TW: Car Crash, Use of alcohol, divorce (mentioned)
Rep: Biracial Side character (Moroccan, White)

This book was cute all of the way. I also appreciate that this book was easy to read and such a quick read for me. I think the one thing that stood out to me was that Mia is a dancer who was chosen in the prestigious Ballet school in Paris, and that she wanted to become a dancer.

I loved how this book explored the hardships of being a dancer especially one is ballet. How it's tiring on the body constantly and sometimes it is worth it, to be a professional dancer. Mia explored this in becoming Odile (The Black Swan), how much she was struggling. Even though by the end, the dance wasn't perfect-but near of it, but Mia was grateful for it.

This book really reminded me of Anna and the French Kiss almost, Love a la Mode and Loveboat, Taipei . I wasn't a huge fan of those minus Loveboat. But this book kinda was a little similar with Loveboat mostly, different in some ways-but it kinda remained the exact.

The one thing that I didn't think was believable was Mia trying to find her roots. Granted, it's plausible-but in my experience, more often times than not, it's impossible. I don't know anything. It's all very confusing and don't get me started on my father's side-it's a blank slate. Trust me, I wish I knew where I came from, where I could trace where my family members be at or were from.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kisses and Croissants was filled with so many cute things. In it, you will meet Mia and she is completely and utterly passionate about one thing: Ballet. Which kind of sucks because her mom isn't too happy with her for going to Paris for ballet. Once there, she runs into Audrey who she is pretty familiar with since they both do ballet. Of course there's some tension but along the way they manage to break down each other's walls and eventually form a pretty fun friendship.

There's also romance within this book because how could you not while in Paris? It's pure science. Mia and Louis were pretty cute but I did find some scenes that were a bit weird. It also kind of annoyed me how Mia thought nothing would go wrong while she's a in a city she knows pretty much nothing about. I mean... I went to Paris years ago and I fell in love with the city and food. Yet, I knew that I didn't know anything about the city.. nor did I speak French.

Other than all of that, it was still a fun and cute read. Definitely glad I dove into it and ugh, that cover is just so cute. Man I miss Paris.. and croissants.

I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. It had me smiling like a loon and wondering how I can find more books like it.

The main character's dedication to her dreams and struggles to feel like a normal 17 year old girl were inspiring.

Dashed in with some love in Paris and some family history sleuthing and I was hooked. I couldn't put this book down. But what really got me was how her relationship with her roommate and supposed to be rival developed and how they made each other better.

I'll admit, I may have cried a little in the last quarter of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This was a very cute book. Contemporary romance is usually not my go to, but I’m glad I was able to have the opportunity to read it. Can’t wait until it’s released so I can get a physical copy.

This book was cute. It started out a bit slow but picked up and drew me in a bit more in the middle.

I appreciated as a ya it was clean and that as a ballerina she enjoyed food.

I needed this cute, fun book in my life! It's a sweet story, with adorable characters and it's set in Paris in summer, what more do you need?

Mia has a passion for ballet and is so excited to be in Paris for an exclusive ballet school. I loved the way she described her feelings while dancing, it really helped us see into her head. She's also friendly and gets along with others and her friendship with Audrey was great. The romance was so well written, it had a lot of flirting and Louis is pretty perfect. He cares about Mia's interests and tries to be there for her as much as he can.

The story flowed well and was quickly paced. There was a crazy twist near the end, but everything ended up just how I wanted. I am so excited for this to be released and look forward to more from the author!

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

J’aime Kisses and Croissants! It’s the perfect YA romcom pastry! It combines sweet and bitter, perfection and error, expectations and delicious surprises.

Set in Paris, 16yo Mia is attending a summer ballet program. She’s determined to become a professional ballerina, despite her mom’s lack of enthusiasm back in the USA. She didn’t plan on meeting a handsome young Frenchman named Louis. He helps her connect with her distant French relatives and try to solve the mystery of the ballerina Degas painted. But when she has to pick between her life passion and her new love, which will she choose?

Mia’s happiness and determination, make her a proactive character that you can’t help but cheer for. The other ballerinas, including her nemesis, are well-rounded and developed characters (and dancers). The romance is full of sweet kisses and difficult decisions. It’s a delicious read they will have you coming back for seconds and thirds.

KISSES AND CROISSANTS by ANNE-SOPHIE JOUHANNEAU will be released April 6, 2021! Preorder your copy today!

SYNOPSIS

Mia is a 16-year-old with big dreams — she wants to be a professional ballet dancer. Though rejected from ABT, Mia is given the opportunity of a lifetime to dance in a summer program in Paris, and vows to make the most of the opportunity to impress the ballet companies coming to watch the students dance. However, Paris is more complicated than Mia imagined when she finds out Audrey, her ballet rival, is also in the program. There’s also handsome, French, and romantic Louis, who wants to show her all the wonders of Paris. Will Mia accomplish her goals in Paris or will distractions thwart her plans? Will her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina come true?

