Loved this book! I loved the paranormal aspect of the story! I loved the setting in Australia! And I really loved the slow burn build of the relationship between these two characters. And the deadly mystery that hinges on the will they won't they aspect.

This story was seriously cute. Best friends that fall in love. Even if you don't want to ruin your friendship the chance to make it so much more is one that would be hard to pass up. It's romance and friendship with some serious demon beat downs. Ancient love curses, traitors and secrets. It was a fast read and pulled me in right away. I love when a story becomes more with a paranormal twist. It makes things so much more interesting.

I must say this story does have an interesting plot line in regards to the curse.  There are a lot of details and rules that must apply that it got a little confusing at times, but it still keeps you interested in finding out more.   I'm not sure about the Eros Guardian plot twist.  It seemed a little too convenient in regards to the healing factor.  I love how Colmer gave us the POV of both Jonas and Cora.  I enjoy books more when that happens.  It really helps to get into the character's head and care more about them as the story progresses.  I also liked the struggle that Cora and Jonas had in regards to their relationship. They did not not want to be together just because of the curse.  So, I'm glad Colmer stretched out the friendship/love relationship between them.  I am definitely looking forward to book 2.  Recommended for ages 14 and up!

*I received a DRC for an honest review.

This was such a treat - the story was one that I was hoping I'd really enjoy and it turns out that I did.  The characters were pretty well written as well, and I loved the little love story going on in this one.  It's a great book to curl up with on a chilly day.

A story of love, magic, sprinkled with adventurous lore. The Third Kiss definitely uses its romantic title to pull you in while it's nice characters and magic keep you bound.

The characters of Thr Third Kiss start normally, everyone meeting everyone. Then all hell breaks loose when magic combined with the reality of consequences. Can love save the day? Is it the journey or the destination that matters more?

A tale of love is a tale already told, right? Well, this is a new take. When the blurb says the characters are sensible, like Cora, it isn't lying (like many books do). The (girl) main character does live up to her expectations, not falling head-over-heels for the guy as soon as they meet. She shows that she has a brain, that she is scared, that she is brave, and that she will do what it takes to save the people she cares for.

The plot is a lot better than what I thought it would be. Usually books centered around romance have little to no plot because the plot is the romance (hardy-har-har) and so I expected cheesiness (there was a little, but I didn't drown. No, I floated). The mythology of gods and consequences of those who defied those who held power was intriguing and I wanted to see more punishments, more action. I was definitely ready for more.

All in all, plot was good and solid for me, the romance was between good, a minute bit of cheese (I love cheddar), and a little bit dry (some parts, not many though), but overall everything was better than average and sparked a smile for me.

(A note: my book had problems loading and it's my fault for not re-downloading, so it took me a while to read).

I realized that after I requested this that I probably was not going to read it. I regret requesting it cause it did sound interesting when I read the summary.

The Third Kiss by Kat Colmer is a lighthearted YA romance that has a commitment-phobic teen falling for his best friend. Jonas Leander doesn’t do long term. Never has, never will. He treats girls like the sweets in the candy store and he’s determined to try them all, without picking any favorites. But when he gets a weird letter advising him that he’s an Eros Guardian who has only one chance left to pick his life partner or spend eternity alone, Jonas has to do some serious soul-searching. Cora Hammond is one of Jonas’ oldest- and best - friends. She figures the letter is some well-deserved payback from one his short-term exes but then she becomes a part of the problem. An impulsive kiss between the two friends reveals there’s a lot of unexplored chemistry between them:

He sat and listened and let me pace, rant, and rave. And when I was done, hot tears finally breaching my icy anger, he reached for me and held me until I cried myself dry. Then held me some more. Past the point where I needed to be held. And into unfamiliar territory.  I became acutely aware of every gentle stroke of his hand over my hair. Of the reassuring weight of his palm as it pressed just below and between my shoulder blades. Of his breath as he murmured soothing words near my temple. About then was when the unexplainable happened. I can still remember the startled taste of him, all sweet tangy and warm.

But before they can decide just how much they want to explore this thing between them, Cora becomes the target of the Groth Maar: demons sent to destroy Eros Guardians. Can true love prevail against the powers of hell? Definitely!

Do you like the good guy that bad stuff happen to for no reason or do you like the bad boy that cause bad stuff to happen to him?

