Review: Once Kissed by Cecy Robson

 It's often hard to imagine the lengths that people go to to abuse and control others. Everyday we encounter new people and we probably never think about the tortured existences that they lead behind closed doors. In this book, Contessa Newart is one of those people. To the unassuming eye, Contessa is just the frumpy, bookish intern who has been selected to work on the biggest case of the year. While this hasn't earned her points with her classmates, it does speak to her intelligence and capability. Staying below the radar has become an art that she's mastered so it's a surprise to her that she catches the eye of the one person that she thought would never notice or remember her.

Curran O'Brien is the one person who knows Contessa for who she really is. He's witnessed a side of her that contradicts the mousy persona that others are subjected to. When he's forced to spend time with her, he discovers that not even he knows the true depths of the woman. What he discovers enrages him and gives him the conviction to help her stand up to what she must overcome to survive.

In this sometimes comical but often sad tale, Cecy Robson's characters are faced with the worst possible situations. Secrets built on shame, remorse and pain almost prove to be too much for Curran and Contessa to overcome. While they both have experienced completely different traumas, when all the chips are down it is one another that they are able to rely on. Happily ever after is a fairy tale that one wouldn't expect in a story like this but through it all, these two show us that you can forge your own version of forever from even the darkest of circumstances.