I hate to do this! And I mean hate it! I loved Sweet Thing and Sweet Little Thing. So I jumped on this book right away when I saw it on Netgalley.

Oh boy...ok.
The book started out pretty slow. But I powered through it. And once we got to the kiss I was all in. But I have to admit that I never warmed up to Penny's character.

-I had a hard time throughout this book with mostly Penny wanting to just be just friends with Gavin.

-I had a hard time with all the games Penny played. Especially with Gavin.

-I had a hard time with Gavin being with lots of women.

It just didn’t make any sense to me. It was all unnecessary drama. All those years wasted.
I really don’t like books like this. It just gets me so mad.

Unfortunately....This book wasn’t for me.

I really liked Before We Were Strangers but Blind Kiss was just ok. It started strong with a unique meet cute but faded as the main characters were kept apart due to foolish decisions. Quick beach read that ultimately didn't deliver. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

I am new to this author and I was not disappointed. Great read. Actually read it in 1 sitting. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

REVIEW: 5 STARS
"I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to keep you close."

I know a love triangle is not everyone's cup of tea. In fact, I see very often that it's vehemently denied by many as a trope they're willing to read. However, it's high on the list of my favorites, if not the favorite trope for me. No, I'm not a cold hearted woman that loves a cheating partner in her books. Quite the contrary. In truth, I seek the emotional challenge of a story that, if written well, can make me empathize with the characters that are questioning their relationships and what is drawing them to another person. The reason that they can't stop their heart from pulling them towards someone else. I like the mental and moral challenges that need to be worked through because the decision isn't an easy one. It's that why that is very important to me. Because in a black and white world, there is always some gray. There is always another side to the story, whether we agree with it or not. That's the side I like to listen to. I want to feel it. I want to hurt for those characters and feel that pain they are going through.

Case in point with Gavin and Penny. It's not how it appears, yet it is exactly how it appears. It also depends on how deep you want to get into their story - take it for what it's worth, or dig deep and find out what is actually happening. The emotions were real, the pain was evident, and the implications were broad. There was so much to work through that my mind was racing with every possible outcome - good and bad. In the very beginning, after originally only getting one side of the story, I was honestly shaking my head. I thought Penny was a raving lunatic!! Here I am wondering how I'm going to get through this book with a heroine that has literally lost every single one of her marbles. But as I got deeper into the story, I saw how her emotions warred within her mind. How she tried to protect her heart, but found out that was a mistake of epic proportions. I loved seeing that part tear them up inside, singularly and together. Because the reality was, they were inseparable and she couldn't deny it no matter how hard she tried. It was a love that was intertwined deep within the fabric of their friendship and the lines were smudged....blurred beyond recognition.

Gavin was everything you could ever want in a friend, but wanted even more in a lover. Patient, kind, funny, smart, playful...he had it all. He skirted every realm of perfection....with very evident imperfections. He was the devoted friend that you could call on anytime, the one that would always be by your side, but he also fought for what he believed in, even if it was to the detriment of his own heart. His conviction and his personal truths about his love for Penny was unreal. There were many layers to these two, and that gave their characters a depth that worked well in this story. The pull Penny had on Gavin was just as strong, if not stronger than the pull Gavin had on Penny, but they were never on the same level playing field at the same time. That variable added many other conditions to contend with. The emotions were real, the pain was evident, and the implications were broad. There was so much going on and so many challenges to work through that my mind was racing with every possible outcome - good and bad. I'll admit I was scared from time to time, but I loved this book so much. The journey was incredible. Painful, but incredible.

This book will probably rub many wrong, and I can totally understand why. Many will question why Gavin and Penny couldn't just be together - why the back and forth. But I was able to see the reasons and the emotional dilemma they provided. I was able to connect with the characters and their fears. I was able to understand why the barriers to their love were real - whether in their mind or a truth in their world. I loved this turmoil, this torture and anguish they felt. It was all consuming and heartbreaking and I soaked it all up! I read straight through this one and couldn't put it down - completely hypnotized not only by the storyline, but by the intensity between Gavin and Penny. So so good. So good.

