Kiss Me, Kate

Madison Girls #1

by Mari Carr

Who says she can’t start over with the bad boy?
Blindsided when her husband skips town with another woman, Kate jumps at the chance to help Rick, a DEA agent whose latest case finds him in need of a house-sitter. Soon, Kate and Rick begin starring in each other’s lust-filled fantasies. When Rick exposes Kate to his darker, dominant needs, he quickly realizes she has a few untapped fantasies of her own.
Problem is, after her failed marriage, Kate only wants a physical relationship. She’s terrified of losing her heart–which is exactly what Rick wants. They reach a sexy compromise. One that involves explosive, no-strings sex.
But only for now. Because Rick isn’t going to stop until Kate is his forever. And he’s not above seducing her all the way there.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance, Ebooks, Fiction

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2008

About the author

Writing a book was number one on Mari Carr’s bucket list. A New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller, Mari’s computer is now jammed full of stories — novels, novellas, short stories and dead-ends.
Mari writes contemporary sexy romance novels. To learn more about her spicy stories, click here.
Join her newsletter so you don't miss new releases and for exclusive subscriber-only content.
Find Mari on the web at
maricarr.com
Email: mari@maricarr.com

Reviews

[Cyn Mistress Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a truly great story. This is the best one yet of Mari Carr's. A 5++
Kate is a broken woman after her cheating husband literally cleans out the house and the bank accounts and leaves town with his girlfriend. She has no where to go except to live with her sister in a tiny apartment and feels so bad about herself and unloved once again because of her slimy husband. When she has a chance to housesit for 2 hot DEA guys while they are away on a long term mission, Kate jumps at it. She and one of the guys Rick proceed to email each other over the course of 8 months and really become close and care for each other.
I loved this story because Kate is such a strong, loving person and you can see her pick up the pieces of her life and become confident and independent. She and Rick fall for each other during those emails and I liked that it wasn't an overnight love like in so many books.
When Rick comes back, he and Kate begin a very physical affair and even though Rick would like to make it permanent, Kate struggles to maintain her independence.
What great characters and I also liked Wes and Jill and foresee a HEA for them.

Just did a re-read and still loved this story.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (5/16/2020)! 🎁

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick but hot and fun book. I liked the characters and the whole thing felt very realistic. Can't wait to see how Wes and Jill make out (hee hee)

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chubby librarian turns into small town hottie over the course of a year while housesitting a farm house and exchanging emails with out-of-town DEA agent. Very, very nicely done - usually these stories seem to happen over the course of a week or so, and the fact that the development of the relationship between Rick and Kate occured over the course of a year, via email, was very realistic and engaging. A very good read - I look forward to more by the author.

[Heather in FL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. I loved the building relationship through email. I loved it when they got together in person. It was just a great falling-in-love story. Pretty hot, too. I wonder if there will be a follow-up with Wes and Jill? Or maybe there already is? As usual with a Mari Carr book, there's also lots of humor.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. Kate's struggle to turn her life around and get to a point where she was happy to be herself and with what she was doing really resonated with me. I think most woman can empathize with how a bad relationship can really mess you up for a while, even if it is a good thing that it is over. This story starts out with Kate who is recently separated from her cheating husband showing up at Rick and Wes house to house sit while they are away on a lengthy assignment. Kate starts out lacking confidence and being very unsure of herself. Over the year that the guys are gone Kate starts to really rebuild her self confidence and develops into a great character. While gone Rick emails Kate almost every day and they start getting to know one another. I love that their relationship developed over time and wasn't just a one week whirlwind affair that instantly turned into love. Before coming home Rick decides that he will pursue Kate on his return because he thinks she would be a great match/ wife for him. I did laugh out loud though when they had the "where is this leading" conversation and it was Kate to say she just wanted something casual with no strings sex and it was Rick who wanted more. According to the book Rick has always been quite the ladies man and it was funny to see the tables turned on him like that. I will definitely read this book again.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Kristen Ashley ruined me for other contemporary adult romance. This is the 3rd book in a row I've not gotten into at all. Flat and formulatic. I feel like I don't even know the characters. If this is 'edited' up books, I'll pass.

*sigh* Guess it's time to hit some of the paranormal or YA's on my to-read list.

