I have to admit, I sort of messed myself up as I read the Merciless series before this book, but it didn't matter in the end. I did try to read last year but like Merciless I struggled so I put the book down and picked it up a few days ago since I picked it back up I had been unable to book the down. I never used to think that this genre of romance would be my type of book and I've been proven wrong. I'm in love with the genre more than I thought that I would be.

The relationship between Chloe and Sebastian is your typical complicated and forbidden (though no one is stopping them but Sebastian, at the beginning). I love that they both have been in love with each other since they were young and just the way when Chloe is having a hard time Sebastian comes back into her life and helped her to grow and mend with his presence of being around her.

Throughout the story, the reader is able to feel all of the feelings that the two main characters, as well as Carter, is feeling through the whole plot. A Kiss To Tell is an amazing story that anyone who loves a dark romance can get involved and invested in their story. Forgoing 3 months without really a story this was great to get me back into the system of reading. I give A Kiss To Tell 5 stars and would recommend to anyone who loves a dark romance and a beauty and beast style story. ( )

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Chloe Rose has seen the worst, her youth marred by loss and despair with just a single kiss to brighten the darkness. She's grown brave as an adult, hiding her fear in front of others and facing the flickering lights of the dangerous streets she must walk in order to reach home. She doesn't sleep though, afraid of what meets her in her nightmares, at least until Sebastian shows up in the shadows. He offers her a solution and his attention, though he hides his darkness from her. He knows he can't have her light, but he can't deny how much he wants her, especially when she comes to him for comfort as the nightmares become reality.

"In darkness or in light, it doesn't matter anymore. I've been through both"

Told from the alternating perspectives of main characters Chloe Rose and Sebastian, A Kiss To Tell takes us on a romantic journey in a small town littered with criminal activity. The people in this town don't get out, but they want to. Chloe Rose is one of them, a sweet, innocent women plagued by the title of sad girl. She immediately tugs at your heart with her story of loss and her desperate hope to leave, to escape. Sebastian is the hardened man following the direction of another, but he's never let Chloe far from his mind. Their history is simple, a single memorable moment that brings them together as the danger and threat to lives increases. We don't know much about Sebastian, but what we do know made me fall in love with him. He's got a darkness, but he has more light in him than he even realizes, revealing to readers he has a soft spot for the sad girl. He's full of sweet words and naughty thoughts and more secrets than he can count. These two are so drawn to one another that even without the complete background of who Sebastian is I could tell he's made for Chloe. They gravitate to one another and somehow the story, even with the nightmares filling the pages, is 100% a romance.

"Even the little bits of me hidden away in the pages of my books, all the way down to the marrow in my bones; it was supposed to happen like this."

Fans of Willow Winters will enjoy the backstory that A Kiss To Tell provides for some of its secondary characters and will appreciate the world building when it comes to its connection to Merciless. It reads more like a prequel, but with different characters from the novels that tie into it. Unfortunately, readers that haven't yet met secondary character, Carter, and don't know about the life he lives won't feel the same connection to A Kiss To Tell and its characters. Additionally, while I fell for Sebastian and Chloe right away I never felt like I was part of their story. It has gaps, we see their connection and their lust, but we don't see what it's built upon, we're told the facts and asked to have blind faith in them. It is mysterious though and even with the gaps I couldn't stop reading, waiting for the big reveal that will definitely catch you off guard. A Kiss To Tell isn't as suspenseful as the connected Merciless novel, the darkness and brutality isn't there, but it's an excellent story for the characters that are in it., one that shows a sweet side to the corrupted town and its inhabitants.

"Is Chloe Rose getting to me? She's always gotten to me."

A Kiss To Tell is a sexy, short story from Willow Winters that just barely touches on the dark and depraved stories some of the secondary characters can be found in. You'll find yourself sympathizing with the characters and flipping through the pages as the intensity reaches a peak. While I loved Chloe and Sebastian, I wanted more from this story and I can only hope we're going to see more of them in the world Willow Winters has created. ( )