As much as I love historical fiction and dystopian adventures, this was a nice break from the heavy stuff. No one dies, for one thing. What starts with a grilled cheese sandwich ends with lasting relationships. Maybe not the type of book I would typically hunt for, but the title and premise of the book are eye catching and didn't disappoint.

I"m a cooking show addict so this book was great for me! Cute banter, great characters and Reid and Carter the main characters were funny, conniving and sometimes plain mean! I enjoyed their story and would recommend this book.

Lesson learned: Don’t request a book when you’re hungry. The macarons on this cover seduced me into taking a chance on The Art of French Kissing unfortunately in this case it didn’t work out. This review won’t be very long as I DNFed at 35% and to get even that far it took me a week – for context, I can normally read 2 or 3 books in that time.

The YA genre is one that I struggle with, but I did want to give it more of a try this year. However, The Art of French Kissing just highlighted what I find irritating about YA: teenagers. There was too much teenage angst and uncontrollable hormones being paraded around. It was bad enough when I actually had to live through the experience myself, so I didn’t relish reading about it. I just didn’t connect with the characters, there was too much over dramatics for my tastes.

I haven’t given up on trying to find some YA I like; however, I may give up on YA romances. All they do is exasperate me!

Fun sweet book about a cooking competition to get a full ride scholarship into a prestigious cooking institute. I liked Carter as a main character even though at times she was pretty immature and selfish. I guess that is consistent with that age though. I liked the relationship between Carter and Reid and how is grows into more. I also liked the way it ended for the most part but would have liked to have an epilogue to give me a little bit more closure with the characters and how they turn out. The one thing I disliked the most is probably the title of the book. I don't think it matches the story at all. The macarons on the cover are cute though! Overall I would recommend this book to those who love fun contemporary romance stories.

I found this book fun for summer and very quick to read through I didn’t grow extremely close to the characters but it was still a great light read that would be prefect for in between heavier books!

A very cute and fun YA read. It's perfect for summer by the pool or anywhere else. It made me want to cook and I loved that there were queer characters. Unfortunately, I didn't like the main character too much which is very important for me as a reader but the banter between her and another character was a redeeming factor for me. I wouldn't recommend this to readers who prefer more substance but those who like their books on the light side should enjoy this.

This book, you guys. THIS. BOOK. I adored it. Probably too much, but I don't really care because it was cute and chef-y (yup, that's a word now) and just ADORABLE. GAH. Ahem, I will try to control myself for the remainder of this review - but I make no promises!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and SkyPony Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.

The story follows 17-year-old Carter, who has wanted to be a chef since she could work an oven. It is her dream, and when she gets accepted into a prestigious culinary scholarship program in Savannah, she is thrilled. When she arrives, however, she soon sees that her competition is fierce. Especially Reid, the guy who sabotages her first competition and soon becomes a thorn in her side. As the competition dwindles, Carter spends more time thinking about Reid - how to get revenge that is. But perhaps that rivalry is more than just some not-so-friendly competition.

Ok, I'm going to try to get through this review without gushing about this book and the romance, so bear with me. I think this was just the book I needed right now. I haven't read such a good book, especially a romance in such a long time. The whole book was really well done, but the romance was really spectacular in this one.

First of all, you give me a good enemies-to-lovers story and I'm basically hooked from the very beginning. And that's exactly what happened here. But not only that, the characters were great. Carter has a lot of self-doubts and anxiety about whether or not she belongs in this competition and I really connected with that. Reid was also a great love interest, he's snarky and funny and the chemistry between the two was great. They made a bunch of pop culture references which I loved (mostly because a lot of them were Star Wars related) and just really seemed to connect with each other.

We also see some great diversity in the book. Reid is part Japanese and identifies as bi/queer and one of Carter's friends is a lesbian. Most of the other competitors also come from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds as well, and one of the competitors is also a lesbian. There are a couple of instances where the characters talk about these things and they really help add to the story.

Overall, I don't know if other people will connect as well to the story and Carter as I did, but I would still highly recommend you give it a shot, if for nothing else, the amazing descriptions of food!

A fun, quick YA read. Relatable characters; fun plot and setting. Made me want to get in the kitchen and cook!

