Member Reviews
A great entertaining novel. Perfect for a weekend on the sofa Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.
"When you're a forty-something cat-mom who'd rather binge Netflix than brave the singles scene, finding someone to kiss turns out to be harder than it sounds."
This was my first NetGalley read (ebook in exchange for review) and I can't say I'm disappointed. This book was engaging from start to finish. Written in a reflective style, the protagonist, Kate, was believable, likeable, and relatable right from the beginning. All she wanted was an equitable, loving relationship but life had other plans. She just kept falling first and falling hard. This book follows her journey from that first fateful New Years Eve, to its natural conclusion.
While I don't usually enjoy the reflective style of writing, brief POV changes to other key characters kept it interesting and the plot moving forward. The novel also dealt with real-life concerns in what I felt was a realistic and sensitive manner (TW: SA). All in all, Someone to Kiss was a cute read that I recommend to anyone who enjoys low-stakes Bridget Jones style stories.
Endearing! Full of wits, congenial characters with issues becoming unearthed that I did not anticipate at all!
The story is understood as in process of growth, of becoming, where Eve´s version transforms into a newer version of herself, with acceptance of her limits and potential for unlimited possibilities.
I loved seeing her grow whilst the journey becomes her goal.
A bit of a cliché, Eve represents the ´hopeless case´ surrounded by cats who eventually turns the tables.
3.5 stars
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the e-ARC of this book!
This book has people in their 40s as the main characters--which I rarely find, but intriguing for me to take a peek through the life of much adult age characters. I had some worries that I couldn't follow or relate to it, but I was wrong. Kate was determined to realizing her drunken new year's resolution which caused her to try online dating as an attempt to find "someone to kiss". I love how funny and quirky Kate is as the main character. Her thoughts and behavior are so funny, entertaining, yet pretty realistic. Of course this book highlighted various experiences of misfortunate dates through online dating app which is also quite realistic. I love how Kate is not only finding her true love, but also rekindling and find herself again. The slow-burn best friend turns lover trope makes me gasping for air because I really can't wait for them to be together ASAP.. But all the wait still worth it in the end!
Julie and Ben characters are adorable and makes me sympathize with them too. I really like how Jamie Anderson highlighting each of their issues, mainly mental health one. I can feel the message conveyed through this story, especially about struggling and supporting your bestfriend (heck! I'm so jealous of their friendship.. I want one too!!).
Overall this book is a heartwarming, quirky, and entertaining read, perfect for all rom-coms and true-love-is-actually-close-to-you type of love story suckers!
TL: mentions of anxiety, alcohol addict.
This books was so good and such a relatable read! I read it in one sitting and can't wait to find more by Jamie Anderson. I would recommend this to anyone that loves a quirky romantic comedy with a feel good ending.
A fun read with a cute storyline! Some of it was predictable, but I still really enjoyed the book. I liked that the authors ties in mental health struggles and writes a story about a seemingly real person. It's a cute book!
Thank you NetGalley and Jamie Anderson!
Although I guessed the ending not too far into the book, I have to say I really enjoyed the storyline. This is an ideal book for curling up in front of a cosy fire with a lovely cold glass of wine. Thanks to the author, NetGalley and Books Go Social for giving me the opportunity to read this super book.
So cute and so relatable!
Kate, a 40-something single woman, makes a drunken pledge to herself at a wedding on New Year’s Eve. By the next one, she WILL have someone to kiss.
With the help of her best friend Julie, Kate begins her disastrous quest to keep her promise by online dating, attending speed dating events, and being set up on a blind date.
This book brought me back to my days before meeting my husband, navigating the horrible world of online dating 😂 setting up her profile, discussing types of men on there, and the messages Kate received were all too familiar!
Julie’s brother Ben was also super relatable for me, as someone living with anxiety & depression.
As a Canadian, I loved that this book took place in Saskatchewan - finding new Canadian authors makes me happy too!
What a fabulously fun read.
Someone to Kiss has some truly lough-out-loud moments as well as a great insight into the 'single and seeking' in today's world of online dating and social media. Been there, done that, met plenty of weirdo's too, so could totally relate to so much of the story, What I also loved was the differences in the three characters - how they saw each other and how they saw themselves, and how that evolved throughtout the story.
I did forget the main character was supposed to be in her forties, as to me she did seem so much younger, but I also do know people like her... My only other thought was the switching of POV (including both first person and third) and the timelines was a bit random in places. I would have prefered a bit more consistency.
A highly entertaining yet heartfelt rom-com I will be suggesting to others.
The story opens with a very drunk Kate on New Year's Eve, she then realize that all she wanted was someone to kiss, she doesn't want to be alone anymore. She pledge to herself that the next year would be the one, she'll have someone to kiss.
This book, I liked it, a lot. The characters are well built the story goes smoothly, it's very well written. It was fun and at the same time it had some meaningful things in it as well.
At first I didn't really like Kate, but throughout the story she grows into this woman, she finally believes in herself and admits her wrongs.
I still think that she is a bit self centered and treated her friends not so greatly, but I know she'll do better.
