Okay, so initially going into this book I was ready to only give it three stars but now I have been on this emotional rollercoaster it’s a solid 5 stars and I don’t think I can justify anything less.

This isn’t my first Carrie Hope Fletcher book, I have read her non-fiction and another fiction book or two… but they didn’t grab me like this one. I’m so glad I picked up this one as it is definitely my favourite book of hers so far.

The story focuses on Lorelai who (not a spoiler) when kissing someone ends up seeing how they die. As someone who has a morbid anxiety about death and how scary and unpredictable it is, this book appealed to me… but also may have added to that anxiety. (That’s a me problem though, not a book problem)

So what happens when Lorelai meets a man she really really likes… how can she navigate her ‘curse’ when she has sworn to keep everyone at arms length? The relationships in this book are everything and by that I don’t just mean the romantic ones, the friendship with Joanie is chef’s kiss! I wish I could have a friendship like that. The relationship with her gran, her parents and how they change and grow. There is lots of self-growth and personal learning in this book. Is some of the story a but unrealistic like impromptu trips… yes but it’s a magical realism book and the whole plot is that.

It talks about a lot of heavy topics and obviously death being the number one of those. I agree with some reviews that the transgender character felt like a throw in and didn’t really add anything to the book and was just there for the representation. The book doesn’t start great, the first chapter didn’t make me want to continue reading…. But don’t let that put you off the whole book as I kept reading, I got to the point where my eyes could read the words fast enough to find out what was going to happen next and I had to keep reminding myself to slow down and enjoy the story more! I read this in the space of four hours non stop.

I honestly really loved this book, yes there are a few flaws but this book has made ne cry more times than I can count, it really talks about self growth and confidence and trust, opening yourself up to others, following your heart. Plus I love the humour, the relationships and feel like a fangirl now… but this is coming from someone who previously didn’t adore this authors previous books. So I say good things with a lot of emphasis. Well done Carrie, this book was powerful, emotional and gives so much towards the idea of personal growth.

This is the first time I have read a Carrie hope fletcher book and I was slightly dissapointed, I had to give up half way though as I didn’t feel gripped, I hope in the future I have the opportunity to read other books. I have heard great things about her other books

This is the first book of Carrie’s that I have tried and I found it to be an easy and generally enjoyable read. I was surprised by how much I liked the fantastical theme of the plot, which was cleverly intertwined with the realism of death being the one certainty that we all face.

However, I did find parts of the plot to be quite slow-paced and dragged out more than they needed to be, and some of the characters (particularly Grayson) could have done with a little more development.

I also thought that some of the smaller plot lines seemed to drop out completely - for instance Riggs disappeared entirely halfway through, and I thought he had been fairly centric to the novel up until that point.
That being said, I was a massive fan of Joanie, who is one of the most genuine fictional best friends I have come across in ages.

*Thank you to Netgalley and HQ for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

After seeing the announcement for this book on Carrie’s Instagram I knew I wanted to get my hands on a review copy as reading ‘influencer’ books is something I’m interested in. I read one of Carrie’s books back in 2017 and thought it was pretty decent. I thought the same here, pretty good but nothing spectacular.

The concept of the book club, which was set up in the first few chapters, was really interesting and I adore books with this theme. However, it isn’t really ever given a second thought. If I’m remembering correctly it’s only mentioned a second time in passing and honestly, I was very disappointed. It was the setting where the main character met their love interest and I was really hoping to get some longing glances and cute flirtations at the club. Unfortunately not.

With This Kiss was not a love story for me. There were no moments of epic romance and honestly no romance at all. Lorelai was desperate for love, and although she did have some pretty big hurdles in her way, she never came across as a romantic to me.

I was really looking forward to a good romance read and when I saw this promoted as “Spellbinding, magical and utterly original, With This Kiss is one love story you will never forget” I was ready for a great love story. But honestly, this is a love story I will forget. Just a few days after finishing the book I’ve already forgotten how it ended, not a good sign if you ask me. Properly thinking about it I think the book ended with a meeting at the book club, but it was too little too late for me.

Personally, I think this book was more about family rather than romance. Lorelai isolates herself from her family at a very young age and throughout With This Kiss you get to see her relationship with her family bloom once more. This was the ‘love story’ I was more invested in. The connection between family felt much more important to me than the one she wanted to build with her romantic interest.

