I loved the concept of this book and the idea behind it. I thought that some of the characters were fantastic but I have to say I found it a disjointed read at times and didn’t feel it was the right book for me.

“If you knew how your love story ends, would you dare to begin?”

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book, let alone reviewed one. Life. Mental health. The pandemic. Where to start. Well 2022 is on the up, and what better way to begin than with one of favourite authors. Carrie Hope Fletcher has written a new book and it’s an amazing one folks. ‘With This Kiss’ is everything you didn’t know you needed and more.

It’s such a hopeful story, filled with just the right amount of heartbreak, drama and romance. I read this over a period of a week due to working and life in general. Every evening when I had to put it down, I didn’t want to, I wanted to devour it in one sitting. But alas, good things come to those who wait and my god, it is a brilliant read. I would go as far to say as it could possible be her BEST yet!

Lorelai is a theatrical character. Despite her ordinary job, she is creative and quirky, but her ability to see someone's death when she kisses them dominates her life and makes her shy away from love. A new adult romance with a supernatural twist best describes this story. It's an emotional journey of self-realisation for Lorelai as she comes to terms with her unusual ability. Told in the present day and from Lorelai's past experiences, the reader gains an insight into the character and her motivations. I like the use of sensory imagery and the distinctive characterisation.

Emotional and original, this story is engaging and evocative to read.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Firstly a big thank you for Hq for my copy on netgalley ,unfortunately I didn’t get round to reading in advance . But I got a copy today as I needed one to be signed for her London event ! So excited after being a fan for so many years.

I brought this say lunchtime today , it was finished by this evening. I had a much needed me day and this proved to be the perfect companion. She was read at every opportunity .

This book is brilliant and I’d say Carrie’s best yet. I feel she has found a great home with HQ publishers and look forward to more readers discovering her writing.

With this kiss is magical ,romantic, life affirming and so empowering!

This whisked me away like all the best books do. Great characters especially Lorelai whom I’m sure all bookworms can relate to. There were moments that made me swoon and smile.

Highly recommend if you enjoy your love stories with a extra bit of pixie dust ( disney reference for the fletchers) .

Published 14th April

WITH THIS KISS by CARRIE HOPE FLETCHER.

On the surface, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman, but she has a secret. When she kisses someone she has a vision of their death.
Is what she sees set in stone? Can she alter what is going to happen? Or is it her kiss that seals their fate?
For obvious reasons, Lorelai has sworn off men and romance. Then she meets Grayson and falls head over heels for him.
Can love find a way or is their relationship doomed before it starts.

I quite honestly hoovered up this book. I couldn’t read it fast enough, despite not wanting it to end.
I liked the mix of characters and the way they are all woven through the story.
The writing style is engaging, clean and concise.

I’ll definitely be looking out for more books by Carrie Hope Fletcher.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Out now in all formats.

With thanks to #Netgalley and #HQ for a digital arc of #WithThisKiss by #CarrieHope Fletcher.

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an e-arc of With This Kiss.

I enjoyed this book, the concept was something i have not read about before and it made a good story. I liked the characters and the way they developed throughout the book. I flew through it, wanting to know what was going to happen next and whether they will get their happily ever after.

i will definitely continue reading anything Carrie releases.

I was really looking forward to this sweet romance. I have never read Carrie Hope Fletcher's books and only knew who she was recently after watching her on a TV programme. The synopsis looked good, though, and the cover is beautiful.

This initially drew me in well, I can't even imagine how it might feel to see how someone dies when you kiss them on the lips, but this is life for Lorelai. I can ultimately see why this would put you off kissing again quite quickly, especially when you later realise that what you saw came true. I thought this was an excellent idea for a book and something I would love to read.

Well, let's just say that, unfortunately, this didn't live up to the initial excitement.

I loved Lorelai and her best friend, Joanie. Everyone needs a friend like Joanie. She is incredible, so supportive and will stand by Lorelai no matter what. On top of that, she's a lovely, beautiful soul. They love living together and working at the old cinema; they have a dream friendship.

I really enjoyed how Lorelai developed her book club and met Grayson. He is her dream man and works hard to gain her trust and encourage her to date him. I loved his geekiness and the fact that they met via a book club. There are a variety of other characters and issues throughout the story, some of which are dealt with better than others.

However, I felt that the book dragged on, and I really struggled to push through to read the second half. So many things were mentioned, such as Lorelai's love of writing screenplays from old books, which came up a few times but weren't developed. What could have been a fully rounded novel about her life became more of a 'will she, won't she' go out with Grayson. It annoyed me that she kept leading him on with the promise of explaining herself later, but then she wouldn't.