I love the discussions that come from stories like this because the variables are great, and the opinions even greater....

There's something to say about the depth of one's love and the lengths they will go to for said love.

"I know, but it hurts to be this close."
~BEE

It's not what you look at that matters. It's what you see.

- Henry David Thoreau

I just finished Blind Kiss and am filled with all kinds of emotions. I want to cry at the beauty of the story. I wanted, at times, to shake Penny’s tree while trying to understand her motivation for the choices she made through fourteen years with Gavin. Gavin was a constant friend in her life, always loving her, always trying to comprehend her decisions, always wanting her to set free her love for him.
It is a moving tale of detoured love that moves over the years on parallel roads that you want to converge but not knowing if Gavin and Penny will meet in the same lane or continue on side by side forever.

LOUISA'S 4 BLUSH REVIEW
Once again Renee Carlino gave me a book that captured me.  This is one hell of a SLOOOOWWW burn.  Penny and Gavin had a friendship that began on the first day of college and well into their adulthood.  The push and pull of this relationship was a force to watch and to be reckoned with. Penny's decision to "friend-zone" Gavin from the start begins the rollercoaster of this magnificent relationship.

OHHHH...the angst in this book is of epic proportions, and I know a few friends that thought it was too much but for me, I am an angst whore - a book that makes me scream and cry and want to throw my kindle across the room is the book for me. Some may hate this book for that reason alone, some just can't handle the back and forth, but I thrive on it.

Love can often be a whirlwind but sometimes is a journey. Blind Kiss is all about the journey for Gavin & Penny.



Sandy's 4 Blush Review
Penny and Gavin's first meeting was a blind kiss. Two strangers wearing blindfolds kiss for the sake of "science" in exchange for a coffee gift card. Neither one could have imagined that the instant chemistry would bind them forever.

After finishing Blind Kiss I had to lay down! Emotionally, I was spent after being taken for a very long ride on this Angst Express. Truth be told, I wanted to smack Penny in the head! At the same time I wanted to hug Gavin. She could have spared everyone so much heartache. Instead she kept trying to save something, mend something, fix something that never should have been.

Gavin was always there in the periphery much to the frustration of Penny's hubby. I don't blame the guy for wanting to hold on to his family. He saw what was obvious to everyone else but Penny.

I loved the strong father figure relationships here. It was one of my favorite parts of Blind Kiss.

The relationship between Penny & Gavin ebbed and flowed like the tide. Inevitable, recurring and constant - no matter what. Thing is everyone got hurt in the process. EVERYONE! If we are supposed to feel when we read this story, we'll I felt plenty. Frustration being paramount. Then it all changed because I desperately needed these two hearts to be together.

I am a huge Renee Carlino fan. However, I did not like Penny and that definitely affected how I feel about Blind Kiss. At the end, I still wanted to smack her. Kudos to you, Renee, you broke my heart and then put it back together.

People who are meant to be together find their way back. They may take a few detours, but they’re never lost.
~Unknown

I didn’t know what to expect with Blind Kiss by Renee Carlino because, like the title, I decided to blindly read this beauty. It didn’t take me long to become ADDICTED to this heartfelt tale. I didn’t know what to think at first as this story stripped me bare as it bared itself to me—so raw and so real that it left me reeling inside. I did know one thing soon after reading: This story is as stunning as it is somber—SO UNEXPECTED —but an epic journey that surpasses all expectations. It’s so SPECIAL. Deep, devastatingly beautiful, and brutally honest, Blind Kissis a journey of COMPLEX LOVE and forever friendship, a touching tale of fate and fire felt with every word.

I was scared we would become exploding stars if we gave into each other.

