I had plenty of doubts, but I was pleasantly surprised with how this book turned out. I really liked the direction that the ending took and I was honestly hoping it would happen! This was a very fun read.

3.5 stars
I had plenty of doubts because of the cover, but I was pleasantly surprised with how this book turned out. I really liked the direction that the ending took and I was honestly hoping it would happen! This was a very fun read. I’ve now read three books by this author which is kind of wild. I’m not sure whether I’ll pick up more from her in the future or not!

Well, this was a disappointment. With a cover like that, I expected lots of swoony goodness, but what I got was :

1) Homecoming drama
2) More homecoming drama
3) Even more homecoming drama.

And it wasn't even the kind of drama that kept me glued to the pages. Everything seemed so pointless and easily something that could have been solved with communication. There were a bazillion characters here too and no one was fleshed out as deeply as they could have been. Ultimately, they wound up being bland and unmemorable. I wasn't expecting a deep story or anything, but I was hoping that there would be a good intense romance and an entertaining storyline. The romance was barely an element of the story. There are 3 potential love interests in the book and they were all really uninteresting to me. I honestly don't even have much more to say about A Kiss in the Dark. The writing was decent, I guess? Anyways, this was definitely not the book for me!

My Thoughts:

The cover is really cute and the premise sounds fun and adorable. Unfortunately this one completely missed the mark for me and I really struggled to finish the book. There are two timelines, junior year and senior year, that alternate through out the book. Something happened junior year that screwed up Macy's friendships and the alternating timelines are supposed to reveal the story. Unfortunately... both timelines came off really dull to me -- both are wholly encompassed by homecoming so as we go back and forth, it's just a whole lot of homecoming drama. But the drama wasn't even that interesting? I just felt my attention waning. There were like three boys in the picture and it was just one too many boys for me for the majority of the book. I felt like the plot dragged and despite liking the ending, the amount of plodding it took to get there was not worth it for me. I'm sad I didn't enjoy this more but I really tried.

In Short...

This one didn't do it for me but if you like cute YA contemporaries, I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you to give it a shot, especially given the friends I have that did enjoy it quite a bit!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2240961133?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I liked this book, but I just wanted more. The mystery wasn't that hard to figure out, which disappointed me. It was cute, but not really the book I wanted.

I was not able to review this book because the format was not compatible with my computer or Kindle. However, I'm still interested in the story and still plan on reading it once I can get a physical copy!

4.5 - Adorable and Wonderfully Swoony

A Kiss in the Dark is a fun and wonderfully swoony YA contemporary story. With a mixture of drama, mystery, romance and humor, this book had me positively entertained throughout the entire time.

When I saw this book on Instagram, the gorgeous cover immediately made me swoon and I was dying to get my hands on it. Then I saw that Ciocca was also coming out with Busted and I just couldn’t pass up requesting for both books. I finished reading Busted a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it! When I finally got approved for A Kiss in the Dark, I was beyond excited and couldn’t wait to finally read it. Well, I’ll have you know that I absolutely loved it!

During a high school football game, the lights suddenly go out leaving the field in complete darkness. Unexpectedly, Macy Atwoods bumps into the arms of a boy who kisses her passionately. By the time the lights come back on, her mystery guy has vanished. Macy, stunned and confused, knows that her mystery kisser is someone familiar – someone special – she's just not quite sure who. Determined to find out the boy who kissed her in the dark, Macy starts to piece the clues together and soon realizes that to get to the truth, she must deal with old wounds about what really happened during her junior year. How far will Macy go to figure out the mystery kisser who took her breath away? And what if he's not who she expected?

This book was such a delightful read with the perfect balance of mystery, teen angst, and slow burn romance. I thought the story development was great and paced quite well. I also enjoyed the way the storytelling was set up. The alternating chapters told from Macy’s POV both in her junior and senior year kept me intrigued until the end. I really loved the mystery aspect of the story. Ciocca definitely kept me guessing the entire time and the twist in the end – totally took me by surprise! I do have to admit that while I was trying to figure out Macy’s mystery kisser, I had a very strong gut feeling who he was and I really wanted it to be him. Well, I definitely squealed when I realized I was correct. But even though I solved that part, I thought the revelations were done well and I had fun seeing everything unfold.