[Ginette · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was an OK read, hot scenes, characters were OK, storyline was OK, I just felt it could of been more....again just my opinion

[Debra Johnson]

Prch Amz May 16, 2020

[Talltree · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Deb Diem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kiss Me, Kate is a fabulous contemporary romance by Mari Carr. Ms. Carr has provided readers with a
well-written book populated with a stellar cast of characters. Kate is in the process of divorcing her cheating husband. Tired of living with her sister she tries for a job house-sitting a house she already loves. Rick gets a kick out of Kate and her quirks and gives Kate the job so he and his roommate can go out of the country without worrying about the house and their dog. Rick and Kate's story is loaded with drama, humor, sizzle and just a little action. I enjoyed reading this book and totally loved the humor in it. I look forward to reading more from Mari Carr in the future. Kiss Me, Kate is book 1 of The Madison Stories Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate is soon to be divorced from the town lawyer and is looking for work and a place to live. She finds a job taking care of a homestead for 2 bachelors because they are getting ready to go on a mission for a long time. She moves into their home and does little house repairs, takes care of the land, plants a vegetable garden and continues through correspondence to keep them informed of what is happening in their small town. She and Rick fall in love through the letters and decide to continue living together. Her ex husband enters the picture and starts beating her up, Rick enters the house and stops the assault. They have a few hurdles to overcome and with a little work and understanding they make leaps and bounds to their happy ever after.

[Melinda Hennies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sizzling Fun

Kate goes to house sit for Rick and Wes and little did she know that emailing Rick would led to having feelings for him.
Rick looks forward to the emails while he his is away on assignment
What he didn't know was how he falls for Kate. He knows she has had a hard time but finds that he wants her and has decided he will have and keep her.
Rick shows Kate she can trust him and can learn alot from him!

[SandyL · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Kate's husband leaves her with nothing, Kate is relieved to take on a job house and pet sitting for Rick and Wes while they are off on assignment. Rick is a DEA agent and doesn't want to leave his dog in boarding! While away, he and Kate strike up an email friendship which each is hoping might lead to more. Although I liked this story well enough, I didn't enjoy it was much as some of the author's other books. Still, it's short and sexy and and easy read.

[BJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The h ends her marriage with low/no self esteem, and needs time to recover. She going to house-sit for the H and his friend, and we see her mature via emails she sends to the guys over a year or so. She's updating their house, walking their dog, losing weight and finding out more about herself. He's slightly kinky and she plans to use him as her first lover. He has something different in mind. It was a sweet story, with a little edge, but the h had too many tropes, a Mary Sue. Ugh!

[Shannon Vaughan-Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sweet

This is one of the sweetest stories I have read in a long time. I love how these two come together by unconventional means and surprise each other in more ways than one! Can't wait to see what happens next!

[Judi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate goes through a great awakening

A heartfelt story of woman who gets out of a bad marriage and goes about rebuilding her life to something she can be proud of. This easy to read tale is written in such a way that I could truly identify with Kate. It was a lovely sexy read.

[Dar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sweet, and had an innocence to it, then it got really heavy, before it balanced out. Great characters, good build-up, and set-up for the next story!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, sexy read. Plot, characters, writing, everything just worked.

We have a recently divorced heroine who's putting her life back together. And a hero who decides that he's ready to settle down. I love that neither character had to change for the other. They built a relationship over time by getting to actually know one another. Kate wasn't your typical wishy-washy, doormat heroine. She took control of her own life and I love that she would have been the same with or without Rick.

I've been reading a lot of books that have been sitting on my Kindle. Because they were published five or more years ago, some of them haven't held up well. I'm happy to say that this book, although published in 2014, holds up very well. Kudos to Ms. Carr for writing a romance novel that, even after seven years, feels modern and doesn't leave me feeling like "Damn, we should have known better."

[☽ Rhiannon ✭ Mistwalker ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because I thought it would be about a chubby heroine, but she was only 20 lbs overweight, and then lost all the weight pretty quickly in the beginning. I don't really like the books where the heroine loses weight, really; why can't she have been awesome and beautiful and complete when she was chubby? (Not that I think that 20 lbs "overweight"is chubby, really.) It was cute and I liked it well enough, but it just wasn't my thing. Despite liking it in the bedroom, I can't seem to get into BDSMish erotica. (2.5 stars)

[Tami czenkus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVE Rick and Kate in this story, what starts out as being a favor for both characters turned out to be oh so much more than they both could have wished for.
The connection and chemistry is off the charts but the emotional connection is one made from getting to know someone on a completely different level.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good book! Loved Rick (H) and Kate (h)! Loved how Kate changed herself for herself and not for someone else, loved her confidence and totally understood her reluctance about getting into a serious relationship with Rick. Liked Wes and Jill as well (will grab this book too) Sex **

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a quick read but I did not feel like part of the book was left out. Can't wait to read the next one in this series. I would have liked to see more done to punish the ex husband though. Well written and a great story line.

[Karen Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

First book I've read by this author.

I'm not sure if I'm just burned out but this didn't quite do it for me. Characters were great, I'll probably read Wes' story.

Story was pretty direct. No stupid surprises.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another sigh worthy story from Mari Carr. I love the characters, setting, emotional growth.. all of it.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

review coming soon

[Laura's Book Addiction · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read with a lovely premise

[Aelliana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new favourite Author!!!!

[E_bookpushers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining read. Need to find the sequel. I think this might be a re-read but can't be sure of that.