I was so looking forward to my reading time these days because this was such a fun and fluffy novel. I loved all the pop culture references and the fact that Carter had purple hair! PURPLE! It seems nobody dyes their hair in novels, and I always find that so weird.

Reid was wonderful, so wicked and hilarious. Maybe I'd have liked more dialogue to get to know him better, I feel we don't know that much about him.

The pace and build-up were great, and I loved that the chemistry between them was so explicit and delicious. Perhaps the end was a bit rushed, but I still liked it. The description of the food also sounded so yummy! I've never wanted to try duck, but now I kind of want to.

I definitely need a sequel one year later!

As far as cute, light hearted teen romances go you cannot go far wrong with Brianna Shrum’s The Art of French Kissing.

Set in a cooking school, the heat is turned up when a handful of teenagers begin competing for a scholarship program. Things are made more fiery when our protagonist Carter Lane has a cheeky run in with one of her competitors, Reid. But as the old saying goes “if you can’t stand the heat then get out of the kitchen.”

The Art of French Kissing really is one of those books that you can read without feeling too committed to. It is enjoyable and it is fun. The palpable tension between Reid and Carter is enjoyable and knowing that they are as bad as each other makes the teasing easy enough to handle.

All in all, The Art of French Kissing is an enjoyable read.

The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Shrum is available now.

For more information regarding Brianna Shrum (@BriannaShrum) please visit www.briannashrum.com.

For more information regarding Skyhorse Publishing (@skyhorsepub) please visit www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

For more information regarding Sky Pony Press (@skyponypress) please visit skyhrse.com/2in7NrQ.

Amazing Book! <3 Review to be posted soon!
Seventeen-year-old Carter Lane has wanted to be a chef since she was old enough to ignore her mom’s warnings to stay away from the hot stove. And now she has the chance of a lifetime: a prestigious scholarship competition in Savannah, where students compete all summer in Chopped style challenges for a full-ride to one of the best culinary schools in the country. The only impossible challenge ingredient in her basket: Reid Yamada.

After Reid, her cute but unbearably cocky opponent, goes out of his way to screw her over on day one, Carter vows revenge, and soon they’re involved in a full-fledged culinary war. Just as the tension between them reaches its boiling point, Carter and Reid are forced to work together if they want to win, and Carter begins to wonder if Reid’s constant presence in her brain is about more than rivalry. And if maybe her desire to smack his mouth doesn’t necessarily cancel out her desire to kiss it.

Sugary sweet and oh-so- happy. This was the feel good book I was waiting for! The love/hate relationship, the whole cook-off thing.. I mean, who doesn’t love watching Gordon Ramsey and his tv cook-off shows?! A book written in that style.. I love it!
I absolutely adored the characters; they were built wonderfully and all had an amazing backstory. The setting was pretty decent; nothing wrong with the school, the challenges were great, but a bit too .. predictive.

If you love Master Chef, Chopped, Hell’s Kitchen, AND you love YA romance, you will enjoy this book. Carter is a low SES teen who dreams of going to cooking school, but could,never afford it. She lives food and lives spending time playing with flavors. Her dreams might have the potential to come true when she is selected for a cooking contest that would award her a full ride.while she expects to compete, she did NOT expect to compete against some of the best young chefs in the nation. Reid is arrogant, cocky, smug, and extremely good looking. Carter notices, but is quickly dismayed when Reid declares war her and messes up one of her best dishes. But is all as it seems? Could she have a lot in common with him and the folks she meets along the way.

The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Shrum is my first book by this author. I loved the description of this book, but I really disliked the female lead Carter, I disliked her so much I couldn't enjoy the book. Characters can be snarky, but give us some reason to like them, this girl had none. The reason I gave this book 3 stars was the teenage cooking concept, that was fun to read about.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I wanted to love this book, but instead I just enjoyed it for what is: a easy YA romance with a cooking competition thrown into the mix. Why didn't I love it? Well, for starters - some serious sabotage happens, and not the kind that can be laughed off as no big deal. No, it's the kind where it would be really inexcusable if the judges knew that it happened: tripping some one on purpose? Going into their room, going into their phone without their permission? No bueno. And it felt really unbalanced - the kind of sabotage that Reid did verses what Carter did are totally disproportionate. Carter crossed all the lines. I was not okay with what she did.

