The Kissing Game or the Dating Game?

Okay… I can admit that I am a semi-stickler for titles that make sense with a book and for me this title made sense for about two seconds. With a name like The Kissing Game, I expected our hero to be attempting to steal kisses or con the heroine into giving kisses at every turn. That didn’t happen exactly. As for the rest of it, not as horrible as the title gaffe.

For readers of Harte, this book from what I gather, is a long time coming. A lovely matchup between two beloved characters – our hero, an in-the-flesh Viking heartthrob, Axel Heller and our heroine, waitress/hair stylist Rena Jackson. Both characters have been featured in Harte’s, The McCauley Brother’s series, but you don’t have to be in the know to get into this book.

Axel suffers from a bad case of unrequited love. He’s wanted to get to know Rena since the day he met her. Rena is finally ready to open her own salon and put the kibosh on her days as a waitress at the not-so-classy neighborhood bar. Meaning Axel has one last chance to ask Rena out or risk losing the chance of his dreams.

For Rena, Axel’s interest is nice, but suspect. She can’t afford to waste any more time. She wants to find love but is a true romantic and I really enjoyed how Axel tried to become the romantic she needed. From watching Lifetime movies to reading romance, Axel is more than just a traditional guy who works on cars. He is proof that men can do non-traditional things if it means learning how to love their woman the right way. Including giving the heroine a gift every day leading up to Valentine’s day, though some of those gifts are awful and hilarious. Too bad Axel has a load of baggage from his childhood and Rena has her own childhood hang ups as well.

Plot-wise, this is heavy romance, stemming around Axel and Rena coming together. If you’re a fan of Harte then this book is right up your alley as the McCauley’s, the Donnigans, and many more characters from other series make an appearance. What left me salivating is Axel’s brother, Maksim and I hope this almost-Axel twin gets his own book in the future. There are a few side-plot issues, and they fold in well to Axel and Rena overcoming issues from their past to forge a future.

Why only a three? I liked the book, it just wasn’t what I expected. There were elements I wanted included missing and though Rena and Axel coming together was ultimately sweet, I felt like the title and the back-cover blurb gave me one idea while the story delivered another. Secondly, there were some imposing other POV’s that I didn’t believe were necessary and Rena’s reactions to certain situations came off as over-the-top where she’d never acted that way before.

Overall, the book was good. I liked it and read it in under a day. My reading time is a decent indicator of whether I enjoyed a book or not. I do strongly believe titles need to match stories, but while this is my first Harte book it won’t be my last.

~ Landra

Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Neither of them do anything about it for a long time. Then, one day, he finally wagers a "kiss", and things take off. I'm a sucker for romances, and so I expected going in that I was going to like this story about a boy named Axel and a girl named Rena. Unfortunately, I found many parts of the book boring, and it was difficult at times to get into Rena's head and find the context behind her actions/reactions when she spent time with Axel.

The obstacles their budding relationship faces check a lot of boxes I'd usually find interesting, including a mixed race relationship, racism and its impact, and difficulty dealing with strong feelings and past trauma. The way in which these topics were written and how they meshed with Axel and Rena's budding relationship didn't click for me, much as I wanted them to. Long story short, it's unlikely that I'll read this one again, even though there's nothing particularly wrong with the book or its characters. This one just wasn't for me.

Ok so you know things aren't going to bode well when you read the synopsis and are told the hero will be tall, dark and handsome but then when you actually read it, find out he's fair Viking and German!

I have to say that despite this oversight I was semi-okay with this book.....until the hero pulled the heroine's mother onto his lap to comfort her. It was all downhill from there for me unfortunately.

There is a serious mismatch between what the cover and blurb suggest this book is, and what the book actually is. It made it impossible to get into the book. This book would also have benefited from a sensitivity reader or two.

What first drew me to this book was the cover! It's so vibrant and fun that I knew immediately that I needed to read this story. After reading the blurb, I was further intrigued.

Rena and Axel are two characters previously mentioned in Harte's other books but since I haven't read those stories, I began this story without any previous information or backstory. What I liked about this story was that you absolutely don't need to have any backstory to understand the character dynamics; everything is explained and it only takes a couple of chapters to understand the who's who of the side characters. The story itself was also very sweet and I always enjoy a story that begins with a silly bet. However, I unfortunately struggled to connect with the characters and their budding relationship. They were very sweet, lovely people but I just didn't feel a strong connection to either of them.

I think this story had a lot of potential and I would be eager to try more stories from Harte in the future. If you like fluffy, light-hearted romances, give this one a try!

DNF at 36%

I got sucked in by that adorable cover and the synopsis promising a fun sounding, banter filled story. Sadly it didn’t come close to delivering.