Blind Kiss bravely shows the beauty among the broken in a heartfelt tale that kisses the soul. This touching and truthful-feeling tale of friendship on fire transcends time. Raw and real, this story reads like a diary with characters you’ll connect with so closely that their journey feels like yours. Gavin and Penny are perfectly imperfect but perfection together, and I felt their story as if it were my own. I was CONSUMED with Gavin and Penny’s story—so raw, so real, and so riveting—that I found myself cheering for these soulmates to connect as one. Their journey was well worth the wait. A slow burn that simmers to perfection. I was smiling through my tears and didn’t want Gavin and Pennys’ story to end.

”I’m looking at you. I always see you.”

This is not your ordinary love story. It’s a hard-fought journey that will frustrate you as it hurts your heart while filling it with hope—gripping you with its achingly honest words—but it’s a tale that you’ll call EXTRAORDINARY by the end. Blind Kiss is brilliantly written. Words shine through like sunlight slicing through a cloudy day in this somewhat sad but soulful and stunning story. So TRAGICALLY BEAUTIFUL with a bold edge that dances across the pages. Blind Kiss’ theme of true love finding a way—transcending time and obstacles—is hopeful and heartfelt. Renee Carlino leaves us pondering second chances at life and love in a time-transcending Journey that is evocative, raw, and at times breathlessly heartbreaking but oh so brave and beautiful.

“I don’t think we’re exploding stars at all. I think we’re constants.”

💋💋💋💋💋 fiery, fated, and forever kisses

A MUST-MEET ROMANCE!

From an blind kiss experience, Renee Carlino provided an heartbreaking but so beautifully story about love and friendship, showing a way of creating closeness between strangers, an undeniable chemistry. Putting on paper something that a few people had experienced; true love in all its forms.

Something that I could feel, almost palpable, bringing emotions to another level. She played with my emotions and I had to say, after finishing reading Gavin and Penny’s journey, that I wouldn’t have it another way. What a journey… and I felt content.

What about sharing with a stranger a striking and sizzling moment, that you knew would change your life. When Gavin and Penny met in the most unconventional way, it took me one kiss, that kiss to make me fall in love with them. I knew I would be tormented and losing it at times, but it was a worth the emotional torture. My heart broke so many times I lost count.

I didn’t see it like a sad story though. Maybe a little I admit. I believe in strong connections and the author made an incredible work to make me experience it, through the good and the bad times, about these two best friends who shared something so deep and passionate and somehow lost themselves in the way. Just trying to survive in a world when they would be always be gravitating around each other. Being constant all along the way even if they didn’t end together.

Throughout the years, the fragments of their lives were pulling back together but the choices they made put that distance, to fight for so long about their feelings, afraid to ruin what they shared. Even it drove me freaking insane at times, I could get it. To take the risk to take that leap of faith, leading with so many « what ifs ». A complex and angsty relationship, blurring the lines at times. A bit selfish sometimes. Like they couldn't help somehow to hurt the other, even intentionally. Terribly honest. An chemistry like no one else.

The heartbreaking part was definitely reading about soul mates who didn’t end together, seeing the other living his life, unhappy. But I knew that one day, they would find their way to each other.

I went through such a range of emotions. It told a tragic and romantic story that showed how true love looked like, reflected by Gavin and Penny’s POV. Something definitely not perfect, shattering but felt incredibly real to me.

They made my heart race and I’ve been like holding my breath all along the way, being caught up into this whirlwind story. It wasn’t just about a love story, it was so much more.

I love the premise of this story and I was totally on board with the scientific part of being pulled to someone else by intense chemistry. The execution, however, didn't work for me. The choices Penny and Gavin made, denying their chemistry and attraction, made for a long, drawn out read that left me feeling frustrated whereas I wanted to feel invested. I found the ending abrupt which was disappointing as well. I will say her writing is very good and as this is my first read by Renee Carlino, I'd be willing to try her next book or an older one.