Macy was a strong lead character. I found it very easy to like and relate with her. She’s caring, loyal, smart, and artistic. I also loved that she had a passion for photography. Adored the other characters too. Jadie was amazing, a great friend, and so likable. Her friendship with Macy was #goals. I even liked Meredith. She was bossy and kind of a mean girl, but she did care about her friends. I thought the parents were fantastic. Macy’s mom was just the best and I loved her to pieces. Her relationship with Macy was so endearing.

Macy’s potential love interests were fun to read about. Noah was mysterious, flirty and charming. Joel didn’t appeal to me at first. There was something off about him, but in the end he surely won me over. But Ben... Ben, Ben, Ben... that boy totally had my heart from the very beginning. He was easy going, friendly, caring, and super sweet. Swooned so hard over his friendship with Macy and the way he always tried to just be there for her. All in all, I really enjoyed getting to know these guys and seeing how they interact with Macy. They certainly created more conflict and drama than the girls. There were things that could have been avoided if they were just honest... but, what’s the fun in that?!

I'm so smitten with Gina Ciocca’s stories and this book is by far my favorite! A Kiss in the Dark is fun, heartwarming, and adorable. There are so many things I loved about this book – great friendships, lovable characters, sweet romances, and important life lessons. I truly enjoyed this novel and my heart was so full of happy with how Ciocca beautifully ended the story. So excited to read whatever she writes next and you should totally add this and her other books to your TBR.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Super cute book! It was a fun and quick read! I typically do not read contemporary YA, but I really enjoyed this book!

Macy had a rough junior year and is hoping to make the best of her senior year, including mending some relationships that were destroyed last year. When the lights go out at her high school during the football game, Macy finds herself in the arms of a boy who kisses her senseless. The boy seems to know her and everything about him is familiar, but she can't quite figure out who is he.

Noah, the resident bad boy has no qualms about taking credit for the kiss and Joel - her junior crush who bailed from taking her to homecoming is acting weird again.

But Macy is also trying to build a bridge between her best friend Meredith and her former friend Ben after something happened during Junior year as she continues to try and find the boy who kissed her in the dark.

Okay, this book was... Okay.

First, I am very confused because the football game happens at night and when the lights go out, well am I the only one who is confused how Macy still did not see this person? Because I did not get an impression that this was a dome setting (maybe I missed the part?) because otherwise, Macy should have been able to see the person who kissed her. Not really up to how she was so blind that moment.

Two, Macy was a sweet character and easy enough to follow, but oh my god I did not understand how she was super oblivious. Like the signs were everywhere and the other characters knew, but no one apparently bothered to tell her what was going on. I found this beyond frustrating and I wanted to throttle her. She was always confused about Ben and Joel and was questioning their behavior and "mysterious" words the entire damn book and somehow could not see what is in front of her? I find it hard to believe. That, or the character herself really was that thick.

This book takes place during senior year, but we get chapters that tell us what unfolded during junior year. I liked Meredith and I felt so sorry for what she went through.

I thought the romance could have been so sweet, but a lot of the book focused on Macy navigating senior year and a lot of it was about homecoming. I couldn't relate to the obsession of homecoming because when I was in high school about ten years ago, we didn't have homecoming in my school. The romance kind of happens slowly and by accident, but the focus of the book felt like everyone around Macy were mad at her the entire time because she seemed to just...Not get it.

Overall, I found some of the book cute. It was a fast read. I just found some things to not make sense and the whole case with Macy being completely blind to everything was a little frustrating through the book. But, I did find that I still enjoyed it well enough. Also, I LOVED Macy's parents and I was glad for positive parent representation in the book.

