Kiss Heaven Goodbye, written by Tasmina Perry was my choice for my Bali holiday read. I was not let down by my favourite author.
Just the perfect length of novel to last plane trips, lazy days by the pool and to read in bed at night. The story follows four main characters, Miles and his sister Grace, Alex and Sasha. Miles and Grace are on their father’s private island. The stunning and savvy Sasha is Miles girlfriend, and Alex is the humble friend to Miles whom Grace takes a fancy to.
They do as teenagers do, drink, hook up and get up to a bit of mischief. Miles is cocky and has issues of his own. You start to see his other side, where he’s more into men as he has an encounter with Alex which is overseen by one of the staff on the island. Said staff member may have just slept with Sasha as she sought revenge on Miles for recently breaking up with her. Grace in the meantime tries to make out with Alex (much like her own brother did) to no avail. While all this is going on Miles has an altercation with the staff member, a dead body is seen and the teens don’t know what to do. They keep it quiet, only telling the island’s caretaker.
Fast forward a few years and the teens are separating and finding their way in life. Grace leaves England and heads to Australia to escape the guilt of leaving a dead body. It’s here she meets a new friend and a new man. She falls pregnant at 21 and travels to live with her new boyfriend, Gabriel in Parador.
Sasha figures out if she can’t marry for money, she must look to make money. After performing sexual acts to men of ‘power’ to win high profile modelling jobs, she begins to find her calling as a junior stylist.
Miles travels to Thailand and explores his sexual orientation which flicks between men and women. It’s here that he meets a girl a little rough around the edges, Chrissy. She is a hostess and her and Miles begin to shack up.
Meanwhile Alex has started to work on achieving his music career. He ditches Miles as a friend and finds new mates to hang out with, eventually joining tier band.
Fast forward a few more years. Grace has twins and her friend from Australia comes to visit her in Parador, much to her own worst fate. Miles starts to set up his own high profile club and proposes to his hostess girlfriend Chrissy. Sasha seeks out a budding designer, Ben Rivera and tries to purchase him and his name. Whilst Alex makes it famous in his band with his mates.
Much more happens in the four protagonists lives, many twists and turns. Yet they are all manipulated and structured towards all having to make their way back to the fateful Angel Cay island, where all their troubles started. There are major twists as people end up being not who you thought they were. Hostage situations arise and they must work together to save each other.
Most definitely a great read, Perry has an effortless way of adding in twists in a unique way that you just don’t see them coming.
