A frustrating book. My issue is not with the premise itself — in fact, while I’m not a big fan of engaging with cheating themes in my romance lit, I felt the opening scene underpinning the premise was very readable and had potential — but with everything that follows. Thematically speaking, this is the kind of a book where characters have more issues than Vogue, and trying to fix them by throwing romance at them just makes me wince. A pretty bad case of instalove - aggravated by a really long chain of misunderstandings - does not, you know, reinforce the impression that these characters should be romancing as opposed to going to therapy. YMMV on how much drama and misunderstanding is too much drama in a romance, but I feel like this might have worked better as a piece of women’s fiction.
And on a structural level the book had a serious problem with repetition: not only would the same events be played through both main leads eyes, they would also have excruciatingly detailed phone calls with their friends/family to live through the events Yet Another Time! And here I am, sitting and blinking in disbelief, muttering to myself that this is not a 40 episode drama where at least the length of episode dictate some reminders to the audience.

I remain deeply devoted to all new releases for queer romance writers, because I so deeply wish there to be more of different things for everyone to enjoy, but this one simply didn’t work for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Books with a cheating trope are hard to sell but this book does it. I was into Louise and Anna's attraction from the get go.

Louise's struggle is real and palpable. Same for Anna. They try to fight it but it's so strong they can't fight it. You can feel the struggle on the page and that is a rare thing to manage to do that.

The side characters are also amazing and I enjoyed them very much. Except for the parents. Obviously they can burn in hell.

An ARC was provided to me via Netgalley in return of an honest review.

I received a copy of the eArc from NetGalley. This review is given voluntarily.

I wanted to really love this book. I loved the premise and the cover is super cute. But I could not find it in me to care about these characters at all. Every interaction felt forced, the conversations felt contrived, and there was not really any qualities that made me want to root for any of them. All in all, I was relieved when I got to the last page and that's just not a feeling I want when diving into a new story.

In the end, it just wasn't the book for me.

3/5 stars! This was one of those instalove stories that just didn't work for me. The premise was cute and I was excited for some amazing queer representation. My problem was that the characters were really 2-dimensional which made it hard to root for them. I found myself not being invested in the story. It was a relief to get to the end, which is a bummer because you can tell the author has good ideas. I just think more character development is needed.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

This was a very messy story! The connections and relationships between the characters felt authentic which made me invested.

Good book. This story was very entertaining from beginning to the end. The relationship between Anna and Louise was a complicated one for sure, there's quite a bit of angst and drama throughout this book. Louise at times seemed very indecisive to me and Anna at times seemed to judgemental, but I can understand why she was this way especially with the dysfunctional family she came from. The supporting characters were very messy as well you will just have to read this book to find out what I mean, because I am not giving any spoilers. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and I look forward to what's next from this author.

Throughly enjoyable from start to finish. The opening scene is hot and flirty and immediately followed by screech to a halt “oh no” that’s fun and engaging. The romance has a great build up and I liked both characters. The friends and family (not the evil parents) are great too and there is a lot of witty dialogue. You end up rooting for them, the brother, in fact just about everyone in town (again not the evil parents). Recommended.

Anna Nelson returns to her hometown of Trenton, Virginia, for the holidays. She lives in New York City and she’s still trying to launch her career. In the eyes of her very critical parents, she’s unsuccessful in her career, she’s a lesbian, and she’s run away from home. That’s three strikes. So she’s having a drink at The Bar in town to build up her courage for the week long visit when she meets gorgeous Louise. They immediately hit it off with a common goal to get rid of a drunk bar patron. They end up kissing in the hallway of the bar. When Anna returns to her family home she meets her brother’s girlfriend and it’s none other than Louise.

The story was good but it was insta love that didn’t develop too much further from that stage during the course of the week. It felt like the relationship between Anna and Louise could have been more thoroughly developed. 3.5 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm 50/50 on this book, because the story and the characters were great, it had everything a good lesbian romance needs, but the writing style was definitely not for me unfortunately. I still enjoyed it though!

