From USA Today Bestselling Author Kim Bailey comes a sexy story of forbidden romance.Can a kiss, or two, heal the pain of the past?Dylan McCoy wants his life back… or so he thought. He knew he needed to do right by his son, and figured winning back his ex was the first step to making that happen.Then, he encountered Chantel’s allure and Sean’s charming seduction.Two unexpected encounters now … Sean’s charming seduction.
Two unexpected encounters now have him questioning everything. Both are impossible to forget and harder still to resist. When pleasure for two turns to passion for three, Dylan finds his head spinning. Should he hold out hope for lost love to be rekindled or take a chance on an unconventional future?
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Illicit Kisses is a novella based on Dylan, who is Jamie’s ex, the father of their son, Hunter, and he is also a police officer. It is also the next book, Book 1.5, in the series after “Complex Kisses”. When we meet Dylan again, he is still trying to deal with his feelings for Jamie, even though he knows that Jamie is very much in love with Eric. He’s at a birthday party for Hunter’s 12th birthday, where Jamie and Eric decide to announce their engagement. After going inside to calm down and escape to the restroom, he has an unexpected meeting with Eric’s cousin, Chantal, and they share a very passionate kiss. Even though he is very attracted to Chantal, he knows that he would be a jerk to have sex with her, just after meeting her, in her aunt’s bathroom, at his son’s birthday party.
The next thing we know it’s New Year’s Eve, and Dylan has been invited to that same home where he hopes to run into Chantal again, but is informed by Eric’s younger brother, Caleb, who has become good friends with Hunter, that Chantal won’t be at the party. Hunter is at the party, which is why Dylan wants to stay. He doesn’t want to miss any more moments in his son’s life. But because Jamie and Eric are also there, and he has to watch them kissing, and putting their hands all over one another, he just becomes very jealous. All of a sudden he meets a very big man named Sean, who it turns out is a professional hockey player, and he starts hitting on Dylan. By the end of the night, when Dylan decides to leave, he sees that Sean is very drunk and so offers to give him a ride back to his hotel. On the way back, Dylan pulls the car over, and he and Sean end up kissing. After the kiss, Dylan becomes afraid, because in his small town, if anyone suspected that he, being a police officer, had an encounter with a man, that it could be the end of his career, and so he drops Sean off at his hotel.
The book continues throughout the next year with Dylan’s encounters with Chantal and Sean, and how his life changes, not just romantically, but as a father. I really enjoyed this book! Kim Bailey is a great writer and I really enjoyed how she presented each chapter in this book as a month. It got right to the point as far as what might be happening next, and also got right to the “good parts” of Dylan’s adventures. I’m very excited to read Book 2.0 in the series!
This is one fun, steamy, sexy read. If you’re looking for a memorable, complex hero that will keep you on your toes and have you beaming throughout the whole thing, you MUST meet Dylan! This is a novella but it gives you everything you want in an amazing book!
I binged this novella in one session. Dylan is trying to build a better life for himself and his son, he’s also trying to prove to his ex he’s worth another chance. As we know in life things don’t always go as planned. Second chance love stories are sometimes the best ones and this is definitely the case here. I loved the seriously hot chemistry in this book and I also enjoyed the emotional connection that is developing by the end of the story. I will definitely be looking forward to more books in this series.
HAF MM and MMF action in this book be warned – in case you’re not into that
Super hot! I did not like Dylan in Complex Kisses. I thought he was a total jerk and kind of arriving to the party late, while blaming others for his tardiness. This story if his had me totally changing my opinion of him. I still feel like he was placing blame at the beginning, but then as the story went on he stopped blaming and started making decisions and taking responsibility. I also like that he finally stopped worrying about what the rest of the people thought of him. As soon as he stopped caring, they all started noticing positive changes in him.
I feel like he still has some room to grow, but this showed a HUGE change in him and I was so impressed!
This novella came as a complete surprise to me! A good HOT one. I loved Kim’s first novel in this series, Complex Kisses. It was engaging, romantic, witty, sexy and introspective. That’s where we met Dylan, the gorgeous but obnoxious ex-boyfriend and father of Jamie’s son.
In Illicit Kisses, we get to know Dylan, and he’s really not obnoxious. He’s an upstanding guy struggling with the reality that he’s not going to have the family he envisioned. Dylan’s trying to find his place in Hunter’s life, proving he’s a good father in spite of other people’s perception of him. He’s also finding out who he is, what he wants, and how to get over the love of his life. His journey of self- discovery leads him to two very different people. Attracted to both, he moves forward. And those scenes are incredibly well written and freakin’ hot!
Kim Bailey’s writing sparkles, her depth for such a short novella left me wanting more. I’m looking forward to more of Dylan’s story down the line and I’m hoping he finds his happy ever after. I do recommend that you read Complex Kisses before Illicit Kisses so you can understand Dylan a bit better. I truly enjoyed this read and I think you will too.
Illicit Kisses (Here & Now #1.5) by Kim Bailey
Star Rating: 5
Illicit Kisses by Kim Bailey is a novella from her ‘Here & Now’ series, and is a prelude to Dylan’s book, which will be available later in the series. Dylan was first introduced in Complex Kisses (book 1 of the series; this is book 1.5) but having not read the first book, I was able to read Illicit Kisses without having formed any opinions of Dylan already.
I loved this novella from the get go and couldn’t put it down. I read it all in one go and there was so much packed into it. It didn’t feel like a novella at all and I can’t wait to read more about Dylan once his book is available. I’d also like to read Complex Kisses to see how Dylan is viewed by Jamie and Eric who both come across as a little selfish and inconsiderate when it comes to Dylan in this novella. I really felt for Dylan in this novella and was happy to read about how he realised a few things and started to think about himself after all this time. Personally, I don’t think Dylan’s a bad guy and after having worked so hard to change and prove himself, he deserves a break and to find someone who can love him for him.
I feel Illicit Kisses is about Dylan’s journey to rediscovering himself and what a way to do it! The sex scenes (both M/M and M/F) were hot and left me wanting more. They were so well written and you could feel Dylan’s struggle to let go and enjoy the moment after having spent so many years trying to be perfect and denying his own needs. I can’t wait to see where Kim Bailey next takes Dylan but I’m hoping she gives him someone to love who will love him in return and he gets all the opportunities he missed out on with his son, Hunter.
Would I recommend this novella? Yes, I would. I fully intend to keep up to date with this series as I love Kim’s work and need to know more about all the characters. This novella contains an exclusive excerpt from Fairytale Kisses, which is Caleb’s story, at the end and I will definitely be reading the book once it’s available.
I volunteered to read an ARC of this novella and do a review.