm not in their shoes.

There were times when I wanted to strangle the characters. Seriously, there is a fine line between good angst and angst for the benefit of angst. Yes, I'm aware that real life can throw you a curveball more often than not. But this whole story was the embodiment of heartache and unnecessarily caused angst. AND. That all resulted in a rushed ending.

I felt rather than enjoyed this story. The writing was excellent as always with Carlino. But I oftentimes felt the artificial drama was too much and my frustration too high. There were parts of the book that were 2 stars, then there were the rather 5 stars parts. So, I'll settle on 4 stars in total.

My personal feelings here should not prevent anyone else to read this story, I think Carlino is too talented of an author not to read her stories.