••••••••

I really, really enjoyed reading Kisses and Croissants! I danced ballet for five years, and loved reading Mia’s experiences. As someone who pursued a creative career from a very young age, I very much related to Mia’s conflicting emotions and doubts when it came to her career choice and skill set. It’s also very common for young artists to throw caution to the wind and devote their entire lives to seeing their dreams come true, and Jouhanneau portrays this very well — it’s very realistic and very grounded.

I also really enjoyed reading about the growing relationship Mia has with Louis! Written in a manner appropriate for the young adult audience, Jouhanneau writes their growing attraction and conflicts with such realism and sophistication that more mature readers will definitely also enjoy reading this book.

Overall, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5!!

Many thanks to @asjouhanneau @randomhousechildrens and @netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read this fantastic novel!

3.5 stars

I had (key word: had) been trying to wean myself off YA contemporary romance because I was reading them at the exclusion of all else. They’re so happy!!! And sweet!!! And they always end well!!! I’ve got nothing against them, but I need to read other things too. I think I had (for a little bit) genuinely forgotten how much I like your basic “oppressed magic people rebel” YA fantasy. And yes, I do realize i’m just swapping one common framework for another. ANYWAYS.

This book felt a lot like Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan, and I’m sure it also would’ve felt like Love & Gelato, if I’d, you know, read it. Working off my limited knowledge though, even the titles are similar. Love & Gelato? Kisses and Croissants? Come onnn.

At any rate, this was really sweet. I’ve seen all the characters before, seen the story before, but it was still adorable and lovely. I really, really get Mia. I get wanting something so badly and trying so hard to get it. Although she was a lot more determined and successful than me. I get pouring your whole being into something, but also wanting to experience life. To go on an adventure. OH DANG I’M SO SORRY. That sounded really sappy🤮🤮🤮 It’s true though, I guess???

My absolute favorite thing about this book was Mia and Audrey’s relationship. They start out as… I don’t want to say enemies. Rivals, I guess? And end up being really good friends. I was rooting for Mia and Audrey’s friendship more than Mia and Louis’s romance if I’m being perfecting honest (sorry Louis, but I’m a sucker for a good friendship).

On that note: Louis is sweet. He tries so very hard to get the girl (with success) and it’s pretty adorable. I wouldn’t say he’s all that special though. And I don’t mean that in a mean way, I just mean he’s the classic love interest. Lovable, maybe a little lost, and determined, absolutely determined to make Mia fall in love with him.

In the end, this is exactly what I was expecting: a fun romp through the city of love. No more, no less. Don’t pick this up if you’re looking for a particularly unique romance, but that doesn’t make it any less good. If you’re a sappy little romantic at heart, you’ll enjoy this read. Along with every single other book in this genre.

1.5 stars

Kisses and Croissants is about Mia, a 17 year old ballet dancer who enrolls in a 6 week long dance program in France. She comes from a long line of dancers in her family, and ballet is her biggest passion in life. Mia quickly meets a boy named Louis, and they experience a whirlwind romance as she tries to find out more about her family's past.

I expected to like this, however I feel like it was just targeted at too young of an audience for me. I'm sure other people will enjoy it a lot more than I did, however I just had too many problems with it.

My main problem was that the narration seemed impersonal. Especially for the first half, we just don't see any of Mia's motivations or any of her interests outside of ballet, which makes it hard to connect to her character or root for her at all. The book starts out with Mia running through the airport in Paris, so we don't get any of her backstory ahead of the novel starting. We're thrown into the deep end, but everything is moving too fast for us to develop an attachment to our narrator. While this can easily work in novels that are heavily plot driven, the plot to Kisses and Croissants wasn't deep or intricate enough for this story to be engaging.

I felt like the romance was too rushed, even though it's a book taking place over the course of 6 weeks it just felt too dramatic and pointless. I didn't like the love interest, either. He didn't have any personality or substance that would make him endearing, he just was a plot device to help drive the story along.

The most interesting aspect of this book to me was the relationship between Mia and Audrey. They started out as acquaintances, or even rivals, but as the story continues they grow closer and become friends as they help each other rehearse and grow as ballerinas. This wasn't a unique storyline, even, but Audrey felt like the most fleshed out character in the story, with the most character development in the end.

Another problem I had with this novel was the obsession with Edgar Degas. Degas is an artist who, at the end of his life, became incredibly anti-Semitic. As someone who is unable to separate art from the artist, I felt repulsed every time the artist was mentioned and fawned over. Mia's need to find validation through the possible connection between Degas and her family felt like a weak plot point manifested to give her more depth, but since it related again, to her only life mission being ballet, I found myself rolling my eyes every time she put her self worth in the hands of a man who has been dead for over 100 years.