I wondered this as I read The Third Kiss by Kat Colmer. The story about Jonas, master of meaningless hookups. The perfect bad boy, right? I mean you read this and think "Oh he's going to find the girl who isn't a meaningless hookup. I can't wait!"  But then you meet Jonas, at his 18th birthday party and he receive a letter warning  him about a love curse. He has only three more chances, and by chances I mean.. you guess it, kisses to find his true love. If he doesn't kiss his true love he'll miss his chance. 

So is the bad boy going to change his ways?

This was what I was hoping to read: the bad boy changes his ways before the curse get him. 

But Jonas is a good guy, he's already given up his meaningless hookups ways. But the girls around him, including his sister and the girl he likes (his best friend) don't realized this. The girls at party are all like kiss me Jonas, and he's not interested but then the girls kiss him. 

If this sound like a book you want to read, go buy the book. You'll love it. Don't read any farther on this review. 

See...

I didn't finish this book. I don't care if Jonas find out why he's curse or if he and his best friend kiss and break the curse. I don't care. 

 Jonas's is a good guy who has bad things happen to him. I want the bad boy that cause the bad stuff to happen and he need to fix it or a the good guy who makes the wrong decisions and messes up and has to fix it. I didn't see this in The Third Kiss by Kat Colmer.  Sorry but I didn't care about the good guy Jonas who wasn't driving the plot forward.

This was a fun, light read that you don'the find much of in YA anymore - the plot was definitely light on substance re: world building, but the romance was enjoyable, and it was a good mix of action and romance.

When I read the synopsis for this book I knew I had to read it. I love that this novel is a unique twists on young adult fantasy novels. I really enjoyed the characters and the setting, The author did an outstanding job creating and writing this novel.

This book had all the makings for an epic love story. And while it did deliver on everything else I look for in an engaging urban fantasy read, I was left a little disappointed with the romance part. Though I admit that this book was blessedly uncheesy, I was desperate for a little more lurve, especially considering that a love curse is actually the main theme.

Still, I freaking loved the story-telling and its nearly perfect flow, the action sequences, the mythology and world-building, the kick-ass characters and their beautiful friendships.
And despite it not being perfect, I never ever wanted the book to end. Can't wait for the sequel. I need to know more about Leo!

*I received a copy from Entangled Teen for review - all thoughts are 100% my own.*

I'm pretty certain I read the summary for this novel before requesting it, but for some reason, I didn't reread said summary before jumping into the story. As a result, I was really confused because I remembered the synopsis having something to do with a curse and the story read as a typical YA contemporary for the first 1/4.

With that said, after I got over that hump, the story turned out to be quite enjoyable. The background between Love's Mortal Coil is really interesting - with the backstory focusing on the Biblical story of Tamar and her half brother who raped and then disgraced her. It was really cool getting to explore the history of the curse with the characters and seeing how the curse would affect them. I do wish that the premise could have been explored a bit more because it was definitely the most intriguing aspect of the story.

I'll be frank and admit that I'm not a huge fan of Cora and Jonas because I got sucked into shipping Leo and Beth together. However, I did like them as characters individually and together, they are still cute. Cora is such a strong willed character and her strength really helps Jonas. Their friendship is also absolutely adorable and it's a no brainer to see how compatible they are. 

As the plot thickens and the group has to figure out a way to break the curse, Kat Colmer does a really great job creating a sense of growing tension. The action scenes were also really well written along with several twists that propel the story forward.

I'm definitely intrigued to keep this series on the radar, especially since the next book follows Beth (I believe) and like I mentioned before, I really like her character.

'The Third Kiss' is an excellent first installment in a fresh new young adult fantasy series that readers are going to love. I'm so happy and excited that this is only the first book in a series, because I want more! I loved pretty much everything about this novel - the writing was fantastic, the story line had me riveted, and the characters were realistic and likeable. The author did a wonderful job bringing the story to life - she had me believing that ancient love curses, demons, and Eros Guardians were all real. I adored all of the backstory and history about the curse, the Groth Maar, the Book of Threads, Eros Guardians, and everything else involved. I hope we get to learn even more about them in the next book. I found it compelling and utterly fascinating. The characters were all well written, even the secondary characters were unique and believable. I loved Jonas and Cora - the main characters - and getting to know them both along with watching their relationship change and grow was great. They each had positive qualities and flaws that made them realistic and easy to connect with early on in the story.