Every once in a while an author will come along that grabs my soul with her words and doesn’t let go. His or her books call to me and stay with me long after I close the last page. I’ll find myself thinking about them days, weeks, months, even years later. I’ll often pick them back up to flip through them and read my favorite passages, or to get lost in the characters stories time and time again. For me, Renee Carlino is that author. I first read Renee in 2016 when she released Swear on This Life. . I had preordered it for the release day because I liked the cover and I’d heard good things about her previous book. When I arrived, I removed it from the wrappings and sat down to read the first few pages and then I was determined to get back to work. I had things to do! Before I knew it, those few minutes had turned into an hour and then that hour into several. I read the book in one sitting, never once sitting it down or getting up for a drink. I was mesmerized by the writing, and the story unfolding before me, and I knew then that Renee Carlino was talented beyond even my wildest dreams. And that leads us here to today, so I can talk about her newest release Blind Kiss.

For authors I already know and love, I never read the synopsis. I love going in blind and not knowing anything about what I’m reading. That’s exactly how I read Blind Kiss and it was perfect because nothing about the story was given away. I was surprised by everything, and I loved it. And hated it (in the best way possible). If I could use one word to describe Blind Kiss, it would be frustrating. I was frustrated with the characters, their choices, the story line, and everything in between. Not a bad frustration. More like one of those “Why is this happening???? I can’t figure this out???” That frustration is what makes Renee’s writing so spectacular because it completely hooked me. I certainly couldn’t put this one down because I HAD TO KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. There’s a mystery that surrounds this story that left me wanting as I raced towards the end of the book.

If you like angsty books, that keep you on your toes, and fantastic writing then this is the book for you. It’s worth it just for the relationship between Penny and Gavin. The feelings that these two have for each other ripped open my chest and burrowed deep into my psyche and it’s there that they still reside. I haven’t stopped thinking about this one for days now, and I don’t know if I ever will!

Loved the premise. I mean I read the description and was all on board and the first few chapters in I was optimistic, but soon things just dragged for me and became so frustrating that my eyes ended up hurting from all the eye rolling they were doing. Penny and Gavin just ended up irritating me because they were their own worst enemies and refused to break the cycle they were in and I blame them both equally for all that they put each other through. And as for that ending? I could have used a little more on that. It was just too quick and easy after everything and just did not work for me.

The one bright spot for me was Penny’s son, Milo. He rocked.

I can see why some absolutely LOVE this book. I see it. It’s all kinds of angsty goodness, it just wasn’t my kind of angsty goodness in the end.

This is a friend-to-lover/second chance romance. Penny and Gavin’s relationship started out with a chance experiment in college – a kiss share between two strangers blind-folded to answer the question whether one can have sexual chemistry without knowing what the other person looks like. Well, the theory proven to be true because spark flied and chemistry ignited after the two’s initial kiss. The chemistry is undeniable. Gavin and Penny became friends who flirted with a little romance but at the end Penny decided on platonic friendships. Fourteen years later, Penny’s life is in disarray. She is stuck in a failing marriage and experiencing emptiness syndrome when her son leaves for MIT. Gavin is still single, tattooed, sexy, and gorgeous as ever. Over the years, Gavin and Penny remained close friends who lean on each other through hard times. Gavin feels that fourteen years were time wasted and he is ready to find out whether what they had long ago was faith that can florist into something beautiful, real, and long lasting.

I got to say, you need patience reading this book. It was obvious Gavin and Penny were soulmates from the start but the stars were never quite aligned. It is frustrating to see the misoportunities, the push and pull, the nonsense dates, the ongoing sexual tension, and their indecisiveness. Penny and Gavin relationship can be described as angsty, intense, tumultuous, complicated, passionate and completely addictive. What a rollercoaster ride!!! Sometimes I just want to shake one or both of them and demand they get their sh*t together and stop torturing me It takes a special talent to write story that infuriate you, make you want to quit, but at the same time consume all your feelings (I mean ALL THE FEELS) and attention from beginning until the end. Said person is your truly, Renee Carlino <3 Over all, Blind Kiss is a unique, emotional, and beautiful love story. Hang on tight for a wild ride but the journey will be so worth it at the end.