I also liked that there were the bff's povs here and there.
Now the question is, will she find someone to kiss at midnight?
eARC provided by NetGalley for a honest review
Hallelujah for a main character being single, 43, childless, and looking for love! While I love the genre of romance, I struggle with it. Almost every book is centered around young love, marriage in early adulthood, or life after divorce/ death of a spouse. There is not a lot of books written where I can see myself in the protagonist.
Someone To Kiss by Jamie Anderson was a relatable read! If you are seeking a significant other in the 21st century, you will enjoy reading about Kate’s journey. I found myself laughing at how realistic the social interactions online and dates were.
While this is a romantic book, it is so much more. I loved the introspective look at friendship, finding inner happiness, and navigating mental health. However, I don’t want to go too into detail here, for fear of spoiling it. Just know that this book isn’t afraid to tackle life’s biggest problems.
I loved this book and highly recommend it. I am also excited to see that Anderson is working on another book following Julie. Special thanks to NetGalley.com and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
Kate drunkenly makes it her new year's resolution to find "someone to kiss" before the year is over. With the help of her friend Julie she gets herself signed up to Tinder and starts swiping. If it only was that easy to find Mr Right!
I enjoyed how the author tells the story from the view point of the three main characters Kate, Julie and Ben, allowing the reader to get to know all three of them, including the sides they are hiding from each other.
A thoroughly enjoyable read with relatable characters portraying the harshness of online dating.
I am hoping that there'll be further books where Julie will get her chance in the spotlight; it feels like hers is a really good story to come.
Big thanks to NetGalley & TRM Publishing for providing an ARC for free, in exchange for an honest review.
It was a quick and fun read, although I rate it only 3-stars due to lack of creativity in the plot and a slightly strange book structure (chapters from a different POV inserted randomly).
I was a bit worried when I started to read it because I genuinely didn't like the Bridget Jones type of vibes the first two chapters gave off. 40-something single woman with a hangover throwing up that is supposed to be funny - when will we finally let go of this concept or that it should it be funny?
Anyway I'm glad I didn't give up reading, because I promise you that the book became better, even though it contains several clichés and overall it isn't really original (e.g. sarcastic friend with drinking problem, main character is too self-centered and mourning their love life, meaningless one night stand, etc).
As I mentioned, I didn't really understand the purpose of the structure of the book. The majority is written in first-person POV (Kate, the main character whose life is the center of the story), but there were only a few third-person POV chapters inserted randomly either about Ben or about Julie, which weirdly broke the structure of the book. Why not write those in first-person POV as well? Or why not create a pattern behind so it would make more sense? Like one third-person POV after x chapters or something? I find it odd. I really really liked Ben, it would have been great to read more from his POV or about him in general.
This brings me to another thing. I liked the male characters much much more than the female ones (except for Terry, he was just terrible), despite how some of them turned out to be by the end of the story. I feel like the author can write better male characters than females, so I would love to read something in the future from her that's written from male POV.
I liked the idea of having a sarcastic friend (Julie), but often she was rude instead of sarcastic, which is just too bad. I also didn't like how alcohol and being drunk was almost always the excuse for Kate or Julie being an asshole. It's poor writing skill from the author, why not give them ulterior motives or some character flaw which causes the errors in their behaviors?
Kate did some things or said some things or acted sometimes in a way which made her seem being sad and pathetic instead of making me, the reader empathize with her. More subtle hints would have been better to make that impression (e.g. thinking of literally every single man constantly in a romantic aspect - how desperate one needs to be to do that??? it makes her character just sad, not likable unfortunately).
But also Ben would need some character development, how is he not having any kind of emotional reaction at all when he has his big moment with Kate and seconds after he got the news from Kate that despite her liking him she still decided to hook up the night before with someone else - because of alcohol. Oh boy, I'm rolling my eyes hard right now.
Speaking of Having Moments^TM , Kate and Ben's moments were my absolute fav parts of all parts of the story, it was such a shame that their final and biggest moment was so hastily wrapped up.
Someone to Kiss is a fun story of a woman in her 40s who decides to try her hand at dating to find someone to kiss on next new year's eve. Kate and her friends attend speed dating, try out online dating, and eventually work on themselves. As the book went on, I got a little frustrated that Kate didn't have more confidence in herself, so I didn't love it, but the story is fun and worth picking up.
This was an interesting story with some moments that I was not expecting. I enjoyed the characters and story and I just wish I could say more but a lot of my feelings are spoilers. Just read this book if you want a good story.
Very enjoyable! There was so much to relate too! Lots of laugh out loud moments but also those sad moments. Very enjoyable. We definitely need more new years books.
Thank you to the author, publishers, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It started relatively slow, and I did not think I was invested in the characters until I started crying toward the end. This book is about Kate and how she jumps into the online dating world in her 40s as she made a promise to herself that she will find someone to kiss on the next New Year's Eve. We see her go on multiple dates with sometimes questionable men, and through this, she goes on a journey of growth and self-love.
I love how the author handled heavy topics like SA, depression, anxiety, and alcoholism. As a person with depression and anxiety, I feel the issues were addressed tastefully and respectfully.