I didn’t care for either of the characters. Rena and Axel both waiver so much and often to the extreme. She will be enjoying a conversation with him and then immediate think about how she wants kids and decides he’s not The One. This was on the first date. He’s prone to saying random words in German and storming off. Together there’s absolutely no chemistry. Oh, and he’s often referenced as “tall, dark, and handsome” when it’s stated that he’s blond with fair skin.

Plot wise, it was a hot mess. There are loads and loads and loads of characters and I found out from other reviews that this book is a companion to another series....which is why it made sense that it immediately felt like I was dropped into the middle of the story. Tons of push and pull and an obsession with Valentine’s Day made this a struggle to keep reading.

I did get to 36% and then skipped around, skimming for anything that would interest me. I found some violence, hate slang words, and talks of domestic violence. I didn’t read any of the racism and hate crime scenes, but I’ve seen other reviews mention it.

Overall, it was a cute cover, but the story definitely didn’t match.

**Huge thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing the arc free of charge**

So, lots of issues at play here.

This is marketed as a standalone, yet around 15 characters from previous novels (I haven't read but I checked) appear and act like I should already know them.

The heroine is a "romantic" because she has stacks of romance books and Valentine's Day is her favorite holiday ever *sigh*. She can't understand why she can't find love, yet she is offended that the hero only asks her for coffee as a first date.

The heroine is also the token POC in a very white town. She is written in a way that is POC in name only and the author chooses to make racism a big conflict. I'm going to come out and say it. This feels like a jumping-on-the-diversity-bandwagon book.

Enter the white-savior hero to brawl with all of the white supremacists on her behalf. He's also German. How do we know this? He frequently tacks on "Ja", "Nein", and "Gut" to every conversation.

There's so many weird choices (Charley Brown porn - I'm not kidding) that it pained me to finish this (I only did so because this was an ARC). Especially since the heroine excuses his rage-filled outbursts and hand-waves a confession about putting his own mother in the hospital.

Great marketing for a really problematic book...

The Kissing Game was a cute, quick read between Rena and Axel, who have been mutually crushing on each other but neither had managed thus far to pluck up the courage to admit it. While I thought it was a quick easy read, I also found it lacking a distinct voice, so to speak. Neither of the main characters felt fully developed and the overall story felt muted and bland. Maybe it was that the writing felt stilted and read like a stage script or that it employed tropes I am not particularly fond of (bilingual people inserting random words of their native language in the middle of a sentence and speaking in their native language and then immediately translating to English, primarily).

The story is decent, but it gets bogged down in extraneous detail that adds nothing to the story and detracts from the main focus. I am sure many would enjoy it, but I found myself unable to focus on the story and uninterested in what was happening. This may come down to me not jiving with the writing style, but I found it overall not capturing my attention and flat.

2.5/5 stars

I had very mixed feelings while reading this story. First, the cover was misleading and seems more rom-com than what it really was which was a biker bar/autoshop/hair stylist story with dirty talk and multiple sex scenes. This can be misleading for some folks. Second, I believe I would have enjoyed this story a whole lot more by reading her previous series and have already formed connections with past characters. It would've bumped up the rating in my estimation at least and increased my enjoyment while reading. There were so many different characters, over fifteen, so it was hard to focus or care about specific ones. Also, every character and couple seemed to have something else going on storyline wise and it almost felt like this book was trying to be a platform for about five other spinoffs - firefighters, Axel's body shop, Del's body shop, hair stylist shop, gangsters, etc. As a reader, I just felt my attention pulled in way too many directions.

I did feel I connected with the main characters, Rena and Axel, on most occasions. Rena was a little bit of a worrier and overthought things entirely too much while Axel wasn't much of a talker and was the ultimate macho guy with a soft heart. There were two things about Axel that bothered me though. One was that he was described as German, spoke German and everyone kept referring to him as a Viking. The second issue was that he didn't talk as much in the beginning, but the more he did throughout the story it was extremely broken English and threw me off a bit reading it.

This story was not a slow burn and seemed to get to the sexy scenes pretty quick. I'd say too quick on one occasion. It generally bothers me when there's a fight or argument, then quick sorry which instantly evolves to sex without a clear discussion of what happened in the first place. It felt very jumbled and rushed in those instances. There were definitely good examples of communication within this story too, although most were towards the end of the book. Overall, the small glimpses of chemistry witnessed here and there as well as the hilariously horrible Valentine presents were the saving grace of this story. These are the main reasons why it gets rounded up to a 3.