Here's the thing about this book - it had so much hype about it and I'm sure that a lot of readers are going to tout how great it is...IF you like angsty books. I just don't care for those angst-ridden books that leave you going "what did I just read and why did I spend my Saturday afternoon reading it?" It's as simple as that.

This one was a DNF for me. Way way way too much angst for the sake of angst. Having said that, I do think this would be popular with readers who want a steamier Nicholas Sparks. So there's absolutely an audience and I think Ms Carlino could be a huge star soon.

The tone for this whole book was longing and yearning. Wanting the person you can’t have. Loving this person but staying within the confines of a close friendship. Years and years of this. I felt my heart constrict as I read this book, hurting for these two souls.

The book is written in dual POV’s and in different time frames: current time, fourteen years ago, nine months ago, three months ago, back and forth. Yet, the author does a brilliant job and ties it all together seamlessly and I never got confused. The information is given in a timely manner and I loved that nothing is held back, so we learn everything as it happens. It was a great book to read, even as my heart was wrenching.

Penny and Gavin met in University when they participated in a psychology study about kissing a person while blindfolded. Hence, the title. When they kissed, Penny swooned, he was that good a kisser. Then when they remove the blindfold, they had such a great connection that Gavin instantly declared Penny his best friend. Before Penny, he was a player; now he met Penny, he wants to take care of her, protect her, love her.

Penny was very driven and ambitious; her sole purpose in life is to be a dancer and she subjected her body to strenuous work preparing to be the best there is. She didn’t have time for boyfriends, so Gavin was firmly situated into a friend zone.

Then life happened, and Penny couldn’t realize her dreams, and through a series of missed opportunities, bad decisions, short tempers and impulsivity, Penny ends up married and pregnant to another guy and Gavin just ended his relation with a crazy girlfriend.

We live the incredible love this couple has for each other, limited to best friends, but a love that transcends the bounds of Penny’s marriage to Lance, Gavin’s many girlfriends and travels around the world. They are always there for each other, and are loyal to each other above everyone else.

Gavin was dramatic and impulsive, but I found Penny to be emotionally congested. First, the dedication to ballet, then the loyalty to a marriage that was based on duty instead of love. She was loyal to everyone but to herself. She felt like a ghost, not a vibrant woman who would stand for herself. All the missed chances, all the miscommunications where she insisted on the status quo, and all the time there was Gavin wanting, yearning, longing for all that Lance had. It broke my heart.

All the books I’ve read by this author have been very intense. This book was no less. I read it in a state of anguish (totally enjoyable), waiting for this couple’s HEA. I just wanted to bash their heads so they could get their act together and do it sooner rather than later.

This unfortunately wasn't my favorite Renee Carlino book. I felt a disconnect with the characters and their intentions. I have read and loved almost everything Renee has written, but this one wasn't for me.

I absolutely love Renee Carlino but this book wasn't for me. It frustrated me at times and though the writing was as always subline the story itself had me loving and hating it.

This book was such a flurry of ups and downs. Angst on steriods, well from a cute story to this I felt like a roller coaster of emotions. I have to say among the author's books this is the one that's like vegemite to me either you love it or hate it. But her writing is still strong and will pull emotions from you. Some annoying some good a lot compelling, the characters are definitely something.

While the start is cute it is a tedious and frustrating but connection that formed from Penny and Gavin. Despite the angst level, the feels are strong with these two. They prove that chemistry can be found in the dark, they become best friends but you feel something more there just waiting to be found. From college they have that different friendship. In all that time I just wanted them to just figure it out even years later.

I'm happy we get both PoVs here cause that long a friendship sustained is hard as they exemplify. They have their own struggles and dreams, they deal in contrastingly. It gets exasperating how they keep missing and other points in life it sucks. They make choices that just make things worse it gets antagonizing. You know they're right for the other and you want them together. Yet they can't make get it right. It takes patience they aren't ready to find that elusive happy ending.

