The Accidental Kiss

by Nicole Simone

[Cocktails and Books]

I'm going to be upfront, right here at the beginning, with this review. If not for the ending to this book, I would have rated this one higher. I loved the characters, the world building and the storyline. I thought the author's voice was engaging and kept me right in the story with the characters. But the ending of the book left me with my mouth hanging open wondering WTF just happened.

We meet Sky Noel as she and her mother begin the next chapter in their lives in Caster, Louisiana. It's her mother's hometown and she's hoping it's a place that will rid her of the ugliness she's been living since her best friend died in a car accident. Everyone at her new school is friendly, with the exception of the hottest thing since sliced bread, Daemon. He's rude, he's pushy and he's the only thing that's going to protect Sky from the evil coming after her.

We learn fairly early on what Daemon is and what he bartered in order to break free of the Voodoo Priest that holds his soul. But as Daemon protects Sky from those that want her blood and finds himself falling for her, I wouldn't help but hope their plan to rid themselves of the Voodoo priest worked and they release Daemon. Sky and Daemon balance each other. She humanizes Daemon, helping him to remember what he was before he was turned and he ground Sky, helping her realize how much more to her there is.

Nicole Simone gives us a fast paced, enjoyable read. I loved the characters and the setting for the story. But as I said in the beginning, the ending did me in. I was invested in these characters and what they were trying to do. When I reached the last sentence, I had to wonder if I maybe my review copy was missing something. Did the epilogue get left out? Is there another book coming that will explain how this ended? Of course, it's only now (as I write this review) that I see this is the first book in a series. So here to hoping, with fingers crossed, more will be explained in book 2.