This is my first read from this author and I'm always excited by the idea of finding a new author to fangirl over. I really wish that's how I felt by the end of the book. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. I felt lost at times with some of the characters. It almost felt like I was missing something, you know? Like maybe this isn't the standalone (or not a very good attempt at one) that I thought it to be. The writing style was a bit confusing for me which made it hard, at times, to keep up with who's POV I was reading. That alone took away from my enjoyment and, honestly, lead to what I can only describe as boredom with the story. I liked the characters but this isn't a light, fun rom-com. Although I never really felt the chemistry, it has some funny parts and I thought the hero was actually kinda cute in all his awkwardness.
Overall, this one didn't really do it for me, but it's a quick read and one that I am sure many will enjoy.

I received a copy via Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca.

My rating: 1.5 stars from 5

UMMM. I had a hard time with this book. The writing jumped from person to person and scene to scene. It was difficult. The author didn't show anything, but had to tell everything that happened. I almost quite reading so many times.

I checked soon after starting this book to see if it was part of a series. It read like book 5 in a series (It's not). Then I was wondering if I somehow started reading this book on chapter 17? (No, I started at the beginning).

I had to highlight a few different sections because I couldn't image the combination of words being immortalized in print. For example ["He shouldn't use his thigh to spread her legs or stroke down her belly and delve under the panties hiding the very heat of her" Those are some impressive thighs! Nor say his mustache one giant massage toy and his facial hair like another set of hands caressing her skin I'm not an expert in facial hair, but that was creepy. (hide spoiler)]

But there was one sentence that I hated above all the others. [But first she had to make him apologize, grovel a little, and communicate like a regular person. (hide spoiler)] Attitudes like this need therapy ASAP.

I really wanted to love this book, but it just fell a bit flat for me.
I enjoyed Rena's drive in succeeding on her own two feet, but her desire for romance felt repetitive over time. I suppose the fact that she reads romance novels is supposed to signify that she is a romantic? It was just told over and over, but not really evident in the story. And the random German words to show that Axel is, in fact, German, felt forced and fake.
There was a plethora of side characters, and I had a hard time keeping track, wondering what each character's purpose was in the story. I read later that this author has other books in which these characters make an appearance, but I think it was too much for this story, unnecessary for 20 additional supporting characters to make an appearance and add nothing to the plot.
I do not believe the synopsis of this story matches what actually made it on to the page, and I felt a bit disappointed.
I suppose if you are into sexy German men, or looking for a Valentine's day romance, this book would be right up your alley.

This book had promise but fell to the problem of trying too much. First off there are a ton of characters. This book is technically a stand alone but is really part of a larger series. Because it is part of a series, a lot of the characters introductions and backgrounds are glossed over. I am assuming they are delved into further in some of the other books. But as a stand alone, there are way too many characters to care about any of them.

The other issue this book suffered from is too many plot points. The description and title point to what should have been the main plot. Unfortunately, this is is cleared up extremely fast. Then other, more dramatic plots are introduced. It was just a lot for three hundred page book.

If you are a fan of the author and have read her other books, this book is probably a great addition. If you have not read this author before, I would recommend starting with a different book.

The Kissing Game by Marie Harte is a rough and tumble kind of story. The characters are blue collar hard working, hard partying and hard living people. Bar fights in the parking lot, not to sticky bar floor go hand in hand in this story with honest work ethic that would made anyone proud to have.

Rena Jackson is starting on making her dream of owning her own business come true. Axel Heller already has done that but understands exactly her. The is a shy big man and tired of waiting on him to make a move woman story. It is an interesting story. looking at life different from my own. The blending of family, race and backgrounds is a reminder that these do not really need to define a person or who they love.

I did find that the cover did not match my perception of the characters in this book. The cover looks like flirty chic-lit. While this is a contemporary romance this is not a fluffy, cotton candy kind of story.

An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this book and it had all of the makings to add up to that. Harte’s writing style is an easy and enjoyable to read. The thing that was holding me back from a higher rating is the fact that I went into this without knowing it was connected to one of Harte’s series. Nothing in the description hints to that, and yet it is written in a way that just enough on the side of assuming the reader already knows the characters and their backstory that I couldn’t quite love it the way I had hoped. I am sure had I read Harte’s series I would have enjoyed this so much more.

Axel has been attracted to Rena since they first met but has been too scared to ask her out until he finally realizes he has waited too long and she is getting ready to move on. He finally works up the courage to bet her one kiss that she can’t resist him or something like that - the terms of the bet were rather confusing. Anyway, the two main characters were incredibly likeable and fun. I enjoyed watching their relationship grow and I was rooting for them throughout the book.