When Anna Nelson goes to see her family at Christmas it wasn’t because she missed them, it’s because she needed a break from all the not happening on her website. She thought she was done but her friend Rachael thought if Anna gave herself a little time things might change, maybe her site was going to start making some money. Why she chose to go home is a mystery to me, seeing it as the home she couldn’t wait to get away from in the first place. Her mother and father were spiteful and bullies to Anna as long as she can remember.
Louise Tanner found herself traveling to meet her fiance’s family. She should have told Clay she doesn't love him but she doesn’t want to hurt him. Raised by a single mother she had a good childhood. After graduating school she found herself, along with some very hard work, about to become a doctor. Dating Clay wasn’t her best idea.
It’s at a small town bar the two women meet, not knowing each other they spent the afternoon flirting. If only they had met under different circumstances. Low and behold it turns out the two women had something in common. Clay was dating Louise and Clay was Anna's brother. Now the fun begins.
Ms Greene gave us, you and me, a really great read. Great characters with a strong supporting cast along with a story like that keeps you turning pages. Very, very enjoyable book.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books

Man I’m torn. I liked everything about this book: the characters, the writing, and the story line. BUT I really disliked the love and long term commitment after less than a week…. And the story ends. Just like that. One week, we’re in love, oh and and we live on opposite sides of the country. That sounds like a recipe for disaster, not a HEA. Spell that shit out. I have no imagination, which is why I read books and don’t write them. Give me an epilogue. I think that would have turned it around for me and really made it work… or a sequel possibly?

✨ SPOILER ALERT ✨
I both enjoyed and found Stolen Kiss incredibly frustrating. I really liked Anna, and found her intriguing, but she was the only character I particularly had any attachment to. I absolutely despised her family, LOVED Rachel. I found them amusing, but I didn’t necessarily care about them either. Louise and Clay drove me crazy. The lack of communication was its own brand of toxicity in the chaos and pain it ultimately caused. It just seemed like nothing in comparison to the parents. The abuse she went through, and the damage from Gina, then the way things played out with Louise was honestly so heartbreaking. I’m glad they got a hopeful ending, but I really wish Anna got her HEA ending. There are experiences difficult to read about in this book. There was also a plethora of things happening at once, so chapters felt constantly busy, not much calm and building. Clay was just frustrating the whole time, and I didn’t really buy into his “attempts” at fixing the relationship. The characters ultimately dealt with things with a mixture of confrontation and sexually. If I were to sum this book up, it would be chaotic, but I do think it demonstrates the damage lack of communication does, especially when it’s due to sensitive, personal topics. Even if some of the scenarios were a little out there at times such as the post break up, busted hooking up proposal. That just made no sense as a panic option to me. I wanted to love this story more than I actually did, and the opening at the bar, I definitely did. However I was permanently frustrated throughout the book, and definitely experiencing the whiplash along with Anna chapter to chapter. I do think some people will love this story, some will hate it. It is worth checking out. It just unfortunately wouldn’t be a re read for me.

Pretty predictable plot, with a rushed ending. There were some good lines but felt disjointed at times.

I cannot believe this is Greene's first book! The tension was palpable, I finished it in a day and barely put it down. A book recently released has a vaguely similar synopsis but this book is completely it's own. I loved Anna and Louise - who they were together and separately. And Louise is so layered, so defined - I want a sequel and also a prequel for Louise's highschool-college romance.

I cannot wait to recommend and buy this upon release.

Anna arrives in her hometown of Trenton, VA and drops into the local bar to kill time before heading to her parents house for the holidays. She meets Louise, a medical student who comes to her rescue when being bothered by a drunk man. The two hit it off talking and before seperating they share a magical kiss. Surprisingly they meet again an hour later when Anna’s brother Clay introduces the family to his girlfriend Louise.

Anna and Louise are now sharing a room in Anna’s homophobic parents home. And the pressure in the house is a lot because the parents are also controlling and demanding. I’ve seen this type of story played more lightly and this does have fun moments. But because of guilt, potentially cheating, jealousy, communication mistakes, and the horrible parents, everything feels more angry and angsty. There are reasons for secret keeping but of course things are going to blow up.