I was going to give this 2 stars, until we got to the last few chapters. Something happens that wasn't written well enough to seem meaningful, and it just took away from anything enjoyable that had happened in the last 200 pages. I don't want to say any more about what it was, but any attachment you could have formed to Mia, our protagonist, is quickly severed. It also allowed us to have yet another conflict between our main couple, roughly the third in a book that was less than 250 pages.

Between this last ditch plot twist, the complete obsession with Degas, the lack of character development, and the juvenile writing, this just wasn't the book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing me with an advance readers copy for review!

Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the E-Arc!
What’s there to say except adorably sweet! I am a huge sucker for a romance in a foreign place, especially one as romantic as Paris, and this book delivers. You get the beautiful atmosphere, you get the mystery, and you get the cute french boy.
I loved the incorporation of ballet in the novel which gave our protagonist, Mia, a reason for being in Paris as well as a passion to work hard for. While certain aspects of this book did seem a bit cookie-cutter (workaholic mean girl, the foreign guy who takes the main character on a sudden adventure) these were very much welcomed when paired with a family mystery to unlock and a bit of forbidden romance. It is perfect for those looking for a (mostly) light and fluffy read!

Just saying the title Kisses and Croissants you know you are in Paris. I thought maybe its about food and young love. Well yes it is about young love. Its the story of a young ballerina named Mia and how she will be spending six weeks of hard core dancing in Paris. The author describes Paris as you would think. All the food, color and of course the wonderful sights and sounds of Paris. Feels like you are there dancing along with Mia and her friends. Of course there is a rival of Mia's Audrey who pushes Mia to do her best. Then there is Mia who pushes Audrey to not only be the best dancer which we all knew she was, but to make Audrey more human and learn that there is more to life then dancing. Even though all Mia every wanted to be was a dancer. There is also a little mystery to solve. Did Degas really paint a painting of Mia's great great great grandmother. The love story takes Mia and Louis her dance directors son on some wonderful adventures leading up to the truth behind the painting, and the twists and turns of events that leads Mia and Louis to a crossroads in their relationship. Was this a predictable story sure it was. I love this kinds of stories that you read and get lost in it. Thinking you are in Paris going to cafes enjoying the Paris culture through the eyes of of seventeen year old girl who dreams are coming true until she gets derailed.
Totally enjoyed this read. Would recommend it to anyone who enjoys these books. I look forward to another one by this author.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

*thank you to @netgalley for a free digital arc in exchange for an honest review*

“Kisses and Croissants” follows the story of Mia, a young ballet dancer whose only dream is to be a member of the prestigious ABT, but when ABT turns her down, she gets a second chance with a Parisian ballet company, one of the most prestigious in the world. Her only goal this summer is to perform ballet and get the role of Odette in Swan Lake, but things start to run astray when her American rival shows up at the same ballet company. Not to mention Mia’s on a city-wide search for a painting of her ancestor along with a cute French boy.

This book was utterly binge-worthy and I highly recommend to fans of “Loveboat, Taipei” and “The Fault in our Stars”. It combines travel, drama, romance, and dance, which is all you really need in a book.

I initially thought this book would be a 5 star read, but I ended up giving it 4 stars for a few minor complaints. I had an unedited arc, but there were a couple of blaring typos that were hard to ignore. Additionally, I found the story incredibly predictable, however this didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. Finally, I definitely thought the ending could be seen coming from a mile away.

Be on the lookout for this book in my October Wrap Up video on my channel!

3.5 stars
This was such a fun rom-com! Mia is a ballerina taking classes in Paris for the summer when she meets a boy who flips everything upside down. I would consider this a crossover between *Loveboat, Taipei* and *Anna and the French Kiss*. Though I didn’t enjoy this *as* much as those, it has the same vibe and is very light-hearted and fun. I loved how Mia’s ballet was such a priority for her throughout the story and that we got so much detail about her dance classes because usually when dancing is involved in YA the specifics are skipped over. I also really enjoyed the Paris setting—it felt so realistic and was so much fun. I also really appreciated the friendship element throughout the book; even though it wasn’t the priority, I felt that it did make our main character more relatable. I also liked Louis but I didn’t *love* the romance. I just didn’t buy into it like I really wanted to, which was a little disappointing.

Really cute, quick read! The author painted a beautiful picture of a summer in Paris and I loved the little mystery of the Degas painting. The ending was a little abrupt, as fleshed out as the rest of the story was, but still a good read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

I loved this sweet little romance! All about ballet and Paris and love, these 3 big pieces are all in balance to make a good story: not so much ballet as to be alienating, not so much Paris tourism as to be irritating, and just enough romance without overpowering the friendships and personal growth. I'll certainly be purchasing this book for my school library because my Kasie West/Stephanie Perkins/Jenny Han fans will want to read this one.

