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A Kiss to Die For
Anne, despite her aversion to marriage, finds herself under the spell of and married to rugged bounty hunter Jack Skull, a mysterious man who is fast on the trail of a diabolical serial killer who is preying on beautiful and lonely women. Original.
368 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2003
107 people want to read
About the author
Claudia Dain
37 books99 followersIt was while writing a descriptive essay in seventh grade English (that was the assignment, to write a 'descriptive essay') that Claudia first fell in love. With descriptive essays. Boys being what they are in seventh grade, there was hardly much choice.
By her ninth grade year, Claudia was spending hours each week in her bedroom writing descriptive essays that heavily featured older boys (eleventh grade). She also practiced her kissing technique on a pole lamp next to her bed. It was less than satisfactory, but the writing was fun.
She attended the University of Southern California as an English major. She'd mastered kissing by this time and writing, strangely enough, was still fun. 'Strangely' because while it had become obvious to her that almost everyone enjoyed kissing, it was equally obvious that very few people enjoyed writing. This was as peculiar to her as, well, not enjoying kissing.
Clearly, something had to be done. The idea of combining kissing and writing seemed the obvious course of action. While Claudia does not claim to have invented the romance novel, she certainly has a lot of fun describing kisses and inventing men to bestow them upon. And not a one of her heroes looks remotely like a pole lamp. (And don't act like one either.)
Claudia was first published in 2000, is a two-time Rita finalist, and a USA Today Bestselling author. Which just goes to prove that you can make a career out of kissing and writing about it.
By her ninth grade year, Claudia was spending hours each week in her bedroom writing descriptive essays that heavily featured older boys (eleventh grade). She also practiced her kissing technique on a pole lamp next to her bed. It was less than satisfactory, but the writing was fun.
She attended the University of Southern California as an English major. She'd mastered kissing by this time and writing, strangely enough, was still fun. 'Strangely' because while it had become obvious to her that almost everyone enjoyed kissing, it was equally obvious that very few people enjoyed writing. This was as peculiar to her as, well, not enjoying kissing.
Clearly, something had to be done. The idea of combining kissing and writing seemed the obvious course of action. While Claudia does not claim to have invented the romance novel, she certainly has a lot of fun describing kisses and inventing men to bestow them upon. And not a one of her heroes looks remotely like a pole lamp. (And don't act like one either.)
Claudia was first published in 2000, is a two-time Rita finalist, and a USA Today Bestselling author. Which just goes to prove that you can make a career out of kissing and writing about it.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 7, 2015
I adore this book, it's one of my favorites. I've reread it multiple times. I really liked Anne, although there were a few times she seemed sorta flighty, I understood her reasoning. Jack? Jack is super swoon-worthy. He knows his way around a woman, and not just physically. I loved his protective streak. And the thoughts he had about Anne? Did I mention swoon-worthy? I liked Grey and Blakes, as well as Sarah and Nell, and Charles and in the end, I even liked Miss Daphne. I loved the parts with Sarah and Neil and Charles and Nell. It also had me laughing out loud repeatedly. It's got a great mystery that is hard to figure out, but doesn't detract from the beautiful and endearing love story. I very highly recommend. <3
"Anne, I'm sorry about your pa… all this time… all that waitin'." "All that time?" she said, taking a step toward him. "You were waiting for him. He was all you ever wanted. I know it, and I'm sorry," he said. "Jack," she said, her voice husky and soft. "It was you," she said. "It was you all that time, all those years. I was waiting… for you."
- Jack & Anne
'A woman liked a free rein to walk all over a man's life; the best thing a man could do was pick a woman who walked carefully.'
-Jack
He lifted his mouth from hers and trailed kisses across her face. "One of these days, I'm gonna kiss every freckle on you. That'll take some doing," he said, his breath a caress.
-Jack to Anne
"You'll never be alone again," he promised. "I'll never leave you."
-Jack to Anne
"Anne, I'm sorry about your pa… all this time… all that waitin'." "All that time?" she said, taking a step toward him. "You were waiting for him. He was all you ever wanted. I know it, and I'm sorry," he said. "Jack," she said, her voice husky and soft. "It was you," she said. "It was you all that time, all those years. I was waiting… for you."
- Jack & Anne
'A woman liked a free rein to walk all over a man's life; the best thing a man could do was pick a woman who walked carefully.'
-Jack
He lifted his mouth from hers and trailed kisses across her face. "One of these days, I'm gonna kiss every freckle on you. That'll take some doing," he said, his breath a caress.
-Jack to Anne
"You'll never be alone again," he promised. "I'll never leave you."
