Generally when I review a book I only glance at the back cover blurb to get a brief idea of what the book is about. I want to have a bit of an idea as to the setting and plot but don’t want to prejudice my review in any way with expectations. Sometimes, even with just a glance, I read more then I wanted to and start a book with preconceived ideas floating around in my head.

The description of To Catch a Kiss starts with:

“Tony Sinclair is looking for a sweet Southern flower of femininity to raise their 3.5 children in the ‘Leave it to Beaver’ life he never had.”

One sentence and I’m thinking this guy has kids or is about to have some dumped on him, he’ll meet the career woman of his nightmares and realize either a) he didn’t really want June Cleaver to begin with or b) she really is June Cleaver just longing to give up her career and take care of him and his kids. That’s what flashed through my head. In this instance I was relieved to be wrong.

Tony Sinclair does express a thought or two about the kind of woman he’d someday marry but it’s not the focus of the book as the back cover suggests. He doesn’t have a ready-made family that needs a woman’s touch and he’s not actively looking for his June Cleaver. Both are facts that pleased rather then disappointed. What he is, however, is a macho cop who isn’t sure what to make of female special effects artist Jasmine ‘Jazz’ Taylor. His investigation into the theft of a painting from the High Museum has led him to Jazz. Her father Myles Taylor, a former art thief, is his chief suspect.

Jazz lives up to her independent sounding name. From a young age, she’s known that she couldn’t count on anyone but herself and that’s the way she likes it. She is content (okay, sort of) running her special effects business on her own and keeping a wary eye on her father’s doings. When Tony shows up looking for her dad she doesn’t think twice about disguising Myles as a woman and trying to get him out of Tony’s clutches. She fails. When Tony threatens to arrest her along with her father, Jazz works out a deal. She gets a week to prove her father’s innocence and then Tony can throw the book at her.

Jazz’s sparkling energy and the chemistry she has with Tony is what made this enjoyable. With every move Jazz makes in her investigation she is followed by Tony. The forced proximity works and makes for a fast, fun read. The fun would have been more of a delight if the creeping purple prose didn’t tend to overwhelm the reader. Tony met Jazz and he “wanted to brush his fingers against the smooth skin of her neck, to nibble on that small, sensual bottom lip of hers, brush his eyelashes against her own.” Brushing his fingers I can take, but his eyelashes? Is there a man on the planet who would have that thought? Or a woman for that matter?

Creeping purple aside, the lapses in plot were also problematic. A cop is probably not going to let a civilian run around on her own investigating a case, whether he’s with her or not. And for that case to be solved by said civilian (though FBI, Atlanta PD and museum officials are investigating) takes the plot well beyond my threshold for believability. Add to this the fact that Tony shouldn’t even be working the case because of his aunt’s involvement with his prime suspect (Myles) and you’ve just about lost me.

To Catch a Kiss is Karen Kendall’s second book and I haven’t read her first, but the energy she brings to her writing and characters is a true strength. Will I check out her third book? Maybe – If Ms. Kendall can get rid of some of the purple and match the strength of the characters with a stronger plot.