Author: Tasmina Perry
ISBN: 978-075-535-8410
RRP: $29.99
Tasmina Perry is an exciting UK novelist who has had all her books become Sunday Times top ten bestsellers, and after having read Kiss Heaven Goodbye I can understand why.
This is another book where the Prologue takes place at the tail end of the story’s time line. This seems to be something that is happening a lot more often in modern novels, took some getting used to but I think it’s growing on me.
Kiss Heaven Goodbye follows the lives of four people who we come to see as inextricably linked. The story begins during a celebratory holiday on a private island paradise in the Bahamas. On their last evening events take an unexpected turn and we find our four pivotal characters in a situation that will change their lives forever.
A decision needs to be made that will have consequences reaching further than any of them could have dreamed. A decision that will shape their lives from this point forward, even though they don’t necessarily see it at the time.
Our four friends find that the aftermath of this event drives them apart. At the same time the secret that they share binds them together. Over the space of the next 20 years we watch as our four former friends grow and chase their dreams. We follow their successes and their failures and ride along as they come in and out of each others lives.
Kiss Heaven Goodbye is an emotional story of the damage a split second decision can do; to lives, to friendships, to relationships and to all the decisions that will follow. An interesting look into the lives of the uber rich and famous, all the things that money can do.
The event at Angel Cay may have damaged our cast quite significantly but it also gave them the drive and ambition to achieve amazing things in their lives. Travelling the world almost from end to end but never finding another place as tranquil or as beautiful as their early unsullied memories of Angel Cay.
Miles and Grace Ashford are the teenage progeny of Robert Ashford, head of multinational company AshCorp. Having found that nothing is good enough for their father they stop aiming to impress, and Miles has discovered that bad behaviour is one sure fire way to get Daddy’s attention so what more reason does he need to party harder.
Miles is confident and arrogant but the more we get to know him, the more I think it’s just a very strong shield he’s put in place to portray that image and protect himself. Grace is very clever but quite introverted, always a little afraid that it’s only Daddy’s millions that attract people to her so she hangs back a little more.
Sasha Sinclair, gorgeous girl from a more middle class family than she would ever admit. Girlfriend to Miles and working for a proposal to ensure that she never has to return to the small family home her mother has taught her to be ashamed of. Determined to marry into money and become a supermodel.
Alex Doyle, a talented musician, is only at the exclusive boarding school on a music scholarship. Best friends with Miles and soaking up the opulence that he would never be exposed to without the friendship. Secretly attracted to Grace but afraid of pursuing her because if things don’t work out he could be ejected from the lifestyle Miles has introduced him to.
All young adults just embarking on the journey through life until the last night at Angel Cay when they are changed for life. One night that changes the directions of their dreams and sees them achieving a greatness they would never have imagined. A journey that I was unable to stop following, always finding it difficult to put the book down and come back to my real life.
And then came the twist, a twist that I never saw coming (which yes, I realise is the whole point of it being a twist). That was the moment this turned into a compulsive page turner. Glued to the book, devouring every word, trying to piece it all together. Nicely written and well thought out.
Finished with a happy ending, always a must, that demonstrates how things will always turn out the way they are supposed to – even if the route you took to get there was not quite ‘according to plan’. 20 years of hard work and running sometimes brings you right back to where you started, especially if that’s where you were always meant to be.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!