A Kiss in the Dark is a sweet contemporary teen romance. The story is told in first person by Macy and takes place during the days leading up to the homecoming dance of both her senior and junior years. In senior year, Macy is a photographer for the yearbook with her best friend, Jadie. She is no longer a cheerleader and is no longer friends with Meredith, Ben, and Joel. While taking pictures at a football game, the power goes out leaving the field in complete darkness. In the total darkness, Macy is passionately kissed by a boy. She realizes that she knows this boy, but is not sure who he is and when the lights come back on, the boy is gone without a trace. She limits the mystery kisser down to three boys, her old friends, Ben or Joel or the new boy who flirts with her, Noah. When she talks to each of the boys, they all have secrets and Macy is not sure if the kiss is one of those secrets. Macy also tries to make things right with Meredith. In junior year, Macy, Meredith and the other cheerleaders are making a homecoming float when Meredith’s crush Ben comes to help. Ben and Macy have a lot in common and become very good friends. Macy also becomes close with Ben’s friend Joel, who used to play for the rival football team and has not been welcomed at her high school. Macy and Ben start hanging out a lot, which causes friction between her and Meredith, although Macy has a crush on Joel, not Ben. During the junior year homecoming dance, the drama surrounding the four of them comes to a head. For a year, Macy has not been in touch with them. As the senior year homecoming dance approaches, Macy tries to figure out what the boys are keeping from her, how she feels about each of the boys, and why the kiss matters so much. Will Macy be able to find the mystery kisser and when she does will he feel the same way?
The story has a fair pace, great characters, and well described settings. With the chapters alternating between senior and junior years, the story keeps you interested, but could get slow during the senior year chapters when not much happened until the last few chapters. Macy was a realistic character, she cared about her friends and family, loved photography, was unsure of her feeling and could be a bit self-centered. Jadie was cool, funny, and a loyal friend to Macy. Even though Meredith was pretty and a popular cheerleader she was not a stereotypical mean girl, she cared about the squad and was afraid of getting hurt. While Ben, Joel, and Noah had different personalities, they were all annoying and frustrating. They could have avoided all the drama if they would have just told Macy the truth, instead of being all passive aggressive and making her feel like she did something wrong. Another annoying thing was that in junior year, Macy and Meredith spent a lot of time worrying about getting asked to homecoming by Joel and Ben, when they could have simply asked the guys themselves. The setting of a southern football centric high school in the fall was well portrayed and you could get a picture of the all the local hangouts Macy and her friends went to. The story does not have any racy scenes, all Macy does is kissing. Macy and some friends do get really drunk one time. The ending is not a cliffhanger, we learn who is the mystery kisser and the boys’ secrets are revealed. I enjoyed the book and would check out Gina Ciocca’s other books Last Year’s Mistake and Busted. Fans of books by Kasie West, Morgan Matson, Huntley Fitzpatrick, and Abbi Gline’s Field Party series would like this book. I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Quick, cute, angsty, swoony, albeit predictable mystery read. You will solidly be in one of the guy's corners even if you know he's not the one (I was anyway!) and the pacing and drama will keep you interested. I liked it.

I requested this book because I read Busted by the same author not too long ago and really enjoyed it. I have to say, I wasn't disappointed.

Macy is kissed in the dark. She doesn't know who did it, but she has a few guesses. The book is mostly about her finding out who kissed her, but honestly it does get pushed aside, because Macy is trying to get her friends back. So, the kiss isn't overly mentioned, but it is a constant theme. The big theme here is Homecoming and the dance that follows.
The book switches from Junior year and Senior year (the present) as Macy tries to navigate the changes in her life while wanting to mend relationships. So, the flashback chapters allow the reader to see what happened to turn her life all around and understand her feelings about Joel, Ben, and Meredith. Those chapters are really enlightening and I, for one, liked the back and forth of it. The slow peeling back of the layers of "What in the world happened?!"

As for the romance... I totally saw it coming. It isn't that sneaky, especially since one boy is emphasized both in the past and present more than others. I don't know how else to talk about this without giving anything away. But, I will say I liked how everything turned out. I think the couples are totally sweet.

I do wish there was more Jadie and Meredith in the book and conversations about topics other than boys--but there are a few non boy conversations, so I'll take it.

It is sweet, it is fluffy with a touch of angst which put a tear in my eye, and I hope to recommend this one to others who like contemporary romances with a slice of mystery involved.

This was an okay read. I didn’t love it or hate it, I just couldn’t really connect with the characters this time. There was a lot of unnecessary drama and I think that is why I couldn’t fully appreciate the book. Aside from that, the cover is gorgeous.

