I first heard about Kiss the Sky at RT where the author described it as the story of two people falling in love while climbing (and surviving) K2. I’m pretty sure Amanda tweeted a photo of me one-click buying it right there.

I love disaster/survival stories, especially stories set in extreme locations. I’ve read a lot of non-fiction about K2 and Everest (which is now unfortunately a literal poo disaster). I’m fascinated with the Dyatlov Pass incident. Maybe it’s because I live in an area where the weather would like to kill you half the year. Maybe I’m just weird. Regardless this book was right up my alley.

The main characters actually spent less time on the mountain than I would have liked and while I understand why there were reasons for that, it was still a bit of a bummer. The second half of the book is straight up romantic suspense which surprised me quite a bit. It’s a little uneven, but it was one of the more unique romantic adventure/suspense books I’ve read.

Alpinists Tristian Sinclair and Farah Nawaz are on the same team planning to summit K2. For Tristian, it’s a chance to honor his brother, and fellow climber, Drew, who died of an aneurysm following his own K2 attempt. For Farah it’s likely her only chance (this is an expensive excursion) to prove that she’s as capable as her male peers in the sport.

They meet before the climb and there’s some initial attraction and flirting. Farah convinces Tristian to buy a one-of-a-kind painting by telling him the legend of Maiden Shina (the painting is a mass produced souvenir. Maiden Shina is “Made in China”). Once on the mountain their connection becomes even stronger. Most of the climbers don’t really know each other, so their bond with the others is tenuous. One of them, Malcolm, is basically an asshole. Another nicknamed Edelweiss is there to find the body of his grandfather who died on the mountain in the 1940’s.

During the descent tragedy strikes when screws and fixed lines come loose and only Malcolm, Farah and Tristian survive, Malcolm with a badly broken leg. Injured and terrified, Tristian and Farah have to help Malcolm down the mountain and survive themselves.

This was the part of the book I loved the most because I love survival stories like this. They’re thrilling and also affirming, that even when situations are at the absolute worst, it’s possible to survive due to little more than tenacity. Humans are amazing sometimes.

It’s also not a very long segment of the book, which bummed me out. I mean, I get why. It’s not a survival action thriller. It’s hard to kiss when your lip skin would freeze off and also no one has showered in a really long time. It’s a romance and I have to acknowledge that part of me was asking it to be something else.

Obviously Farah and Tristian survive, which is when the book becomes full-tilt romantic suspense. After that horrible ordeal someone is trying to kill them. Why? Was the accident on the mountain really an accident?

There’s also the question of how Tristian and Farah work as a couple back in the real world, freshly showered, without all that adrenaline:

He headed to the kitchen. He looked through the cabinets and fridge. He closed the last one. “Nada.”

“I don’t think we should go out right now.”

“We don’t have to.” He picked up a phone. “There are perks to being rich.” He paused before he dialed, an amused smile on his face. “Funny, I know you prefer step-in, lever-lock crampons, yet I have no idea if you like Chinese food.”

For me, the first half of the book worked better than the second. For one thing, it was in a setting that I clearly enjoyed and wanted to read more of. But I also think that climbing the mountain, and then managing to survive the descent, forced the characters to do a lot of growing emotionally. Both show up to the climb with baggage from their pasts, which they have to let go of in order to make it down okay. Their focus has to be completely on survival, which means leaving some of their emotional pain on the mountain. Without a lot of exterior factors to distract them (jobs, family, etc) we get moments of intense honesty and trust between Farah and Tristian.

Once they’re off the mountain they’re busy trying not to be killed and we get more activity and less growth. So much has already happened between them that we’re basically just working out logistics; they’re already in love and I believe wholeheartedly they will stay together. It left the story feeling uneven to me.

If you’re into romantic suspense and you’re looking for an unusual setting then I’d recommend Kiss the Sky. The story was unbalanced, but still enjoyable.