-Jack to Anne
March 18, 2012
DNF. I could only get through the first 120 pages then quit. It may have gotten better, but I came to conclusion that I just didn't care how this book ended or who the bad guy was. By the time I quit the book the hero and heroine were still hardly developed and had only exchanged a handful of meaningless dialog, and there wasn't anything in the story compelling me to care about these two. The heroine hardly spoke or interacted with anyone without just standing there like a fence post. Maybe it got better, but after nodding off twice while reading this book, I decided to move on to another novel I've been itching to read. I am sure there are many who would enjoy this slower paced book, but it was not for me.
February 17, 2025
A Historical western with a good serving of serial killer murder mystery and a side helping of romance.
🤠 Jack. Poor Jack, he couldn’t catch a break. He was such a good, good guy. He was a bounty hunter that he showed up in Abilene with a criminal he was delivering to the sheriff. These townspeople were awful though, constantly gossiping and spreading false information about him, assuming the worst in him and blaming every murder on him. I didn’t realize bounty hunters were such an outcast in the 1800s. To me, there’s a difference between a hired gun/killer vs bounty hunter/catching criminals. But not to the fine folks of Abilene, I was hoping for monster tumbleweeds to take them all out, but no such luck.
😘 Anne. Thankfully Jack didn’t pay attention to the nasty townspeople because he was too busy teaching Anne to stand up for herself and fight for what she wants, not what she’s told to do. Per Jack, “she was too polite to make a fuss over her own murder”. She was a sweet girl wanting to get out of her domineering grandmothers house and live life out of Abilene. Anne started off well enough but by the 90% she started acting a bit TSTL. Had a dog named Dammit.
“If you want me to kiss you," he said roughly, "ask straight out. I'm no Saturday night beau.”
“Kiss me," she whispered, her eyes downcast, wanting it. Dear God, she wasn't supposed to want it.
"Yes, ma'am," he said.”
I read this book as a challenge, “pick a book that’s been sitting on your tbr shelf the longest”. Well this has been on my tbr since I started GR in 2013 🫣. I went into the story blind, and right away the serial killer murder mystery is what kept me interested. (not the romance). I’m not one to read romance with murder mystery, but I loved how each chapter I kept changing who I thought the killer was. And I didn’t guess/find out until about 90%. So 4-stars for the murder mystery that kept my interest, and 1-star for the wishy-washy heroine.
Bingo Reading Challenge 2025
Square #24 - a book that’s been on tbr shelf the longest
Progress - 12/100
25 ┃🔴┃87┃13┃68┃40┃32┃59┃76┃44
10 ┃86┃04┃45┃47┃98┃50┃14┃85┃75
🔴┃🔴┃09┃🔴┃42┃🔴┃🔴┃92┃82┃🔴
100┃34┃17┃96┃43┃49┃64┃70┃15┃38
84 ┃31┃62┃07┃🔴┃73┃28┃46┃90┃77
03 ┃12┃80┃69┃52┃65┃54┃91┃23┃72
18 ┃95┃22┃99┃93┃🔴┃41┃08┃35┃58
57┃94┃16┃56┃05┃60┃78┃26┃81┃🔴
97┃🔴┃79┃67┃53┃30┃06┃🔴┃89┃33
71 ┃19┃39┃66┃55┃27┃20┃63┃11┃83
🤠 Jack. Poor Jack, he couldn’t catch a break. He was such a good, good guy. He was a bounty hunter that he showed up in Abilene with a criminal he was delivering to the sheriff. These townspeople were awful though, constantly gossiping and spreading false information about him, assuming the worst in him and blaming every murder on him. I didn’t realize bounty hunters were such an outcast in the 1800s. To me, there’s a difference between a hired gun/killer vs bounty hunter/catching criminals. But not to the fine folks of Abilene, I was hoping for monster tumbleweeds to take them all out, but no such luck.
😘 Anne. Thankfully Jack didn’t pay attention to the nasty townspeople because he was too busy teaching Anne to stand up for herself and fight for what she wants, not what she’s told to do. Per Jack, “she was too polite to make a fuss over her own murder”. She was a sweet girl wanting to get out of her domineering grandmothers house and live life out of Abilene. Anne started off well enough but by the 90% she started acting a bit TSTL. Had a dog named Dammit.
“If you want me to kiss you," he said roughly, "ask straight out. I'm no Saturday night beau.”
“Kiss me," she whispered, her eyes downcast, wanting it. Dear God, she wasn't supposed to want it.
"Yes, ma'am," he said.”
I read this book as a challenge, “pick a book that’s been sitting on your tbr shelf the longest”. Well this has been on my tbr since I started GR in 2013 🫣. I went into the story blind, and right away the serial killer murder mystery is what kept me interested. (not the romance). I’m not one to read romance with murder mystery, but I loved how each chapter I kept changing who I thought the killer was. And I didn’t guess/find out until about 90%. So 4-stars for the murder mystery that kept my interest, and 1-star for the wishy-washy heroine.