One huge plus for me was the author's choice of writing style. The book is told from the first person point of view, alternating between Jonas and Cora. This was a perfect fit for the story and I'm so happy she wrote it this way. I'm a huge fan of the first person POV because of the personal connection it allows between the narrator and the reader - and this was no exception. We get to really know Jonas and Cora - their hopes and dreams, fears, memories, and so much more are exposed for us to see. It made them both real for me and made it all the more intense watching their friendship and relationship take on all of the obstacles throughout the book, and seeing it change and grow was wonderful. I'm really excited to see where the next installment will take us and what will happen - the only bad thing now is the wait. Very highly recommended for fans of young adult fiction, fantasy, paranormal, and romance!

I really enjoyed this YA fiction, The Third Kiss.  I thought this was perfect for Ya that are older teenage age.  Such a fun story of best friends that start to explore a relationship beyond friendship and all the mixed emotions that go with that. Jonas receives a letter on his 18th birthday that tells him he has 3 chances basically to find love. He is someone who has never taken relationships with girls seriously in the past so this letter holds a lot of fear for him.  He finds out that this letter that holds some secrets about his parents and his own life that are slowly being revealed throughout this book. I loved the humor and emotion that was put into this story. I am excited to read a sequel to it as the ending leaves you wondering what will come next.

This book was a great quick read and I really enjoyed all the aspects of it. I’m a sucker for witty banter and Jonas and Cora fully delivered. The will they, won’t they that played out was very enjoyable.  Cora is a take care of herself kind of girl which I fully relate to and really helped me connect to her as I feel like most YA books these days have ditzy main characters.

The curse itself and the world were so interesting to me and I really enjoyed learning about the curse slowly and all the different facets to it. There are a couple of twists in the book and I will say that I saw one of them coming for most of the book, but didn’t expect the other.

I’m excited to see what more we learn about the curse in the next book and where the story for our characters goes. Jonas, Cora, Beth and Leo are a lovable squad that you’ll be rooting for.

My Thoughts:
The Cover: What a beautiful cover! A soft purple silhouette of a couple, I am sure our protagonists, against a light background with the title in calligraphy in front. I felt the promise of a good read from the cover.

The Plot: All in all, The Third Kiss was a very entertaining story. It's definitely not your average love story, 'cause you hope curses and demons and sharp swords are not involved. But the adventure was amazing. I could not put this book down, even for food (and if you know me, food is one of my favorite things, next to books about adventure, curses, and swords lol) 

The Characters: I loved our protagonists! With a lot of books, I often find the supporting characters stealing my heart. But Cora and Jonas were front and centre and were very strong characters. All of our characters were very well written, with strong personality traits and flaws, worthy of love or hate! 

Was it Worth Reading?: Without a doubt! I was hooked from the very beginning and am seriously hoping for another! I am also going to find more books by our author, because I love her writing. I highly recommend The Third Kiss and give it 5 out of 5 crossbows.

You can read my review here: http://cindysloveofbooks.com/2017/08/14296/

Really interesting characters that you can see yourself in at least one.  Really great book,

Let me apologise in advance for the rambly review…


***



Gah! How do I write this review without giving things away?



Well, I’m giving it a go! (Wish me luck!)


Let me start at the very beginning…When I first read The Third Kiss’ blurb I was interested but I didn’t have too many expectations going in; in fact I don’t think I had any at all. How was I to know that this would become my sit-in-one-spot-hold-your-pee-in-for-three-and-a-half-hours, book?


Yes, that happened



Well, I didn’t technically sit unmoving in one spot (I had to turn over because things were falling asleep) but the rest of it’s true.



I started off saying “I’ll take a bathroom break once I’m done with the page.” (I then turned the page in preparation for when I got back) and then my eyes would get caught on the first sentence and I’d find myself saying “Okay, at the end of this chapter then.” But of course that never happened (isn’t that what always happens?) and then somehow I found myself at the end of the book.



Entangled authors sure know how to write good characters! The ones in The Third Kiss were no exception. I loved reading Beth, Jonas, Leo, Cora, Aunt Helena even Beth’s dad and the professor’s scenes. Each character is distinctly recognisable from the other, so I was never like “wait, who’s talking now?” (whereas mostly in books like this - with more than one character at the centre - and so much going on you’re bound to get confused at least once).



