I’m always looking for a chick-lit with a fantastical edge as it can be a lot of fun. As soon as I heard about this book, I knew that I had to give it a go. I’ve never read Carrie Hope Fletcher before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’m glad I gave this book a chance. I’m posting this as part of the blog tour with HQ Stories. So thanks very much to the publishers for my free copy of this one.
With This Kiss follows Lorelai, who sees the future deaths of anyone she kisses. Her ability has always shocked her and has meant that she has been avoiding romance for a long time. It always seemed like the right choice for her until the day she met Grayson. Suddenly she finds herself wanting to kiss someone and having to decide whether getting close to someone is worth it when you know how they’re going to die.
As someone who does worry about death a lot, this book did strike a chord in me. I don’t know how I’d handle seeing how people would die. I would definitely be trying to prevent people’s deaths, but that isn’t always possible. I totally understand why Lorelai was avoiding romance, though there were some aspects that I didn’t get.
The family relationships in this book are kind of sad. Lorelai didn’t think her family would believe her, so she pushed her parents away rather than telling them the truth. Her mum clearly loves her and wants to comfort her, but because she didn’t demand to know what was wrong the first time it happened, she couldn’t have cared that much? Kid Lorelai, that was kind of dumb. I do understand it to some extent. Obviously, she didn’t want her parents to look at her differently. But it was a little difficult to feel for her when you can see that she would have had a better support group. She just had to reach out herself. Things do get better for her with her family, so I’m glad about that. It was just a little frustrating.
In fact, Lorelai’s habit of pushing everyone away was pretty frustrating. I do understand why. I probably wouldn’t want to risk anyone finding out that I could see how people were going to die. People would wind up asking you to kiss them and find out how they go, I’m sure. But it made her seem pretty flighty, and it was a little off-putting as it did at times feel like she deserved to be feeling bad. In a lot of ways, that was good though. No one is perfect, and it means that you see her grow over the novel. It is a little slow, but I liked seeing Lorelai become more confident and open herself up to more chances in life.
When it comes to the writing, it’s pretty simple. This is a short book, and it’s one that you can very easily get through. This book is what I’d consider a pretty easy read, even if it can be very emotionally heavy. If you’re looking for a quick book to get through, this could be the one for you. Just make sure you’re in the right headspace for it. At one point, one of the side characters is feeling suicidal, so trigger warnings for that.
The romance was pretty cute. Grayson was a good guy, and he really didn’t have to put up with some of the stuff he did. Lorelai was so very lucky to meet a guy like him. I think I’d be happy to date a guy like him myself. He’s nerdy, likes books, films and theatre and is close with his family? Sounds perfect to me. Definitely debating adding him to my book boyfriend list.
I am glad I read this book, and I think I’ll be checking out Carrie Hope Fletcher again in the future. I wouldn’t say this was a favourite book of mine, but I’m glad that I read it.
3/5 Stars
Title: With This Kiss
Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
Genre: Chick-Lit/Fabulism
Age Range: Adult
Publisher: HQ
Release Date: 14/4/22
BUY LINKS
Lace and Dagger Books 