The main issue with the book was that there were WAY TOO MANY characters. This novel is pitched as a stand-alone but clearly I’m supposed to know who these other people are....(Rena, Axel, Mateo, Rylan , Big J, Earl, Wiley, Jane , Lara, Johnny, Hope, Kelly, Nicky, Cara, Mantego, Lou, Ray, J.T., Del, Foley, Smitty, Colin, Caroline, Dave, Fletcher, Rabies, Scott, Sam, Liam, Tommie, Stella, Sophie, Brad, Reggie, Mack, Tex, Abby, Mike, Maksim, Jannik, Hester, Erik , Ilse , Ivy, Marla, Bridget, George, Daryl, Josie)
There were about 50 characters in this book and it was impossible to keep them straight. I think if those characters had been cut down by half and the book had a narrower focus on the plot it would have been a trimmer, more coherent story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I tried. I really did. But for some reason I’m just unable to get far into this book. I can’t fairly give it a rating, since I didn’t quite make it 10% into the book. But I will say that I’ve read other books by Marie Harte and enjoyed them. This one just isn’t for me.

the stray cat and dog were the best part of this book

i don't even know where to start. first of all, this came with zero indication, until i started it, that this was set in the same world as other books by this author, because it was immediately clear upon the many, many, (so many i could not keep up) family/friends of the main characters we are introduced to that these are characters already met in other books. it didn't make the book unreadable, just the sense of missing out on something and trouble keeping all the different people straight. i liked the camaraderie, but i was just ready for the book to focus on the main two.

and then it did that and i realized i had already read the best part of the book and i did not, in fact, want it to focus on the main two.

the characters were one dimensional, the drama was like a really bad lifetime movie, the writing was Not It, and it was all so horridly cheesy. there was no good angst between the characters, their was barely any build up in their romance, the so called "kissing game" was maybe about 5% of the book, and it was just BAD. i don't know why i even finished it quite frankly.

i also didn't like how this book took on racism. it took something that is very real and alive and made it into this side "drama" that you can tell was only included to allow the male love interest to beat dudes up and ~fight for his woman. plus the way everything was handled was done almost cartoonishly? that could be said for just about everything in this book, though.

basically the first 33% made me think this might be something all right if not what i expected, and the rest just got worse and worse. i had no idea what the time line was through most of it, some parts would contradict others, and over all this was way more like a rough draft than a finished product. don't be fooled by the cute cover and the description. the marketing team is clearly trying to salvage something, but it's complete false advertising.

Rena Jackson and Axel Heller have been dancing around there attraction for close to a year but during that time Axel lost his beloved mother and Rena has been working to over her own hair salon, but Axel is back and determined to win Rena over. Problem is Rena has decided she wants a man who is in it for the long haul; she wants marriage, babies, and a happily ever after and she doesn’t think Axel wants that in his life.
I’ll admit as one of Ms. Harte’s long time readers I’ve wanted this story to come to fruition, there was something about the way Axel protected Rena even though they’d never dated that was sweet and it made me wonder about what made him tick knowing he always seemed to be spoiling for a fight. Rena has always been a bit sassy and smart, but in this book she almost came off as entitled in her relationship with Axel. I felt that Axel was doing all the work to make their relationship work and while he seemed to enjoy it even though his choices of woo were a bit off, the relationship seemed a bit one sided. Sure one can argue that Axel was closed off and made it hard for her, but IMHO that shouldn’t have stopped her. That being said as time went on it was evident she cared and worried about him, but I just wanted more for him.
There was a bit of a suspense/hate crime angle in this book something that has been brewing for awhile, but it all just felt forced and “off” and I was disappointed that this book that was supposed to be a romance centered around this angle when there were so many other conflicts that could have been tackled such as their family relationships both of which were strained and brought into this already muddled romance.
While I was extremely happy to see so many of the characters from Ms. Harte’s other series make an appearance, this also made for a very character full book all of which took time away from showing the main characters grow as the relationship progressed.

I saw several negative reviews on this book before I started reading, so I went in skeptical but hopeful. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but I still would not recommend this book. First of all, there are SO MANY minor characters in this book. I could not keep them all straight. There were the main characters, then there were secondary characters, but then there were even more that were only mentioned a handful of times. It was difficult to follow at times.

The overall storyline was fine, just maybe not executed in the best way. The conflict between Axel and his family towards the end just felt kind of random. Like there needed to be another conflict, so let's throw this in here. I liked the bet at the beginning of the book, but I was under the impression that the betting game was going to continue throughout the rest of the book. I think it's interesting that the book has "Game" in the title, but the bet at the beginning of the book was really the only thing that was game related. The relationship between the main characters was fine, but I was not a fan of Axel's "dirty talk." I couldn't feel the chemistry between them through the writing. It just made me feel cringe-y and uncomfortable.

2.5 stars.
I received this book for free in return for an honest review.