Overall an enjoyable read, and I cannot wait to read more from this author!
Kate, A single woman of 40, swears on New Year's Eve that by next year to have someone to kiss. This book that's you along on Kate's journey from all kinds of dating app with the ups and downs. The characters are well written and relatable. Some humor and lots of life! Made me look at myself and some choices I've made over the years! Thanks#netgalley and #BooksGoSocial for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.
This was really hard to read if i am being quite honest, and if this hadn’t been a novel i was gifted on NetGalley, I would have 130% stopped reading this book 20% in. There were a lot of aspects of this novel that I didn’t enjoy, and not enough that i did.
Firstly, Kate, Julia and Ben are all in their 40s and seem to just be surrounded by single people and are looking to settle down (well our protagonist Kate is). I am 27 years old and i am already feeling the pressure of needing to find someone and settled down since so many of my friends are married and having kids and I am just debating if now is the time to move out of my parents house with a looming recession… How is this 43 year old not surrounded by these things? Other than the wedding mentioned at the beginning of the novel, there are no people around who she interacts with who aren’t single. Everyone is single and that really feels like someone’s early 20s rather than their early 40s. Where is the outside pressure? Your mom or auntie asking you when you’re going to “settle down” and “find someone” and “start a family” … It also feels so unrealistic and just… meh.
Secondly, the novel is set in Saskatchewan which I thought would be dope to see, as someone who is from Montreal, Quebec, I was excited to maybe get a peak of what life is there, since you rarely see novels set in that part of Canada. But honestly it really felt like this could have been set anywhere, I wish that we got more of a glimpse of what living in Saskatchewan was like and maybe mentioning specific places that one may even see when visiting.
Another issue i had, was while the characters were in their 40s, they all acted and spoke like they were in their late 20s and early 30s… it was just out of place to me. Like Kate has a mini crush on her barista, Jesse, and she makes comments about how he’s too young for her, because he’s 13 years younger than her… That would mean she’s 43 and he’s 30! You mean the biggest issue for you is his age, rather than the fact that he is a barista and doesn’t seem to be working towards anything of substance at that age? Like seriously I would understand if she was 33, and he was 20… but the novel doesn’t make sense this way… It really feels like this novel was originally made with 33 in mind and someone pushed the author to make it 43. I think the whole book would have been more tolerable if those were the ages. Especially because the novel was well written.
***SPOILER ALERT***
I also dislike that we have Ben’s perspective included at all in the novel. WE KNOW HE LIKES KATE even just from her perspective even though she is obviously oblivious… But i have to say… it is already frustrating that Kate is already so oblivious but like by 50% into the novel and we haven’t had even like a smidge of sexual tension or like “almost” moments between Ben and Kate… its just… this was such a let down.
I am giving this novel a 2/5 solely because if the novel had been written with a different age in mind I would have rated it higher. (Probably a 3/5). If you read this, please comment and tell me what you think? Perhaps I am too harsh, maybe you can open my eyes to a different perspective.
“Someone to Kiss” is a delightful, hilarious, and heart-warming read. It starts with a laugh-out-loud opening scene that will have you dying of second-hand embarrassment. 40-something year old Kate gets insanely drunk at a New Year’s Eve wedding, and as she ushers in the new year, she makes a pledge to herself; by the next New Year’s Eve, she will have someone to kiss.
Kate turns to her friends for support and gets introduced to the world of dating. Online dating. Speed dating. Singles events. Jamie Anderson does an amazing job at showing us how exciting, awkward and (somewhat) disturbing the dating scene is for a single woman trying to navigate finding someone to love while simultaneously trying to figure out what exactly that looks like or means to them. As a single woman who uses dating apps and has done “singles events”, I found this novel extremely relatable, not just because of the kinds of men we encounter at these events or on these apps (glad to know I am not alone), but also because I could 100% relate to Kate’s character. Her thought process (past and present) felt like a snapshot of my own mind and the author did an amazing job at portraying the thought patterns of the anxious over-thinker.
I also enjoyed the characterization of the people in Kate’s life, and I appreciated how Anderson used each character to touch on important issues such as mental health, abuse, and assault. Each topic was dealt with in a very well-thought out and informative way. I loved that the character development wasn’t limited to Kate, but to her friends as well.
The storyline and pacing were well done and not too overwhelming. Seeing the expectation and disillusionment of Kate’s dating life and experiences, her career path over the course of the year, and the change in dynamics of her relationships/friendships felt realistic, and at no point did I think the story was unravelling too fast or too slow.
There is a reason why this book was a four-star and not five-star for me, and it’s down to personal preference. Personally, I found it a bit confusing when the chapters jumped from being first-person narration from Kate’s perspective to third-person narration by other characters in the book. In addition, I found the two time-jumps that took place at the beginning of the book (and then never again) a bit out of place. I think it would have been great if the novel used one narration style consistently and then either stuck to multiple POV or time jumps.
That being said, “Someone to Kiss” was a perfect and heart-warming read, and I can’t wait for the book to gain traction in the rom-com circles!! Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read the ARC!