Moonshine Kiss by Lucy Score & Claire KingsleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
When Work Gets In The Way
I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.
This is the third book in a continuing series. Each book deals with one couple within the same family/circle of friends, but there is an overarching plot told over the course of the series. There is no cliffhanger relating to the romantic aspect of the book, but the overarching plot is unresolved at the end of the book.
Cassidy Ann Tucker has loved Bowie Bodine since she was in kindergarten. Bowie is the older brother of her best friend Scarlett and they have always been a part of each others’ lives. When Cas was 19-years-old she thought she saw in Bowie the same feelings she had for him and she got her hopes up. Then he dashed those hopes when he told her to her face that he thought of her as a little sister. Ever since she has been looking for someone to love and be loved by in the same way her parents love each other.
Bowie has wanted Cass since she was 16-years-old and it was only the thought of being a creepy older guy that stopped him acting on those feelings. Just as he starts to cave and consider telling her how he feels, he decides that he isn’t good enough for her and tells her that he doesn’t think of her that way. By breaking Cass’ heart, he breaks his own. In the 8 years since the day he destroyed the idea of them as a couple, he’s never found anyone that can live up to Cass.
Cass is a deputy sheriff and her father is the sheriff of Bootleg Springs, a rather different undertaking to most small towns, as it has some very unusual town ordinances on the books, some of which were covered in the previous two books. As Cass is part of the investigation into the disappearance of a young girl 12 years earlier that got re-opened after her cardigan was found in Bowie’s deceased father’s house, they have to tread carefully around each other, because Cass doesn’t want to risk the job she’s wanted since she was a teenager not even for Scarlett and Bowie.
This book delves a great deal further into the disappearance, which is unsurprising given Cass’ job. There are police procedural elements to the book as well as the romance and family drama aspects. I really enjoyed the mystery part of this book as it really ramped up after the previous two books.
I also really enjoyed the conflict between Cass wanting to do her job well and wanting to support the people she cares about. It feels like she is forced to do a great deal of growing up mentally and emotionally through the course of this book. She has to deal with deep emotional conflicts that shake the foundations of who she is and who she wants to be.
Bowie is the vice principal at the local high school and he’s really made something of himself considering his very humble and unpleasant beginnings. However, he has to learn what is the most important thing to him, his desire to be a good guy and do the right thing or his love for Cass.
This book gives a much clearer picture of what life in Bootleg Springs is like. We also get a lot more information about the kind of life the Bodines had growing up as information about the case is uncovered and the relationship between the Bodines and the Tuckers is explored.
There are a lot of layers to this book and I enjoyed reading about each of them as they were peeled back. Reaching the end of this book has made me hungry for the next one as the investigation part of the storyline has been ramped up and as I’ve got to know the characters involved much more.
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