I didn't feel anything for any of the characters (aside from Joanie mentioned above), as they all felt flat. Also, the story doesn't explain what drew Lorelai to Grayson in the first place; she notes that he is handsome, but otherwise, there wasn't any particular reason she suddenly is thrown into a spin by him.

I did enjoy Lorelai's eventual reconnecting with her mother after avoiding her parents for so long; this did provide an excellent lift to the story, which was definitely needed. However, I wish that the characters felt more realistic and fuller so that it bought the story to life a bit more., instead they felt a bit like they were put there to push the plot along.

This wasn't a great start to a new author for me, and to be honest, I struggled to get through this one.

This was a hard one. The book itself is such an easy read much like the rest of Carrie’s that if it wasn’t for the first 5-6% I think it would be sitting at a higher rating. That being said, I can absolutely see where the criticisms are coming from. I would like to point out that my review will not be anywhere near as eloquent and important as those from the trans community so as someone cisgenders I would urge you to read their reviews first.

Carrie introduces Joy, a trans woman, into her bookclub scene. The small section of discussion around Joy being trans and ‘ladies and gentleman’ being unnecessarily gender specific felt clunky. The cohesiveness of the chapter stilted then and it felt like it had been thrown in there to add a level of diversity. Shortly after this we then get a Harry Potter reference. Harry Potter understandably has a huge cult following and is a large part of our childhoods but to put it in the same breath of this conversation given JKR’s current actions seemed tactless.

To add to this I spent the whole book wondering when the bookclub would be mentioned again and it wasn’t until the very end. Meaning the beginning and end of the book felt like two very different stories - essentially the middle was enjoyable but I’m confused at the disjoin and how this wasn’t picked up.

Gifted via NetGalley for an honest review

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. Lorelai has an unusual “superpower” - when she kisses people she can see how they are going to die! Struggling to deal with the implications, Lorelai has sworn off kissing anyone - but when she meets Grayson and feels an instant connection, that becomes a decision she starts to question.

This was a quick, easy read and I enjoyed elements of it - I loved Lorelai’s relationship with her best friend Joanie, who was my favourite character in the book, and I enjoyed Lorelai's changing relationship with her mother as she went on her journey of self-discovery. But there were elements of her life that were introduced but never developed that I would liked to have known more about - her desire to be a scriptwriter, and the book club she set up but was only mentioned at the beginning and at the end of the book. The romance element also fell a little flat for me - the chemistry between the two of them was a bit lacking for me and we didn’t really see the development of their relationship. Overall it was an enjoyable read but one that left wanting a little more.

3.5 stars

The magic in this book comes from the relationships within it and so I will focus most of my review on those.

First up is between the main character Lorelai and her best friend Joanie. Joanie is the one person that Lorelai has trusted with her secret and she has got Lorelai’s back throughout- even when Lorelai is trying to push her away. I liked the mention of soulmates in the book not just being romantic ones and Joanie definitely fits the soulmate bill.

Next between Lorelai and her grandmother and mother. The familial relationships in the book start strained by the weight of Lorelai’s secret, but I enjoyed how they developed throughout and would have loved some more time spent with these. The quiet moments that Lorelai spends with her parents after seeing how her love is set to die had a healing air about them, especially when she is going through her grandmother’s belongings with her mum.

Then Lorelai and Riggs. Riggs is the son of the owner of the cinema where Lorelai works and he is not at all keen on taking over the family business. Lorelai’s relationship with him is designed to show us how kind she is and he is the catalyst for a number of the revelations she has in the story.

The other random men she meets felt like plot devices - but both James and Darren seemed nice so I did feel a little sorry for them when she kissed and ran, although it was necessary for her to test out what the power of her kisses means. Lorelai is such a helpless romantic at heart so her reactions with these men did seem a little out of character.

Finally Lorelai and Grayson. A love story has to have a desirable love interest, and Grayson is definitely that. From his late entrance to book club, to his hairy hobbit feet and relationship with his brother it makes sense for him to be the person that Lorelai turns her life upside down for.

The writing wasn’t always as engaging as I was hoping for and with perhaps a little too much focus on tell and not show. This was definitely a romance first and foremost with the main focus on the relationship - at times to the detriment of some of the other plot points that were introduced such as the book club and Lorelai’s desire to write scripts.

We have lots of flashbacks included that build up a picture of why Lorelai makes the decisions she does but she did frustrate me a little at times - she definitely is responsible for much of her own heartbreak, not that this is uncommon. There was one point where I thought she only cared about saving one person in a vision of a catastrophic accident, so I was relieved when it was eventually mentioned that she had taken steps to save the others her vision would have affected too. Not sure how keen I would have been on her as a character if that hadn’t been the case.