Kat has taken the (MINOR SPOILER ALERT COMING UP) Love Curse storyline and made it unmistakably her own. I can confidently say that this book is different to any other YA I’ve read so far. I’m trying to think of a book that’s vaguely similar to The Third Kiss but I honestly can’t.




Now, on to the twists!




I guessed both of the turns the book was going to take but I think with the first game-changer, that was the authors intention - to have the reader already know/have guessed were the book was headed. So that they don’t see the second twist coming not to mention, it happens right at the very end - I’m talking last page y'all - although I will admit that Kat had me second guessing myself all the way to the last page until it was actually, literally spelled out at the end of the book



The way that the book ended though, I’m fairly certain we haven’t seen the last of a particular character yet. If I’m guessing the central pairing for the second book correctly, Ooh! the next book is going to be Ga-oood!




And with that (and successfully having managed to keep all major spoilers to myself!) I bid you adieu dear book review enthusiasts. Until next time!

Kat Colmer’s debut novel The Third Kiss is a bewitching paranormal YA that is superbly written, features delectable dialogue and tangible characters and will keep you entranced from beginning to end!

Jonas Leander is known for his short-term relationships. The master of meaningless hook-ups, Jonas doesn’t believe in love and certainly isn’t looking for it. The only girls who matter in his life are his twin sister Beth and his next-door neighbor/best friend Cora. A year ago, a reckless moment changed Jonas and Cora’s relationship and now with Cora returning from a year abroad, Jonas knows he’s going to have to face the awkwardness between them. Cora Hammond is thrilled to be back in Australia after a year spent with her mother in Manhattan, even if it means dealing with the fallout over a misplaced kiss between her and Jonas. Jonas has always been her best friend, so all Cora wants is to get to how they were, but when Jonas gets a mysterious letter claiming he’s something known as an Eros Guardian, a descendant of a family line cursed to lose their chance at love, Cora and Jonas are sure one of his disgruntled ex-s are playing a practical joke. Yet when strange things begin happening and Cora is attacked by a group of demons determined to make Jonas’s curse come true, the two best friends will have to face the possibility that not only is the curse dangerously real but facing the truth about their relationship may be the only thing saving Cora’s life. 

Having literally just devoured this novel, I have to say I was very impressed with The Third Kiss and enjoyed it very much. The novel was intelligently told, the prose sharp and the dialogue biting. The Third Kiss honestly was just a well written and solid read all-round. The Third Kiss focuses heavily around the relationships between the characters, driven by the sharp and sizzling chemistry and banter between the two leads Jonas and Cora. The Third Kiss unfolds through their varying POV’s and includes the perfect amount of paranormal to support the characterizations and relationships we follow. The supernatural elements are there, but it's easy to focus on the interactions between the characters, and their relationships are never lost among the paranormal--it works out to be perfectly balanced. 

As our main characters and focus of the story, it was impossible not to fall in love with both Cora and Jonas. Cora was intelligent, practical, town to earth and also every kick-ass. Colmer writes her very capable; highlighting the importance of self defense and gives Cora a stubborn nature you can't help but cheer for. Jonas on the other hand is very smooth-talking and charming who does care very deeply for his sister, aunt and best friend. He's actually a good guy despite his cheeky--and womanizing--nature and I loved seeing him grow and face his true feelings about Cora. 

There's so much to love about The Third Kiss including the fact author Kat Colmer situates the story in Australia and gives it a very Australian feel that will also satisfy international readers. We're also introduced to Jonas's twin sister Beth who is also Cora's best friend and someone who brought a lot of potential to the story. They have a wonderful friendship together and had strong bonds. It was wonderful seeing the three of them interact as well as Jonas's friend Leo who loves his slogan shirts and isn't all he seems. 

The highlight of the novel for me is easily the relationship between Cora and Jonas. Their romantic development was admittedly somewhat predictable but being a romance as The Third Kiss is, you head into the novel expecting them to obviously fall for one another. What grabbed me is the easy way they interact with each other, the banter, the chemistry and attraction between them. It bleeds through the pages and Kat Colmer has you eagerly turning pages to witness the next electrically charged interaction between them and next smouldering kiss.

The Third Kiss features some interesting mythology I would love to explore more of and enough developments to keep things very interesting. With a breathtaking ending guaranteed to leave you raring for more, I for one can't wait to see what Kat Colmer has in store for these characters next and will be desperately looking for the continuation of what looks like a very promising new series!