Closure, Kim Carmichael

This is my first Kim Carmichael book and it won't be my last. A very enjoyable, sexy M/F read. 

-Review by Kazza K

Riley and Mike.

When Closure begins, Riley Williams is waiting impatiently in an upmarket restaurant for an interview assigned to her, by her magazine editor, with a digital publishing entrepeneur. Once Riley looks at the name of the person she is to interview, Mike Taylor, a stored-memory-reaction kicks in. Someone that she has strong memories of, and connection with in her past shares that name. But what are the odds that it's the same Mike Taylor, I mean it's a common name, right? Of course it is that Mike Taylor and we get to know why Riley has the reaction to the name she does. It seems that Riley has reinvented herself. She was once Margaret, a young girl who stood out at school for being different, and also loved a young guy named Mike Taylor, who let her down and didn't show for an important date. It's fifteen years on and Riley still has strong feelings for Mike, it seems. She's now facing him again but he doesn't recognise her. They've both grown up, and while Mike looks a lot like he did, only more mature, Riley has changed considerably - no more heavy, unusual make-up, and out- there dress sense.

So, fifteen years on Riley still feels that magnetic pull she did as a seventeen year old, and Mike is also attracted to Riley. What is she going to do? Exact revenge for her hurt? Or have some fun with Mike, but then let him go? It can just be a fuck, surely? Perhaps she can get some closure and exorcise this 'ghost' of emotion still locked away inside her. Of course things never go as one plans, and Riley finds herself in deep again, as Mike is both sexy and charming. She starts out with a plan, but she is torn about it, because Mike doesn't know who she is. Should she reveal herself, if so when? Her plan suddenly doesn't feel right, still....fifteen years....

Things that I enjoyed -

There's some good dialogue, and I do love that -

The chance of this Mike Taylor being the Mike Taylor were about the same as her putting on a frilly yellow sun dress and sweet sandals, and going out for a night on the town.

She needed to order a yellow frilly dress, some sweet sandals and a tranquilizer. This was her Mike, the boy, now man, who destroyed her past. She'd never been the same since.

After fifteen minutes of discussing the world of digital publishing with Mike Taylor, Riley realized this man had absolutely no twinge of recollection of her.

I liked the journey the book took.

There's nothing like a second crack at someone that hurt you....or that you wanted so badly. But perhaps Riley is not so easy to persuade, but her inner-Margaret is -

"I want to take you out." He stepped closer. Getting this date was proving to be more difficult than securing investors.

"I made reservations at this restaurant and asked for an ocean view." He helped her up and laced his fingers in hers.

Her heart fell, landing in the centre of her stomach. She could only hope the poor organ would save itself before it drowned in a pool of acid. Flowers, a planned date, dinner on the beach, holding hands, this was Margaret's fantasy.

This books is very sexy, erotic. The phone sex scene was all kinds of yummy, same as the club - just that right combination of dirty words, a woman who knows what she likes sexually, a man happy to oblige, with a bit of exhibitionism/fear of being caught thrown in, mmm, mmm - loved it.

I have to say that I am a sucker for people holding onto love. Not so much in real life. But in fiction? Oh, yeah, it's a real hot button of mine, and it was pushed here.

Whilst Closure is predominantly from Riley's POV, you also get Mike's POV as well, which I liked. I wanted to know how he was feeling about things, particularly given he had hurt Riley when she was seventeen. I wanted to know he was a nice guy now, that perhaps it was all a misunderstanding.  I wanted to know he liked Riley, and I wanted to know how he would feel about what had happened when he recognised who she was. He did all the right things, in my opinion.

The title of the book, Closure, was a good one. Ms Carmichael tied it back to the storyline really well. Closure is important, but is it worth holding onto a grudge for? Sometimes things aren't always as they seem.

A couple of niggles -

The story of why Mike and Margaret, now Riley, parted as they did fifteen years earlier isn't fleshed out as much as I would have liked. I enjoyed the characters so I would have liked some more on that. I would have liked some more on the changing of 'Margaret' to 'Riley,' when it happened, and the importance of it for Riley.

The editing of typos, some redundant words, needed to be tighter. It's certainly not major, but sometimes it distracted me from the moment.

Overall -

This is my first Kim Carmichael read and it certainly won't be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed Closure. I raced through it, couldn't wait to see what would happen; because at times I thought the ending could go one way, and then I thought another. Closure was fun, easy to read, and very sexy. If you like an erotic M/F story with a female MC that likes her sex, and isn't afraid to take some control, a male MC who is a nice contemporary lead, characters that get a second chance with a first love, plus a HEA, Closure is highly recommended reading. Due for release November 23rd, 2012.


Please note: This book was supplied to me as an ARC in return for an honest review.