But the biggest issue I had was the romance between Reid and Carter. There is a strong animosity between them that is somehow crossed over into romantic tension/feelings. I don't buy it. I don't think the author did enough to show that switch between rivalry to camaraderie. And what I find even more problematic is that they cannot go long without blowing up at each other. Almost every encounter between them ends in an argument. And to top it all off - they sleep with each other. After only knowing each other for a few weeks, and starting off sabotaging each other. They decide to have sex. And the very next day, what happens? They blow up again. I just don't see how this is a good message for any teen.

The author does attempt to be contemporary with her inclusion of comments about "privileged white girl problems," and the inclusion of a diverse cast (not just ethnicity, but also sexual orientation - Reid himself being what he calls "queer" and admitting to having dated a non-binary person). So I appreciate that this book is attempting to exist in a more current environment of inclusion, even if it did feel clunky and trying to hard on that score (a bit like name-dropping).

Another issue - though I wouldn't call it a deal breaking one - was the writing style. For some reason, I felt the author's way of writing Carter's narrative, her speech, and even the speech of other characters seemed very weird and staccato. Lots of periods and half-sentences, such as "I'm really. Like mad at him." It was a bit difficult to read and it happened a lot. Most of the characters did this at some point, so it took a way, a bit, from the distinction of their voices.

Character-wise, it was a mixed bag. Carter was really hard to like at points, but other times she was relatable. I would be agreeing with her one minute, but within moments I would be shaking my head and completely hate her. It made me feel like the author didn't quite know how to write a character that is supposed to be the one you root for, but also one that would do things that were really despicable, just because it was the whole crux of the story and have it be believable. I still half-hate Carter after everything. And Reid was all over the place as well. At times, I couldn't understand why he'd be willing to put up with everything Carder does and still like her (and by the end, even love her!). Though his decision to sabotage her seems a bit weird, considering he otherwise seems like a likable guy, gives me the feeling that the "assholery" (as the author puts it) exhibited by both of them is purely for plot and doesn't really seem to be the nature of their characters outside of that. All other characters are really just props for the story and aren't really fleshed out, most of them don't even have names.

Overall, I would say I liked reading this story, but I would be hard-pressed to recommend it to anyone unless I knew they were into YA romance stories. This book has a very specific audience and does not really do much to attract outside of that, in my opinion.

Can you make a book about cooking that doesn't really have any French cooking? But still has French in the title? Apparently you can. Weird.

Carter Lane loves cooking. She wants to go to college just for cooking. But in order to earn a place in the cooking school of her choice, she has to win a cooking competition. Carter travels to Savanah, Georgia to compete against 20 or so other talented high-school cooks. But only one can win.
Not only is Carter competing against a ton of other talented cooks, but she makes a personal enemy in snarky, full of himself Reid Yamada.

This was an ok read, but not the best I've ever read. A light, easy read.

Carter was funny, but she grew a tad tiring. She is constantly angry, literally blows up at the smallest things. And maybe pushing to be angry sometimes when it just doesn't seem like a good idea?

Reid, however, is much cuter. He's Japanese-American and super Slytherin. I know we're supposed to think he's a jerk, but I just couldn't see him just as a jerk. Now, he made mistakes. But he wasn't a walking loose cannon. Carter was a lose cannon about to blow up at the slightest, tiniest insult.
Reid was also very open emotionally. I appreciated a sensitive, Slytherin character. He was also bisexual, and I loved his talk about how to even tell people and define what people thought of him.

The Cooking Competition was fun, but felt sidelined sometimes for the tension between Reid and Carter. I am not a cook by any stretch of the imagination. So I can't really judge the talk about cooking, and food making, and everything in the kitchen. But it was fun to read about the teams skills and working through the competition.
And the conflict between Reid and Carter was downright hilarious. The pranks they pulled on each other were creative, though slightly juvenile at times.

