Review: Kiss at Midnight by Rachel Branton

Kiss at Midnight (A Town Called Forgotten #1)
by Rachel Branton

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
A feel-good romance for fans of Robyn Carr, Leeanna Morgan, and Debra Clopton.

Hailey Waters steps off a bus with no memory of why she came to Forgotten or what she’s running from. And maybe it doesn’t matter. She’s determined to make a new life in this small town where strangers are friendly and helpful—especially veterinarian Dylan Morgan. But Dylan keeps prying for answers she doesn’t have. He’s a hero, always saving animals and people, and maybe she doesn’t need one of those right now. He’s more likely to break her heart than to solve the riddle of her past.

Dylan has returned to the small town he never should have left. He’s tired of women with secrets, the kind of women who always leave. When he finds Hailey in his friend’s barn, his training makes him uniquely qualified to be what she needs most—if he can keep the way he’s beginning to feel about her out of it. Because more and more he’s sure her secrets will tear him apart. But he can’t walk away or let her go. So maybe it’s time to take matters—and love—into his own hands.

Welcome to the small town of Forgotten, where people are more concerned about who you are now than what you might have left behind. Each of the novels in this series are stand-alone books, and you can read them in any order. However, the characters are like one big, extended family and often appear in many of the books, so by reading all of them, you can catch up with what your favorite characters are doing now.

My Review

Having read multiple books by Teyla Branton, I was excited to pick up some of her romance books under her name Rachel Branton. When a contemporary romance mood struck me I remembered buying Kiss at Midnight on release day and I decided to pick it up. This book exactly fit what I was in the mood for, a sweet contemporary romance with great characters and a lovely small town setting that made me immediately feel welcome.

Kiss at Midnight starts when Hailey steps off a bus in Forgotten, she has no memory of why she came here or who she was before. While trying to reach Forgotten she hurts herself and find refuge in a barn, where Dylan finds her. Dylan is pet sitting there and helps Hailey out. Slowly the two grow closer, but Hailey’s past and Dylan’s secrets hang between them and they have to resolve those before they can really build a future.

This book ticked all the right boxes for me. I liked the two main characters, the sweet slow romance, the side characters and the whole small town atmosphere of Forgotten. It was exactly the type of read I was looking for and I really enjoyed it. Forgotten is such a great town and I liked how friendly everyone was and look forward to spending more time here in future books.

Memory loss usually isn’t a trope that really works for me, but I liked it here. Hailey has no memory of her past, but slowly she gets the feel something bad happened. Dylan is falling for her and does some inquiries trying to figure out what she’s hiding. Hailey was a great person, despite having no memory of who she is, she’s friendly and helpful and immediately fits into the small town. Dylan saves animals and now Hailey as well. They both have their reservations about growing closer, but they do. There are some great scenes between these tow and I loved seeing them grow closer. There is some tension with Hailey not remembering and Dylan not opening up and there are some things they have to overcome.

I liked how their romance progressed and also how they dealt with any obstacles, things didn’t get blown out of proportion and they talked things through afterwards. I liked how they didn’t react unreasonable and how every argument just brought them closer together. I was afraid for a big event when Hailey’s secrets came to light and I was pleasantly surprised by how it was all handled, although at the same time I would’ve liked a bit more to see of the turmoil she went through and how she dealt with remembering.

Another thing I really liked about this book are the side character. Especially Maggie was great, she’s a good friend to Dylan and I especially liked how she helped Hailey out and was there for her. All the other side characters come across as friendly too and I liked the small town vibe, everyone knows Dylan and everyone tries to include Hailey and be nice to her. And there are some adorable dogs as well The small town of Forgotten was a great place to spend some time and I hope to return soon in book 2!

To summarize: Kiss at Midnight was exactly the type of read I was in the mood for, a great sweet romance, likeable characters and a close knit small town with friendly side characters. Despite the memory loss theme usually not working for me, this book grabbed my attention from the start and I really enjoyed this book. Dylan and Hailey were both likable characters and I enjoyed seeing them grow closer despite their misgivings that it wasn’t a good idea. There are some things they have to deal with and I liked how they handled those things in a mature and realistic way. They sometimes argued, but talked things out later and it brought them closer together. I liked their romance and how it got resolved. The side characters were also great, especially Maggie and the adorable dogs! I liked the small town of Forgotten and hope to return soon for book 2!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.