Bonus Kisses

A young woman cares for her dying sister and finds herself struggling with romantic feelings for her sibling's husband in this novel. When Natasha Boran, the free-spirited misfit of her family, receives word that her sister, Nicky, is dying, she heads immediately from her job in Africa to her hometown of Eminence, Missouri. Natasha, also known as Taz, has been in Congo, working for Doctors Without Borders and trying to forget the rift between herself and her family. Nine years earlier, she found herself falling in love with her sister's fiance, and rather than destroy Nicky's future, Taz high-tailed it out of town before the wedding. Although Taz feels she was misjudged and unfairly maligned by Nicky and their parents, when she learns her sister is dying, all sour feelings are instantly forgotten. When Taz gets to Missouri, she moves in with Nicky; her husband, Rafe; and their two young kids. As Taz and Rafe nurse Nicky through her final days, many of Taz's old feelings for him come rushing back to her. She slowly begins to question whether Nicky might actually be trying to push Taz and Rafe closer to each other. Meanwhile, the sisters' mother is constantly stopping by the house, berating Taz for her every choice and making emotionally trying circumstances all the more difficult. Told in alternating voices from Taz's and Rafe's perspectives, Barker's story delves deep into the pain the protagonist feels at losing a sibling and her confusion over how to handle her feelings for Rafe. The chapters narrated by Rafe feel more topical, focusing mainly on his attraction to Taz and his struggle to resist his yearslong yearning for her. With angry parents and a terminally ill sibling, there are many intensely emotional moments throughout the tale as well as some surprisingly spicy sex scenes. Reading as both a family drama and a romance, this story tries to accomplish a lot. The result is a sometimes-disjointed narrative in which characters' emotions flip on a dime. Even so, the relationship between Taz and Rafe feels sufficiently authentic and compelling that readers will keep turning the pages to see how the tale ends. A tear-jerking romance well suited for fans of complicated family dynamics and unlikely affairs.

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