The Comeback Kiss
by Lani Diane Rich
Published by Warner Forever
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Reviewed by Jilian Vallade
The Comeback Kiss is Lani Diane Rich's fourth book and it revisits a popular character from her second book, Maybe Baby.
Dermot "Finn" Finnegan comes back to his hometown, Lucy's Lake, to return an item he took with him when he left ten years ago. His plan is to leave the item where it is be sure to be found (and returned) and hightail it back to New York City before anyone in Lucy's Lake notices his return. Unfortunately, a suspicious fire in a pet store throws a monkey wrench in his plans.
Tessa Scuderi just wants to make sure her sister Izzy makes it to her 18th birthday without any mishaps. Following their mother's death ten years ago, Tessa has fought for custody of her sister and she isn't about to let anything (or anyone) jeopardize her goal. When her first love, Finn, returns unexpectedly, Tessa must find a way to keep him from screwing up her plans.
Izzy knows that there is something suspicious about the night her mother died, she's just not sure what. When Finn, the town's bad-boy-turned-hero returns, Izzy decides to retain his services as a private investigator to uncover the truth.
The Comeback Kiss is about the reemergence of a past love in Tessa's carefully structured life, and the havoc caused by Finn's return. The night Finn left town was the night Tessa's world changed. Now that he's back, Tessa needs to figure out how, and if, he fits into her life again.
Oftentimes contemporary romances have suspenseful subplots that detract from the main romance, but the mysterious fires that have been occurring in Lucy's Lake are anything but an extraneous subplot. The author superbly blends the fire investigation and Tessa and Finn's growing relationship. Likewise, small-town romances are often filled to the brim with quirky, and supposedly endearing, characters which can overload the reader. The Comeback Kiss, though, while containing a full cast of characters, offers a perfect balance of quirky and realistic townspeople.
Armchair Interviews says: Even though The Comeback Kiss features a character from a previous book, it is not a sequel and stands on its own.