Kisses and Croissant's has a concept that I think a lot of people will find intriguing, and many will love. It follows our 17 year old ballerina, Mia Jenrow, as she goes to Paris for the summer to attend an exclusive ballet school with the hope she'll catch the eye of potential dance companies. Of course, she also meets a cute French boy and from there, she is navigating the thin line between enjoying a romantic Paris summer and dedicating herself wholly to her passion and craft.

There was definitely aspects of this I really enjoyed. It was whimsical and fun and a breezy read (for the most part). It is not bogged down by a heavy writing style; it's very concise and straight forward, which I think would make it perfectly perhaps for a younger crowd; 14-15 y/o young adult, rather than 17-18 y/o young adult age range. It was also wonderful to be able to read about Paris and the ballet lifestyle. Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau peppered in a perfect amount of French without making it seem cliche or cheesy. She also didn't shy away from the harsh realities of being a ballerina. Mia is constantly lamenting her sore muscles and remarks on the toll a ballet lifestyle takes on your feet. I loved the setting and the descriptions of where the characters were.

Unfortunately, there was also so much about this book that was a miss for me.

To start, I didn't feel connected to Mia as a character at all. She didn't seem fleshed out enough for me. I understand that she's passionate and dedicated and that her entire life has been ballet, but she also just didn't have many other attributes or characteristics about her that made me feel anything for her. I didn't dislike Mia at all, but I also didn't feel like I knew her that well, or that she was someone I could invest in. Her relationship with Louis had no chemistry at all, and felt incredibly rushed. I couldn't find it believable.

The plot also completely lost me toward the end. Right at the very end, a twist happens that completely took me by surprise (in a bad way) and I was totally lost on how I should feel reading the entire ten percent of it. There was almost a stark and sudden genre change at the very end of a chapter.

Overall, I do think some people will enjoy this and get a good read out of it. It could be a great fun, summer contemporary romance for some. But it hit the mark for me.

Mia is living her ballet dream attending the summer program prestigious Institut L'Opera de Paris. She has always wanted to be a ballerina and this summer is her chance to be recognized and accepted into her dream school. She is convinced that ballet is her destiny because family legend says that her many-great-grandmother was one of Degas' famous ballerina subjects. Can nemesis Audrey and a severe dance master ruin her love affair with Paris and a romance with cute Parisian Louis? A sweet European adventure for fans of Love & Gelato.

3.5 stars

Finally!! A book set in France without any grammar issues or errors copied and pasted from Google Translation. Woohoo, we have a winner on that account. If anyone's curious, I'm French and live in France so whenever authors use french in their book, they mess up 90% of the time and I just hate it so much. Naturally, I had to go check on the author's website and it turns out she was born and raised in France which makes a lot of sense.

Now, Kisses and Croissants was a contemporary story with some romance in it between a french boy and a girl that travelled to Paris to participate in a prestigious summer ballet program. Her goal is to be a professional ballet dancer and for that, she has to work her ass off. I actually admired Mia for her determination. Louis is her teacher's son and was there when she needed help. He helped her out and offered to show her around.

I found Mia a little naive as she seemed to think that nothing bad could happen to her just because she was in Paris.... Girl, bad people are everywhere and bad things can happen to you no matter where you are unfortunately. Just because it's your dream to be there doesn't mean everything will be okay but that's just my cynical self talking. I also didn't absolutely love the romance or the plot about the painting and her family history. The ballet and her relationship with her rival was what I enjoyed the most I think.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

Kisses and Croissants started off as a great read, with beautiful descriptions of Paris with all its iconic sites. I totally fell in love with Paris while reading Jouhanneau's descriptions. I also loved her descriptions of Ballet.

I felt like there were a few plot holes throughout the story especially during the second half of the book. Moreover the characters were a bit too plain. They has this one main attribute and that is the only one reflected repeatedly in their personality. And then there is also the case of characters who have no significant( or rather no) contribution to the plot.

The emotions portrayed by the different characters especially Mia and Louis (the MCs) are not concurrent with any of their actions. Louis is too forgiving after all the things that Mia said to him. And they just simply go around kissing each other as if their big fight just didn't happen. I also did not see them falling in love, if it happened then it must have been in a blink of eye.

The way the plot unfurls I feel that the author seems to be indecisive towards the direction she wants the plot to go. At first it seems to be going in one direction and then the plot dramatically changes with just a blink of an eye. It left me quite unsettled, had the same thing went just a bit gradually I would have enjoyed the book a lot more.

This book had a great potential and as i said I loved the book initially but it was the latter part because of which I dropped my rating. This book had a great potential and could've been a great read!