I had my one of my rare l to throw my Kindle but not really moments a few times over the course of this read but heck the end feels like relief. The theme for Gavin and Penny is why do you have make things complicated no for real though when you have some rare connection it may not go one way of another life's like this. Ok that was odd but that's how it felt. As well as hard to rate cause yes it was all emotional but also had moments you just want to hulk out. It's a long love story that is a journey in itself, while I love a good friends to lovers theme this is next level.


If you like gritty and angsty, I know many look for that heart stomping, nerve wracking kind of read from time to time look no further. Renee Carlino's stories will make you wondering what happens next and alternating times and builds up a while but the ending is worth it.

BLIND KISS is a tremendous, angsty, heart-stopping ride of a lifetime.
Where love, loss and that oh so electrifying energy will pulse through your veins. Leaving your heart bleeding at certain points pulling at your inner heartstrings! Just an utter beautiful marvel

Coming off more than a few less than stellar reads in a row, I've been in a major book slump recently and was pretty convinced that nothing was pulling me out of this one. Then my savior came along. From the moment I picked Blind Kiss up until the moment I reluctantly put it down, I was hooked by this convoluted, complex, and wholly consuming story.

I'm not sure there's going to be much middle of the road when it comes to opinions on this one. It seems to me it's a love it or hate it type of read depending on whether you can separate a fictional story from your own intense personal beliefs. I have to say, there is nothing that bugs me more than hearing someone talk about a book and say, "Oh, I hated that book because the heroine ate a big steak, and I'm a vegan!" or "I couldn't stand that book because I love cats and the hero was allergic!" But what about the story? "Oh, the story was fine, but I just couldn't get past the erroneous use of plastic bottles."

I believe in reading a story and basing my feelings about the book, as a whole, on the quality of writing, the depth of story, the capability to not only hold my interest, but to keep me yearning to find out more, and yes, finally, the characters themselves and my connection with them. On that note, did I agree with all of these character's actions and choices? Not by a long shot. What was going on was mostly inappropriate, nowhere near as open and honest as they may have been professing or had convinced themselves, and I found myself siding with something Penny's mother had once accused her of which she found hurtful and was unwilling to accept or acknowledge, because honestly, it had to have hit a little too close to home.

Despite these personal feelings, I could see why it was so hard to stay away, why they felt possessed to behave this way no matter the consequences, and the root to the feelings and behaviors compounded with some really bad choices even sometimes made me feel bad for everyone involved. I just simply cannot deny that no matter how frustrated I grew, how sad the situation made me, or how much empathy I felt for the other side of the story, from the very first page I found myself preoccupied with everything about this story, unable to put it down, and totally and utterly addicted.

If nothing else, this is a really fascinating look into a whole different way of life, way of thinking, way of conducting yourself. If you can separate yourself from your own moral beliefs or disapproval of someone else's actions, you are guaranteed to be gripped by the connection, ensnared by the back and forth between past and present as you struggle to understand where things went wrong, and completely absorbed in this unique and tumultuous story.

Talk about evoking emotions! If you love the should-we-or-shouldn't-we, the oh-so-close, or the forbidden, you have definitely got to read this book. Will this story make you feel all warm and fuzzy? I wouldn't count on it. At least not for quite some time. Will it bring tears to your eyes? Maybe, but not in the way you would expect. Tears of joy, not exactly, tears of relief, maybe. Will it frustrate the hell out of you? Absolutely. Seeing what is right there before everyone's eyes and wondering why things just couldn't work out the way that they should, near miss after near miss, will have you pulling your hair out for sure. If that isn't one of the most visceral reactions you can have, I don't know what is.

Blind Kiss is a very different sort of story from a favorite author, not one that I was expecting in any way, but it was a very pleasant surprise and one that just proves just how incredible and evocative of a writer Renee Carlino truly is. Calling all angst junkies, this is exactly what you've been looking for!

*complimentary copy provided by publisher for an honest review