The Elevator Kiss

by Amina Thula

It’s Christmas Day and Sindi has been invited to her friend’s stunning new apartment for dinner. She finds herself in the elevator with a handsome man in a blue cotton suit. Their impromptu kiss under the mistletoe ignites unanticipated desire. Edward - successful, urbane and effortlessly charming - is determined to win Sindi over. But Sindi, a spirited, independent woman is focused on rebuilding a life for herself in Cape Town after a disastrous break-up. Edward is the last thing she needs.

Or so she thinks.

When Edward turns up at her office, Sindi has no choice but to work for him on a big and important project. And it’s not long before they are sharing much more than a kiss beneath the mistletoe….

A steamy romance set in the beautiful city of Cape Town, The Elevator Kiss follows the journey of love between an ambitious young woman and her irresistible man.

Genres: Africa

ebook

First published December 15, 2014

Reviews

[Siziphiwe Ngxabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the thrill, smiles and anxiety

This was a really good story. I loved it. Loved the characters. It had complexity, yet it did bit have the frivolous details that generally detract from the story line. I am most certain I will think about these characters every time I see strangers in a lift, or my Ghananian brothers. It would make a great movie or short TV series.

[jossy · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay but why was this book so juicy and sexy—and FOR WHAT?!! love! a perfect short read for romance fans!! also, read this for an african women’s lit class so must mention how important it is to have a black love story that can center around love! seriously so fucking good.

[Jeka Fraser · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could give half stars this would be a 3.5 stars for me, I really did like this book. This story is about a two people who meet and share an amazing kiss in an elevator because "mistletoe." It turns out they are headed to the same party and have mutual friends who'd love to play matchmaker. Edward the hero is rich, handsome and into her right away which I loved. Sindi is not so easily convinced she has trust issues that play into the final conflict. Sindi was beautiful of course and was extremely competent in her work, the best at what she did which I always love in the story. I'll start with where the story fell flat for me so I can end on the high notes. The book was not edited as well as I would have liked there were several typos and even a word missing in a few places. The dialogue felt stilted to me at times, but that definitely could have been me. I felt like we were told that Edward had gone from lust to love and that Sindi had gone from weariness, to like, to love rather than shown it. Sometimes I felt like there was a little bit of slut-shaming - the heroine even slut-shamed herself, but that could also be my perception. Sometimes that POV changed abruptly. All that said... here is all the great stuff.

The story and plot are pretty solid. I felt like both characters motivations for things and the choices that they made were completely reasonable based on their personalities and life experiences. I totally understood Sindi's trust issues and she was able to grow throughout the story. Edward was flat out swoony, but makes mistakes and she holds him accountable, loved that. He does do something before they are an item that some romance readers might get upset about, but it didn't bother me and made sense to me that it would happen.

Despite the writing and editing concerns above I did like the writing for the most part. There were several turns of phrase that I liked and highlighted and the author excelled at description. An example I particularly liked: "His voice reminded her of whisky; it had the same richness as the colour; the same smoothness as the liquid and it invoked the warmth of a mouthful." is that not a sexy voice description- SWOON!

Also loved the descriptions of setting, landmark references were laid in very naturally and I was able to picture where everything was happening (after some googling). I also loved all the side characters, they had great personalities of their own and did just what good side characters do- help move the romance along. Overall I did really like the book and I will recommend it to people and read more from Ankara Press.

[Literary Everything · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. If you like your romance stories steamy, pick up a copy of this book. Beyond the sizzling chemistry in this book, Amina introduces us to the life of high flyers in Cape Town, South Africa. There’s a lot written about work, dinners, parties and networking but we also read about the everyday life of the working class like Sindi, her intern, Ori and her colleagues. Listen to the full audio review here http://literaryeverything.com/2019/11...

[Beshi Madwatte · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Starss! I needed a feel-good romance story and I got it. The chemistry...amazing! I liked their love was tested and that the heroine wasn't just some damsel in distress.

I only started exploring African authors recently and this was an enjoyable read.

However, I ended up not liking Edward as much as in the beginning because of the technicality he was standing on about Sasa. I will learn to forgive him but right now, the wound is still fresh haha.

[Amaka Azie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed Sindi and Edward’s love story.
Set in SA, the story tells us about Sindi who was left at the alter by an unfaithful fiancé. She develops trust issues and even after she meets Edward, she is unable to relax and enjoy their relationship. Easy to read, enough angst to keep me interested and a nice ending. A lovely African romance novel.

[Hloni Dlamini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to reading more from Amina Thula. Enjoyed this sweet sweeny novel