I liked both Anna and Louise. Louise gets depth of character because of her past experience with her first love that leads to her decision to attend medical school. And I love the relationship with her mom via phone call check ins. Anna resilience is shown by her becoming the person she is despite her parents. Her best friend Rachel is a standout. There is a start to a new understanding between Anna and brother Clay who lives as the golden child to his parents.

The author handles the “cheating” aspect well putting it into a grey zone. Louise lives in Seattle and Anna has a life in NYC so I would have liked a few lines on how they envisioned their future relationship working. (Clay and Louise were long distance as well, with him studying in England.) A few times in the story when something big happens the next chapter hops back in time giving you the other characters POV to the same event. It was a quirky way of storytelling that made me have to pause and adjust my timeframe in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stolen Kiss follows Anna and Louise, two strangers who meet in a small town bar one afternoon and hit it off. As the two leave for their separate business in town, they share, you guessed it, a stolen kiss! As neither expects to see the other again, it shouldn't be a big deal. Only it turns out that Louise is not as much of a stranger as Anna thought she was... She's Anna's brother's new girlfriend who's in town to meet his family for the first time...

I unfortunately really didn't gel with Stolen Kiss. I found most of the characters to be unlikeable with few redeeming qualities. Anna's parents deserve an award for being just the worst people ever award. I also personally don't enjoy cheating storylines, so this was not for me at all.

I did appreciate the positive non-binary representation in Anna's best friend Rachel. They seemed the only decent person in the bunch, but this wasn't enough to make it an enjoyable read for me personally.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of the eArc from NetGalley. This review is given voluntarily.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, and I did in most parts but some parts had been unfocused and that was primarily due to the fact that I found it a bit repetitive. It made some of the scenes harder to read.

I feel for Anna, and wanted to protect her. Her parents were arseholes. I did love the found family and the queer characters though.

I almost dnfed this about halfway through. I’m glad I didn’t, the second half was definitely better than the first!

Anna’s and Clay’s parents were the worst. Oh my god I could not stand them. That was the whole point though lol. This book gave me Kiss Her Once for Me vibes (though the family in KHOFM is so much better), which I wasn’t mad at. I loved the found family trope that came into play and I wouldn’t say no to a book about Clay and George 👀

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Anna is on her way home from NYC her life there hasn’t been great she stop at a dive bar where she meets Louise they are instantly drawn to each other and talks for hours at the end of night they share a passionate kiss knowing they won’t see each other again. When Anna arrives home she shock to see Louise and even more she is her brother Clay girlfriend. Anna and Louise can’t fight what they feel and everyone sees something going on between them but Clay but I get it sometimes you see what you want to see. I understood why Anna didn’t want to come home her parents are the worst there was no redeeming qualities about them. Overall a good read even though I don’t like cheating when you know it’s not right say something before you become something you never thought you’ll be a cheater.

I’m quite upset cause I was excited about this book but i just didn’t like it. I couldn’t bring myself to finish it even because of how angry it made me at times, specially when it came to Louise’s narrative. She was my main problem. It didn’t sit well with me how she acted or came across at times. (I’m being really vague here because I don’t want to spoil things.) Mind you I only managed to read 24% before I called it quits. but still is telling that this early on i found myself not liking one of the main characters and feeling mostly anger towards them because of some of her continuous actions. (This particular situation I’m talking about really did hit home for me, Ive been on the receiving end of said actions and I think that’s why it got me really angry, it felt personal. Still vague cause I don’t want to spoil) Which I think took an upfront sit or didn’t leave room for and clouded the other aspects of Louise or situations she was in that I did find myself appreciating. When it comes to Anna I did find myself liking her a bit more and connected with her a bit too. Besides that I truly felt like the book dragged on and on and for being a short book it felt never ending, it felt messy.
The story just didn’t work for me though let me say is not a bad book, it just wasn’t for me. i will however be ending this review on a positive note by saying I appreciate that the story is queer, I appreciate the talk about being queer and the discussions of situations people face day to day which is heartbreaking, of the reality that many queer people have gone through. I appreciate having had a lesbian and a bi characters, as well as enby character as well. I appreciate it the queerness of the story.