Just One Spark (The Kingston Family #4)
by Carly
Phillips
Blurb:
Until a very real
baby scare threatens to bring it all crashing down.
Dash Kingston has
learned his lesson and knows his hard-partying lifestyle needs to change. To
clean up his playboy image, he needs a fake girlfriend.
There’s just one
problem: the perfect woman for the job is a gorgeous blonde who once aroused
not just his body but his emotions, sending him running. And leaving her to
wake up alone.
For the band’s
sake, Cassidy Forrester agrees to play the girlfriend role, but she’s not going
to fall for Dash’s charm or sex appeal ever again.
Except this Dash
Kingston swears he’s a changed man, and he’s out to win Cassidy over - for
good. But only a fool would make the same mistake twice, and Cassidy refuses to
let their spark burn her a second time.
Themes: Contemporary
Rating: 4.5 stars
Heat Rating:
Review:
Sometimes
the life we live comes back to haunt us in the worst ways and the newest
installment of the Kingston Family series by Carly Phillips reminds us of that
in the best of ways. This series is one
that has tugged on my heart strings from the very beginning when it was spun
off from the Dare series and I have looked forward to each new story with anticipation
and fear that something heartbreaking would happen to this amazing family
again. Dash’s story actually started
in the previous novel and we have been anticipating the results of his missteps
and the rest of his story as well as hoping that he would find a way to
love. Carly Phillips has a skill with
her characters and storylines that has amazed and entertained her readers for
years but this new series is one that we just cannot put down and I for one am
happy to consider her a Queen of Romance. Cassidy and Dash have shared a
connection since they set eyes on one another, but their issues and fears have
kept them apart for far too long and their story is one of faith, trust and the rebuilding
of something that was broken in them both. I am dying for the rest of the
series as there were a few storylines hinted at in this book and we know that
Axel, Cassidy’s brother, will be getting his own love story soon. Another feather in the cap of the Queen that
will forever resonate in our hearts and minds as a masterpiece, for sure.
Dash
Kingston has been living the lifestyle of a Rock star for a long time as
the lead singer of the world famous Original Kings, but the time has come for
him to face the consequences of that lifestyle.
A pregnancy scare, the loss of the chance of a love he never knew he
needed, and the possibility of his past coming to light, leads Dash to make some
serious changes to his life. He had one
night with Cassidy Forrester and when he woke, his world was not the same and
his fears sent him running, leaving her angry and heartbroken in the
process. Now Cassidy’s brother is his
newest bandmate and she is temporarily assisting as the band’s PA and when he
is in need of a fake girlfriend Cassidy steps up to help the band, despite the
pain it causes her. Cassidy is in
serious transition with her life, but if playing fake girlfriend to the only
man she has ever felt deeply for will help her brother to succeed in his new
band, she will bury her feelings and take one for the team. But the more time they spend together, the
closer they get and the hotter they allow their relationship, the harder it is
for either of them to remember that the relationship isn’t real. Can a reformed bad-boy rock star really be trusted
to give his heart and fidelity to the woman that has captured his heart or will
they both lose the greatest love that has ever crossed their paths?
Dash
is the quintessential bad-boy with a heart of gold to be sure, but he has some darkness
in his past that has made him gun shy in a lot of ways, especially when it
comes to women. He knows that he made a
huge mistake when he left Cassidy the morning after their amazing night
together, and his life has not been the same since, but it take a serious scare
in his life for him to make the changes he needs to go after the woman who has
stolen his heart. I loved seeing Dash coming to terms with the choices that
have led him where he is, even if it was heartbreaking at times, and it was
obvious he needed Cassidy to show him that just because he made bad choices in
the past that didn’t make him a bad person.
There was some definite growing up needed before Dash became the man he
needed to be for Cassidy, but you could tell from the beginning he was
determined to show her that he cared about her and was devastated that he had hurt
her with his callousness. Dash stole my
heart almost as much as his brother did in the previous story as he found his
way out of the darkness and into the love Cassidy offered him. Cassidy has her own hang-ups that go deep and
she needed to find her way to trust and faith in order to give Dash her heart
fully. She has obviously been hurt in the past, not just by their one night
together, but getting over those fears and finding a path to offer her heart
was difficult for her. Even though she
felt the connection with Dash from the beginning and was willing to offer
herself to him, once he cast her aside, opening her heart again and returning that trust was almost impossible. I hurt
with Cassidy as she worked through the pain of her loses and found a way to
forgive and accept that the love Dash was offering her was enough to overcome
all of her anxieties and give them a chance at building a life together
forever.
Just
One Spark truly was a story of two people that are stronger together than they
ever could have been apart. Carly
takes us on a journey through heartbreak, overcoming past mistakes, and finding
forgiveness in order for love to develop for two people that have never
deserved it more. Dash was a great
character with all the heart, sweetness, naughtiness, and love that makes him fun to read and enjoyable to learn more about as he grew and changed
as he fell in love with Cassidy. Cassidy
found her ability to forgive and offer herself to those she loves without
holding back that last piece for self-preservation, which truly is the only way
to give love. The passion between
Cassidy and Dash has been off the scale since they locked eyes on one another
in the previous novel, but in their love story, when they slowly opened their
hearts as well, the heat became nearly unbearable. Their love story reminds us that while the
past has certainly shaped us all, we cannot allow it to continue to rule us and
that sometimes the only person that truly needs to forgive us for our mistakes
is ourselves. I loved watching these two people opening up to one another,
learning one another’s secrets, and ultimately falling in love so deeply there
is no doubt it will last a lifetime. I
am looking forward to Axel’s story in the next few months and of course there
is the lingering question of Dash’s sister Aurora, who I hear will be getting
her own fabulous story coming soon as well.
There is no end to the fabulous imagination of Carly Phillips and Just
One Spark reminds us that her reign as a Queen of Romance is in no danger of
coming to an end any time soon!
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