Now, it sounds like I really didn’t enjoy With This Kiss and honestly I’m not too sure where it sits with me. It was a quick read which is always a positive for me and it did have a really inventive concept, but I think it could have benefitted from more development. This next part is a slight spoiler (it shouldn’t affect your reading experience as I won’t be naming characters but could be seen as a spoiler by some) so skip the next paragraph if you don’t want anything spoiled for you.

I really would have liked to get some kind of explanation as to why Lorelai has this ‘power’. You do find out about other people who understand what she’s going through but no one seems to have any answers to her questions. It would have made for a nice conclusion if you were to find out why.

With This Kiss was well written and despite mysterious ‘powers’ the characters were realistic and had a decent amount of development. I do think this type of concept would benefit more from a series format. Just 400 pages didn’t seem enough for this type of story.

Thanks netgalley for this arc. This book was very unique and a change from the normal reading I usually choose. It was a good story once I got into it. It definitely warrants another book to tie up some loose ends and to progress the characters a bit more. I really like Joanie.

My first read by this author, really enjoyed it, great characters, lovely setting, can't wait for her next book

There's a big hype for #CarrieHopeFletcher around here and before this I'd never read one of her novels so admittedly I set the bar high before starting which I maybe shouldn't have... I found myself feeling slightly disheartened because of a slow start and wondered if this was in fact the book for me...however...
🌌
As we progressed with the story and all of the characters grew, my love for them did the same. Forgetting the relationship between Lorelai and Grayson for just a second, I have to say the friendship she had with Joanie was just as beautiful 😍 If there was a definition of #FriendshipGoals then these two had it nailed! Of course they had their ups and downs but that just made them all the more real.
🌌
Much the same could be said about her growing relationship with Grayson although not as clear cut at first of course. I found myself flying through the second half desperately needing to know the future for the pair.
🌌
From someone who doesn't really do fantasy I did get a bit of it here but it was just the perfect amount. I enjoyed it!
🌌
Two beautiful and amazing love stories with an added sprinkling of Magic 🪄 is how I would sum this one up of, a book I ended up unexpectedly loving!

I liked Lorelai and her flatmate Joanie (who I pictured wearing Joanie Clothing at all times!) from the start – and the premise of the book was different and clever. However, I felt when starting it – and it lasted throughout – that this was aimed at younger readers. I even wondered if it was tagged as ‘Young Adult’ fiction – but it’s not. It’s very safe – there’s no sex, drugs and rock and roll in it – and I’d be happy with my tween kids reading it to be honest.

The relationship between Lorelai and her friends and family are also explored – and change significantly during the book.

It’s a nice book and an easy read, and you’re rooting for Lorelai – but for me it didn’t set the world alight. I think I need something a bit more gritty and ‘grown up’!

With This Kiss was an absolute gem of a book. Full of warmth and wisdom, friendship, family and love, it will uplift and remind you what really matters in life. To love and be loved.

Lorelai has a good life. Living with her best friend Joanie, writing screen adaptations of her favourite books, and working at The Duchess, a movie theatre showing old and new classics.

It's a good life. But it's a safe life. And perhaps even a little lonely at times. You see, Lorelai has a gift. Or is it a curse? If she kisses someone, she sees how they'll die. So she makes the decision never to become close enough to anyone to kiss them. It's too traumatic.

And this plan may have worked for 7 years. But then Grayson walks into her life. And she cannot deny her growing affection for him as hard as she may try.

But how can she kiss him, knowing what she'll see?

With so much to gain, will she be brave enough to take a step into the unknown, or will she play it safe?

A cast of wonderful characters complement our main girl, and there is so much to love in this story of hope, courage and joy.

Thank you to #NetGalley for my advance copy of #WithThisKiss by #CarrieHopeFletcher
When Lorelai meets Grayson she knows he is the man for her but she can’t have him, or can she?
A very different love story but so gripping I was glued to my seat until I’d finished.
A wonderful read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DNF'ing

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with an eArc of this book in exchange for my honest review. I am a huge lover of Carrie's other books and was so excited to see that she had a new book out. But unfortunately, it was a miss for me.

First of all, in less than 10% of the book, there was a Harry Potter reference. After everything that JKR has done to the trans and lgbt+ community, you would think that these references wouldn't exist in books that are being published in 2022... but apparently not. There is also a trans character introduced a few pages before this reference and a scene of the MC apologising to Joy, the trans character, for saying, ladies and gentlemen. It's a poor excuse for explaining the growth of pronouns and stuff like that. Joy shouldn't have been apologised to directly, but instead just apologised to the whole group and if asked, explain about pronouns without needing to bring up Joy. This scene is more putting attention on Joy and apologising just because she is trans instead of apologising to the whole room and correcting herself without needing to explain and talk about Joy. And then Joy and her boyfriend are never seen again in the book... yep, great representation there.