Gina Ciocca begins with a premise sure to appeal to many a teen girl (and boy): the lights go out during a football game and, in the midst of the darkness and confusion, Macy finds herself kissing a boy. And it is a GOOD KISS. A tingling kiss that she feels all the way to her toes.

But then the lights come on and the mystery kisser is gone.

Ciocca puts her heroine through a series of paces as Macy tries to figure out to whose lips hers were attached. After a kiss like that, surely the boy would want to be found, right? Oh, but it isn't that easy, Macy. The guy who wants her to think it was him seems like a good prospect, but Macy's gut tells her it wasn't him. When, though, has a teenage girl listened to her gut when a hot bad boy is involved?

Along the way, Ciocca shows us other issues that Macy faces, not the least of which is the apparent dissolution of a friendship she shared with her best buds Meredith and Ben.

You may be able to predict some of the twists, but keeping the identity of Macy's kissing bandit isn't the point here. Rather, Gina Ciocca wants you to understand how and why teenagers - people, really - tell themselves what they want to believe, how they can intentionally blind themselves to the truth, and how they can trade on your belief in the appearances they are so desperate to perpetuate. Even though this is a book about high school kids, you undoubtedly will see yourself in some of Ciocca's characters.

I enjoyed the heck out of this story. It's one that teen girls will eat up, and teen boys may like it as well.

Macy's story begins with a power outage and a kiss from a stranger. Macy, Joel, and Ben's story is not a love triangle in any typical sense, but there are feelings beyond friendship between them all. Gina Ciocca uses flashbacks to paint a full picture of how different Macy's life is this year (yearbook photog) to last year (cheerleader). The flashback are brilliant because they give the reader little pieces of the backstory until they can see it all come together. I loved the ending to this book, and it wasn't without a little bit of heartbreak which made it all the more hard won.

This book is all about intrigue, mystery, and drama that comes together in a I can't put this book down kind of way! Fortunately, it is an easy read because I wanted to get to the end! This book is told in alternating chapters between Macy's senior year and her junior year. The first mystery is who kissed Macy on the field. The second is how things fell apart so drastically between her and her friends. Reading about Macy's junior year, it becomes obvious pretty quickly what is going to happen and as much as you want to cringe, there are so many sweet moments!

There are three main guys that are in Macy's life bad boy Noah, sweet ex-friend Ben, and Joel the guy who broke her heart junior year but seems to be trying to make amends. There is one guy who really stands out that I adored, but I won't give anything away. Towards the middle of the book, I started to have an idea of what was happening and I wasn't wrong. However, figuring it out did not take from how great I thought this book was. This book will definitely be one that I will be re-reading again!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review from Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing via NetGalley.

Romance and mystery make this a fun YA read. I know that some of my students will devour this story due the writing style, pacing and romance of it all. Good read!

The first time I read a book by Gina Ciocca was her debut, Last Year’s Mistake, in 2015. I enjoyed the book a lot. I really clicked with the writing. So when I saw Gina had another book, Busted, coming out in 2018 I was beyond excited. Read and loved that. And then there was A Kiss in the Dark. A book that sounded like equal parts romance and mystery mixed with a lot of teen angst. I was dying to get my hands on it. And when I did…loved! It was really everything I had built it up to be in my head and I’m so happy.

This book was the perfect mix of mystery and contemporary romance. As a reader what I loved is that I didn’t have the whole story from the beginning. You know that something happened. You know that friendships ended and hearts were broken, it you didn’t know why it happened and who was involved. All it took was one unforgettable kiss in the dark for Macy to go back to that year and unravel just what lead to it all falling apart and to figure out who kissed her and why. It was done really well. I had no clue what happened and how it lead to all the destruction until I was about 70% done, although I figured out the kiss early on.

On top of loving the mystery/romance aspect it helped that I loved the three main people involved, Ben, Joel and Macy. All three played a part in the mess that was their lives and it took a year for them to face it and to try and fix what they broke or missed completely. I highly enjoyed seeing their story unfold and the secrets they were hiding. Plus I admit to being a tad smitten with Ben. Sue me, he’s adorable.

All in all I think this was my favorite book by Gina Ciocca. There is something about her books that I just click with. Her writing style just gets me and I need more of her stories in my life. This is an author you need to check out and this is a book you need to read!