Kissing Games of the World – Sandi Kahn Shelton
In many cases, a good book isn’t compelling because of the plot. The quality of a book comes from far more than that. Of course, the plot is important, but Kissing Games of the World provides evidence that the plot can almost be incidental. When your characters are strong, and the journey from the beginning to the end of the book is undertaken with such care, you have the makings of a fantastic, difficult-to-put-down novel.
The reason I say this is that the plot of Kissing Games is relatively simple. Jamie, a single mother of 5 year old Arley, is house sharing with an elderly gentleman who is single handedly raising his grandson after his own son left. Harris, the grandfather, dies suddenly. Although is son, Nate, is now living the professional life of a salesman with a professional girlfriend, and a jet-setting and happy-go-lucky bachelor lifestyle, he is the only person who can legally now look after Christopher, his son. Nate and Jamie meet and their two somewhat dystfunctional paths come together.
I knew right from the beginning that the two of them would end up together – in a book such as this one, it is the only possible ending (I would have felt very betrayed if they hadn’t). What was so wonderful though was that although I knew the ending, I had no idea of how they were going to get there – and that is where this book came into its own.
The character development was impeccable. Neither character was completely perfect, yet neither was so flawed that you couldn’t forgive them. There were times when Nate seemed truly hateful, but he had to be in order for his development to happen. The interactions between him and Jamie were fraught with tension and misunderstanding, but never to the point where you wanted to say ‘for crying out loud, pull yourself together’. I really think this is why Kissing Games was such a pleasure to read – the events and people were so real that I honestly felt I was a fly on the wall, watching everything going on in real life. It was never once over the top, and never strayed into territory which made you suspend your disbelief.
Sandi Kahn Shelton has an ability to create a world in which real emotions cause very real issues. She has a mastery over the language so you could hear the characters both out loud and within. And she has a grasp of the damage that people experience throughout their lives and the effect it has on their future and others around them. I feel incredibly grateful that I was given the opportunity to review this book and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about people, and takes pleasure in being with them as they grow and change.
ISBN: 978-0-307-39365-4
Publisher: Shay Areheart Books (Random House)
Year: 2008
Date Finished: 15 January 2009
Pages: 383