Overall I hope this is taken out and fixed before the book is published. I know there are many trans fans of Carrie, whether it be from her youtube or musical theatre work, and for this to be seen in the book so early on is shocking.

Other than that I felt that the story overall was a bit flat and the writing or characters weren't as engaging as in her previous novels.

This is such a shame because I really did enjoy Carrie's other books and was so excited to read something new of hers.

I never usually read this genre of novel. I felt that there wasn’t much that actually happened in terms of a plot? A lot happened but really it’s a simple story of a girl falling in love with a guy, and going after him.

The characters were developed fairly well, but I would have expected that considering how little plot there is.

I read to the end to find out if Lorelei ends up being in love. The plot twists were fairly predictable and the actual content of the novel felt padded.

I loved this book just as much as the authors other ones.
An interesting storyline of Lorelai not being able to kiss a person on the lips without seeing how they are going to die. She is a happy person in her life. She loves reading and works in a cinema and lives with her best friend but carries this burden with her which she has never spoken about. Lorelai is able to deal with this until she meets the wonderful Grayson! She is turned upside down on whether to kiss him or not and if she does, how will she react to what she sees in the future? A real page turner.

An intriguing take on 'I see death' - I liked the love story in and how Lorelai just wanted to be happy but finding that was difficult with her super power.

I came away with more questions than answers but did enjoy the book.

I was really excited to read this as the synopsis sounded just my cup of tea but sadly, I was disappointed with the storyline, characters and overall writing. Lorelai's character just didn't gel with me and in fact, most of the characters, (with the exception of best friend, Joanie), felt flat and uninteresting. The 'romance' between Lorelai and Grayson wasn't fleshed out at all and the couple spent little time together despite them supposedly being in love. There were pages and pages of dialogue but not a great deal of action so nothing much really happened to keep my interest. I ploughed on to the end just to see whether Lorelai's gift (or curse) turned out to be something that would change her life for the better or worse but I did find it quite a slog to get to the conclusion. I feel this book would be more suited to a YA demographic so maybe just not my thing. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a fabulous easy read, perfect for the beach. Lorelai is a young lady with a big secret which has a massive impact on her life. Lorelai has avoided any relationships to try and protect herself and her secret but that is all thrown to turmoil when she meets Grayson. What follows is a wonderful rollercoaster of emotions and a perfect chick lit read. Recommended for anyone who wants to escape from reality for a short while!

I really enjoyed this book. At first I was unsure on it but if you feel this way too I'd definitely recommend pushing through that as I'm sure you will enjoy it like I did!

The story line felt very unique, I have never read a book that had a similar storyline so for me that was such a good part of the book as I find romantic comedy books can sometimes be very similar and typical. This one was different.

Very different book to that which I normally read but thoroughly enjoyed. Lolerlai seems just an ordinary girl until she kisses someone then she sees terrible things. It stops her fr5om having any relationships until she meets Grayson

When their lips touch, will she seal his fate?

When Lorelai was thirteen she experienced her first kiss and got more than she bargained for when she saw how he was going to die, the next time she kissed someone she was eighteen and the same thing happened, she's refused to kiss anyone since then. Is she witnessing what is meant to be, or is she sealing the fate of these poor boys. Now she spends her time concentrating on her job at the cinema, her love of adapting books into movies and living with her best friend Joanie, the only other person to know of her painful secret. Then, along comes Grayson, he's kind and caring and she finds herself falling for him, but she's frightened of the outcome, if only she could change what she sees.

With this Kiss has a unique but intriguing storyline which drew me in straightaway, the characters are well depicted and likeable, Lorelai does procrastinate rather a lot, but this, at times, made her more endearing and I absolutely adored Joanie, she really had her back in every situation, everyone needs a Joanie in their life! Grayson is very sweet and clearly cares for Lorelai, she just needs to take the leap of faith and trust him. This is a lovely easy read by an author that I've just discovered and I look forward to reading more by her.

I'd like to thank HQ and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

Beautifully romantic and delightfully engaging. This kept me fully entertained and addicted right to the very end.