Overall this was a super easy and enjoyable read, and I can see it making a cute romance film (or musical) in the vein of Last Christmas. Author Carrie would make a wonderful Lorelai.

Content warnings: misgendering (apologised for), suicide, traumatic scenes of predicted deaths (think Final Destination), kissing without consent.

With thanks to HQ for the gifted ARC for the purposes of an honest review. Do check out what everyone else thought.

I adored this author’s book ‘all that she can see’ and the premise of this sounded just as unique so I couldn’t wait to jump in, plus it had films and books so what could possibly go wrong?

Well, I’m all for inclusivity, however within a few pages this felt more like a lesson/tick boxing exercise in gender identities and sexual preferences and a clumsy one at that. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they were just characters without need for explanations and admonishments, especially as this felt more of a YA read and they are a pretty clued up generation.

Lorelai is understandably a very vulnerable character but she does develop strength throughout the story, mostly thanks to her best friend Joanie who to me was more of a leading lady and certainly had the best lines. Joanie is full on and says it how it is with not much tact or diplomacy but is needed to push Lorelai along and without her this book would have struggled a lot more.

This is also marketed as a romance and while there are touches of it, it wasn’t developed to be all that it could be, much like Lorelai’s screenwriting adaptations that I thought would be a big part of the book but then never really amounted to much.

With that aside there was some really nice touches and some well thought out characters, Riggs the cinema owner’s son in particular as there was so much more to him than I was first led to believe. It is also very thought provoking and makes you ponder what you would do in Lorelai’s position.

In the end it turned out to be quite a lovely, life affirming read just not the one I was expecting and one that could be so much better.

Unfortunately for me, this book fell a bit flat. I loved the concept - that a young woman can see the death of anyone she kisses, it sounded right up my street! However, it simply wasn’t executed as well as I had hoped it would be.

It seemed to me that a lot of the time, the story wasn’t moving forward as it was just repeating itself over and over. A lot of the narrative was about Lorelai’s internal struggle, but she would go over the same things again and again without actually making any progress. In particular, I’m thinking about Lorelai’s approach to Grayson. It’s difficult to explain without spoilers, but she has basically figured out something about her ‘gift’ with another man, and yet when she is faced with a dilemma about Grayson which she now knows she could fix she just….literally runs away? It didn’t make any sense.

There were also some chapters which felt like filler - e.g when she went to stay with her parents for a while, but there was a whole chapter there in which literally nothing happened.

Sadly, a disappointing read for me, but I will say I stuck it out to the end because I was curious how it was going to end. For that reason, and for the clever concept, I’ve given this 2 stars.

I liked this read but I didn’t love it. I desperately wanted to but I think this light, easy book was lacking some true magic and I believe the writer missed out some opportunities to turn this into a gripping read.

For me, the final part of the book was the most interesting. I like how the novel is divided into three parts, symbolic of the theatre and cinema that both Grayson and Lorelai love. It is also where they first meet and despite a growing attraction, Lorelai is determined not to get too close, fearing her ability will add to the nightmares she suffers from. Learning that a kiss shows a person’s death, Lorelai has sworn to a lifetime of loneliness, accepting that this ability (or curse) is too painful to bear. Yet, meeting Grayson sets off a chain of events, starting with her colleague, Riggs, and Lorelai starts to learn more about what kissing really means.

I liked Lorelai as a character. I loved her name – it is so unusual and pretty! However, she does tend to procrastinate and waffle on for a fair bit before doing anything. I found this indecisiveness to be a little frustrating and was glad for her best friend, Joanie, to push her along a bit. Lorelai’s dream of being a screenwriter is never properly developed and I was hoping to see this ambition become a reality, instead of a dusty hobby. The friendship between the Joanie and Lorelai is so sweet and supportive, helped by the fact that Joanie knows Lorelai’s secret. There were many times in the story that Joanie made me laugh and I think she was an essential character in a story where death is centre-stage.

Whilst I did not wish to see Lorelai whoring herself around and kissing all and sundry, I wanted to see the writer develop the focus on Lorelai’s physic ability. This theme of the supernatural meeting romance was what appealed to me in the first place, but I don’t think it was ever established fully. Lorelai shuns learning too much about the visions that she sees and how they can be useful, and I was disappointed by her reactions to Grayson on so many occasions. True, she is presented as an understandably vulnerable character but, with Joanie’s support, I thought the writer could have explored Lorelai’s ability in a lot more depth. Furthermore, the final scenes were quite tense but I was hoping for a bit more development on this and thought the writer closed some plot strands off too quickly.