Finally, a bit of chat about the sexual content. This is YA, and I actually felt the sex stuff was well done. These are high-school seniors and the way it was written wasn't graphic or unrealistic. It was actually more about consent and trust. So bravo about that!

<i>I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.</i>

I would like to thank Netgalley and Sky Pony Press for kindly providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.


This was a cute book about teens that enter into a cooking competition in which the top “chef” will earn a full ride spot at an exclusive culinary school. It is an easy read and the book flowed perfectly.

I really liked the competition and rivalry between the two main characters. Who knew that cooking competitions could be so cut throat. I wish I could have gotten to know the other characters a little more and that there was more interaction between them.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to those who are looking for a quick, light contemporary.

The Art of French Kissing is a great summer read if you love all things romance and food. (I love food…) While I didn’t find myself invested in the romance part of the novel, I did find some redeemable qualities. The Chopped style food competition is something I’ve never seen in a YA novel, and that storyline turned out great. I hope this book leads to more books that incorporate more “reality television” type storylines into their concepts.
I found the idea of a real competition for a college scholarship was great. People think about applications and scholarships as competitive, but not in the actual sense of the word. Since I am entering the stage of my life where I will be applying for colleges and scholarships alike, I enjoyed seeing the author put a unique spin on a widely known concept. It grounded the part of the story that felt like reality TV and kept the plot from seeming too absurd.
What I didn’t like about this book was the romance arc. I think throughout this novel, I have figured out that the “enemies-to-lovers” trope isn’t for me. At the beginning of the book, Reid is an absolute jerk to Carter, but throughout the book, they are forced to work together and end up falling for each other. I’m not sure if it’s my “strong and independent woman” personality bursting through, or my ability to hold grudges, but I can’t be happy for a girl falling for a boy that has been awful to her. Carter is a competent young chef, and shouldn’t let a boy like that into her life at all. I understand that as readers, we saw Reid’s more redeeming qualities come forward and that in the beginning, competition can get the best of some people, but that doesn’t give either character the right to be awful to one another, and then turn around and fall in love. Some people enjoy this trope, but it’s just not for me. I don’t think I’ll ever pick up another book that uses this idea.
So, if you like food competitions and the “enemies-to-lovers” trope, you will probably enjoy this book. It’s a great light summer read but wasn’t for me.

I loved to follow Carter's journey in her fight to win the competition for a scholarship in a famous gastronomy college. What I found interesting was the writer presenting such a human character, with many flaws, doubts and inner conflicts about her behavior in the fight for a scholarship.
Even though Reid had started the whole contest with Carter in such a way as to incite anger and revenge in her mind, I thought he was cute and I wisted all the time for him to win..
I loved what caused the choice of the cover, one of the most romantic moments of the plot

This is basically about a masterchef competition to win a scholarship to a prestigious culinary school, with Carter Lane as our narrator. Along her quest to win, she struggles with trust issues, self acceptance and love.

I think this was a cute, quick read, but with some important messages along the way. I could relate to Carter’s struggle with being insecure whether she really was good at what she did or if it was plain old luck. Wondering if she was just being dramatic and overreacting over certain situations. Being scared of her growing feelings for a boy she just met. I think that was handled pretty well.

The relationship between Carter and Reid was sweet. It was a little more serious to the usual ‘enemies to lovers’, but still worked with their characters. And I loved their geekiness and cocky banter. (It was almost the best part)

The friendships between characters were nice. I also liked was that this book had diversity. There were characters who were people of colour and/or lgbtq+. BUT. Other than Will and his biriyani, and a bit of flirting between queer characters, there’s not much including them or really about them which was a little disappointing. I felt like they could’ve been straight, white characters if you just ignore their introduction scene. It was like they were included simply because the author wanted the book to be classed ‘diverse’.

And finally we get to the best part, the food. I live for food so its a given that it’s the highlight for me. SO MUCH DELICIOUSNESS. Definitely give an entire star for all food mentions.

My Overall Opinion : I was a little disappointed at the lack of depth with the diverse – or any side – characters but think it was cute and even somewhat meaningful. The Art of French Kissing is a quick, fun read for those who like food, geeky banter, with a bit of teen angst.

*** Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC! ***