Shut Up and Kiss Me

Lemmon’s sweet contemporary romance about a couple of college kids in the small Midwestern town of Ridgeway might be the perfect confectionary amuse-bouche for a dreary winter afternoon. Caden Wilson has been dubbed a “silver-tongued fox” and is on the fast track to law school. Then he crashes his car headlong into a fire hydrant during a street race, and his injuries leave him with a debilitating speech impairment. The road to recovery stalls when the only healer he’ll even let near him is his friend Tasha Montgomery, a physical therapy student. There’s every reason to doubt his sincerity about regaining perfect speech, as their “therapy” sessions consist of her doing homework while he restores a new automotive toy. One thing leads sweetly but predictably to another as she convinces him that certain intimate mouth and tongue exercises will help reduce his stutter. In Lemmon’s story, nary a problem exists that can’t be soothed in short order. The tale is insubstantial and lands somewhere between sweet and saccharine, but fans of fluff will enjoy it. (Dec.)