Bingo Reading Challenge 2025
Square #24 - a book that’s been on tbr shelf the longest
Progress - 12/100
25 ┃🔴┃87┃13┃68┃40┃32┃59┃76┃44
10 ┃86┃04┃45┃47┃98┃50┃14┃85┃75
🔴┃🔴┃09┃🔴┃42┃🔴┃🔴┃92┃82┃🔴
100┃34┃17┃96┃43┃49┃64┃70┃15┃38
84 ┃31┃62┃07┃🔴┃73┃28┃46┃90┃77
03 ┃12┃80┃69┃52┃65┃54┃91┃23┃72
18 ┃95┃22┃99┃93┃🔴┃41┃08┃35┃58
57┃94┃16┃56┃05┃60┃78┃26┃81┃🔴
97┃🔴┃79┃67┃53┃30┃06┃🔴┃89┃33
71 ┃19┃39┃66┃55┃27┃20┃63┃11┃83
February 10, 2023
Abilene 1873.
Bounty hunter Jack Skull is on the trail of a killer working the old Abilene Trail, tracking him north from Texas to Kansas. Jack has been tracking him through the dust and the desolation of lonely miles, determined to catch the man who kills pretty, lonely women, women who fall under the spell of a man's lying promises.
Jack rides into Abilene, a hard man on a cold trail, and Abilene, a town grown peaceful since the herds have moved west, just wants him gone. Jack looks like trouble, and Jack is trouble for Anne, who takes one look at him and falls hard.
The trouble with Jack is, he knows he's no good for Anne. The trouble with Anne is, she wants what's no good for her. Anne is tired of living such a careful, proper life. Anne wants a taste of the kind of rugged danger that Jack represents. Jack, a drifter, wants the brand of home and family that Anne is sick to death of.
They've got nothing in common, but the trouble is, they're hungry for each others' kisses. With a murderer on the loose and Jack distracted by Anne, it could be a kiss to die for.
Bounty hunter Jack Skull is on the trail of a killer working the old Abilene Trail, tracking him north from Texas to Kansas. Jack has been tracking him through the dust and the desolation of lonely miles, determined to catch the man who kills pretty, lonely women, women who fall under the spell of a man's lying promises.
Jack rides into Abilene, a hard man on a cold trail, and Abilene, a town grown peaceful since the herds have moved west, just wants him gone. Jack looks like trouble, and Jack is trouble for Anne, who takes one look at him and falls hard.
The trouble with Jack is, he knows he's no good for Anne. The trouble with Anne is, she wants what's no good for her. Anne is tired of living such a careful, proper life. Anne wants a taste of the kind of rugged danger that Jack represents. Jack, a drifter, wants the brand of home and family that Anne is sick to death of.
They've got nothing in common, but the trouble is, they're hungry for each others' kisses. With a murderer on the loose and Jack distracted by Anne, it could be a kiss to die for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2008
Wow. This was a truly great book. The twists were totally unexpected, several things occurred near the end that was just one shock after another. The characters were well-developed and extremely likable. And the hero's friends deserve books of their own. Unfortunately, Ms. Dain says that probably won't happen until western novels regain popularity...
I want to read it again...several times, in fact...maybe even right now... :)
(This review was written Nov 7, 2004)
Note: I did actually pick it up and read it again right after I had finished it. Although I already knew all the surprises and twists, I still loved it, still rated it a 5, and still enjoyed the suspense. It is an extremely well-written novel.
I want to read it again...several times, in fact...maybe even right now... :)
(This review was written Nov 7, 2004)
Note: I did actually pick it up and read it again right after I had finished it. Although I already knew all the surprises and twists, I still loved it, still rated it a 5, and still enjoyed the suspense. It is an extremely well-written novel.
November 22, 2009
In the beginning, I was sure it was Bill. But as the book progressed, I was leaning more toward the Doc>>> Now I'm not so sure anymore hehe.
A few days later: I JUST KNEW IT WAS DOC!!!!!! I had such a hunch about it... hehe
A few days later: I JUST KNEW IT WAS DOC!!!!!! I had such a hunch about it... hehe
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2018
You don’t often find romances willing to explore “timid” women, even in historicals. This Western historical romance tackles a timid woman who comes into her own by the end. In many ways, it’s not just a romance but also a coming of age story. Anne, the heroine, has a beautiful character arc and that was the part of the story I enjoyed reading most. Claudia Dain not only creates lovable characters, but characters that are accurate to their time period. This was a pleasure to read and I can’t wait to read Dain’s The Courtesan’s Daughter next!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews