Saturday 19 September 2015

Book Review - The Last Kiss Goodbye by Tasmina Perry

Amazon UK
Title: The Last Kiss Goodbye
Author: Tasmina Perry
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Headline
Publication Date: 10th September 2015
Rating: 4 Stars


Everyone remembers their first kiss. 
You never forget the last . . .

1961. Bright-eyed young journalist Rosamund Bailey is determined to change the world. When she meets dashing explorer and man about town Dominic Blake, she realises she has found the love of her life. Just as happiness is in their grasp, the worst happens, and their future is snatched from them.

2014. Deep in the vaults of a museum, archivist Abby Morgan stumbles upon a breathtaking find. A faded, old photograph of an explorer saying goodbye to the woman he loves. Looking for a way to escape her own heartache, Abby becomes obsessed with the story behind the image. And when she finally meets the woman in the photograph, she unravels a devastating tale of love and loss. And a shocking secret buried in time...

I was slightly disappointed by this book.. not by writing which is fabulous, not even really by the story which I did enjoy, but by the fact Tasmina Perry has gone from writing glamorous blockbusters, to a different style of book, which although still had a mystery element, also had a historical element to it too, and I'm just not a fan of history.  I haven't read The Proposal yet, or I may have picked up on the change in sub-genre. 

That being said I did really enjoy The Last Kiss Goodbye, I much preferred the contemporary chapters of Abby's story, to some of Ros's chapters in the 60's. But yet you needed to know and feel properly for Ros, to fully understand and care about the mystery in this book. 

It is all about the story behind a photo that Abby finds while curating an exhibit about famous explorers. She finds a picture that she calls "The Last Kiss Goodbye" which is the star of the exhibition, and is a photo of explorer Dominic Blake kissing his fiancĂ©e Rosamund Bailey goodbye, before he went off on a fatal trip into the Amazon rainforest. 

During Rosamund's chapters we discover how Dominic and she meet, and the events that led up to that fateful day. During Abby's chapters we see a young lady who is having a tough time. She a few weeks previously had discovered her husband had cheated on her, and she becomes obsessed with this photo. She tracks down Ros, and decides to try and investigate into Dominic's disappearance and death, so Ros can get closure after all these years. 

The story flowed really well and the characterisation was brilliant. I suspect it was just me that's didn't really get on with part of a book set in the 60's at the time of the Cold War. There is though a very well described trip to France, and a fab trip to St. Petersburg, so although Tasmina Perry isn't writing about many exotic locales now, she still fits in a few great places. 

I found the end reveals to be gripping, but the ultimate surprise to be just slightly underwhelming. Although I didn't guess it, I found it just felt a little flat. That being said the last quarter of the book flew by without me noticing my surroundings. 

A very good book, by a fabulous author, that I loved. 

Thanks to Headline and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

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