Kissing Games of the World

I didn't really like this book by Sandi Kahn Shelton. I did finish it, so obviously it wasn't terrible, but you could see the end a mile away. Young(ish) single artist mom with five-year old boy is housemates with an old crochety man who dies suddenly. Next thing you know, old guy's estranged son comes home to claim his five-year old boy who'd been raised so far by grandpa. Gee, do you think workaholic guy and down to earth artist end up together?

Shelton tries to throw in some stuff about good parenting/bad parenting and fathers and sons, but really, you're only reading it to see how Jamie and Nate find their way to each other.

Nate is obviously the "bad" parent here, having abandoned his infant years before, but I don't really like reading about clueless parents (and he's pretty clueless, planning to take his kid around to business meetings all summer). Shelton's portrayal of Jamie as the "good" parent didn't drive me crazy as it usually does, but I did kind of wonder where Jamie found the patience to be so good at being a mom. Didn't she ever want to get some sleep or--I don't know--put her feet up and read instead of making teddy bear pancakes at 7:00 every morning?

There were a couple of nice images or lines so don't assume it's not worth reading. Just know what you're getting into.

Nate hates calling himself a widower "with its wind-howling-in-the-graveyard sound to it."

And I love the young cop's attitude when he comes to investigate Jamie over her housemate's death. He, like everyone else in town, assumes Jamie had been sleeping with the old man so her persistent denial is generally ignored. Jamie tries to get him to change 'roommates' (as he'd written it) to 'housemates' because people will misunderstand.

He hesitated a moment, as if this were a distinction he couldn't quite fathom,. Then he sighed and said, "Well, okay," as if people were always making wild requests of him. He crossed out the word roommates and wrote housemates above it, which [Jamie] thought looked suspicious. He should start over on a new page. But no doubt he wouldn't be talked into that.