I liked how the story also provided an insight into Lorelai growing up. It gives the reader more background about how Lorelai coped with kissing others but again, I think there was opportunity for this to be expanded further, especially considering her relationship with her mother and grandmother. Although some detail is given on her strained relationship with her mother, I think more than just a few pages on their backgrounds would have added to their character.

The last third of the book was most interesting because this is where Lorelai gains so much strength. She is finally decisive and determined in her actions and this behaviour appealed to me. I also felt the pace of the story picked up for what felt like an easy yet, slow and meandering narrative. The Epilogue proved just as haunting as the Prologue and I think these small chapters truly demonstrated Fletcher’s writing skills.

There was a lot that I enjoyed about this romantic read, even if death was always around the corner! Yet, I think there was too much missing from the plot to set my heart on fire. I wanted there to be more romance between Lorelai and Grayson and I don’t think I found their relationship to be entirely believable. That being said, having seen Grayson pushed away for most of the story, I guess I can understand why he just isn’t as forthcoming as typical romantic heroes. In conclusion, this is an interesting concept but I think there was room to really develop the supernatural theme a lot more.

With thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lorelei has an unusual problem. When she kisses someone she sees how they will die. As you can imagine, it makes her reluctant to kiss anyone and she feels like no-one will believe her if she shares the reason.
Then she meets Grayson, who she really makes a connection with. Can she bear to to see how he dies when she kisses him?
My major problem with this story was the the ability to see a death from kissing someone. Too far fetched. Otherwise the story was written well. Loved the setting, related to the characters,

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've never read any of Carrie Hope Fletchers books before and this book didn't convince me of her story writing prowess.

The idea was great but I don't think it quite hit the mark. Lorelei on one hand has a truly unfortunate "gift" where she sees people's death through a kiss on the other she came across as being more of a side character in a story based around her. Joanie in my honest opinion would have been better suited.

The love between Lorelei and Grayson was a call hard and fall fast type of trope but something was missing for me.

An interesting original storyline and an easy read.
I enjoyed the beginning and the end more than the middle part as I began to get frustrated with Lorelai. The attraction between Grayson and Lorelai was well written and relatable and Joanie was a joy of a character too. So it seems that it was just Lorelai on her own and her introspection that I found wearying.

A magical romance and one to get stuck into and enjoy. Very good characters and I am giving this 5 stars


Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this e ARC

I have seen mixed reviews for this book and I can fully understand why. The book is a mix between supernatural and romance. I do feel that for some romance readers it might not be for them. But being a fantasy reader as well, I absolutely loved it!
The book was so easy to read. It was read in one sitting. I was completely mesmerised by the concept of being able to see the future from one kiss
There is a shocking reveal half way through, which I will not spoil!
The book is very memorable and will stay with me for a while.
Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy of this fantastic novel
This is Defintely one to watch

With This Kiss is the gorgeous and magical new novel by multi talented author and West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher. Full of romance, magic and characters you can’t help but fall in love with, it is a beautifully written story that once started I did not want to put down until the final page had been turned. Light and easy to read, With This Kiss is the perfect book to relax with this Easter weekend.

To everyone else, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman leading a normal life. But the truth is, Lorelai is hiding a painful secret, a secret that she’s kept hidden for years. Whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they’re going to die. And so she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was eighteen years old. But now she’s met sweet, funny Grayson and for the first time in a long time she yearns for the kiss of another.

But does she have the courage to reach out and take what she wants? And if she does, can she change what she sees or is the outcome a foregone conclusion?

What follows is a warm and romantic story that will steal your heart away. Carrie Hope Fletcher’s writing is gorgeously lyrical as she weaves an uplifting and magical tale that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end.

With This Kiss is a light, heartfelt and beautifully told love story that I would recommend.

The blurb of this one really appealed to me - whenever Lorelai kissed someone on their lips, she sees how they’re going to die. And it’s not like a detached scene playing out on screen - she’s in the moment, she feels everything. Just imagine!! How traumatising. Given the topic of this one, it goes into detail of several deaths, which isn’t easy. There’s also a content warning that some readers might want to be aware of - so check out at the end for more information.

But given the subject matter at hand, it felt like an easy breezy read - a bit too much for me, and I did struggle to connect with Lorelai in parts. But I really did feel for her. Given her special sight, she’s pretty much resigned to being alone for the rest of her life.

The part that felt a bit lacking for me was the development of her attraction and will they or won’t they relationship with Grayson.

I really liked her relationship with her best friend Joanie - everyone needs a Joanie in their life. Always having their back and pushing them when you need it the most. Her friendship was Riggs was really refreshing too.

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⚠️Content warning and potential spoilers: reference to suicide ⚠️