this book was so cute and kept me entertained. i loved the enemies to lovers trope, there’s something so exhilarating about it. thank you so much to the author, publishers, and netgalley for this opportunity

I felt like this romance had a lot of potential but it was incomplete. I like that the heroine's teenage crush stepped into her Uber (also that she drove Uber for extra cash to make ends meet) but I didn't understand why in the alternate future her BFF and mom hated her so much they wouldn't even speak to her. That just made no sense and it was never explained.

I really enjoyed this book! Liv and Glasswell make a decision that changes the course of their lives. To kiss or not to kiss? That kiss takes you on a journey of what could have been between the two main characters. If really makes you think about what could have been with each decision you make. What’s in a Kiss? Great title for this romance novel. Will they end up together and live happily ever after?At what cost her relationship with her mon and best friend Masha? This book kept me sucked in to see how it all ended! (And it was a nice ending!)

Thank you Netgalley for this eArc for my honest review!!

✨3.5✨

“In love with you. Here. There. Everywhere. All the wheres in all the worlds. Always.” 🫠💓🥹

What’s in a Kiss is a great contemporary romance that will have you questioning the “what ifs” in life. I laughed, cried and smiled while reading..what more can a girl want in a rom com 💜

Fans of 13 Going on 30, it’s a wonderful life, Freaky Friday, and The Family Man will LOVE this book! 💜

Summary: Liz is planning her best friend Masha’s wedding. The best man is Jake her high school nemesis and prom date who humiliated her years ago. Since that night nothing in her life went as planned..her dad died and she never went to school to follow her dreams. It’s been 10 years since that night and something happens as Liz stares into the eyes of Jake as her best friend says I do at the wedding. The universe shifts on its axis and Jake is now the love of her life..the only problem is Masha and her mom hates her in new life.

Olivia is a hot mess. She’s an Uber driver and is behind on bills. She’s no where near where she thought she would be in life. I couldn’t get a real connection with her in neither reality. She was kind of annoying but sis also had a lot going on. Jake is so sweet and loveable. I seriously couldn’t help but smile in every scene with him.

Tropes
🧡Enemies to lovers
🧡rivals
🧡 second chance romance
🧡parallel universe\alternate reality

Things I Love/ Things to Note
💟 80s and pop culture references
💟 Liv’s friendship with Masha and her mom 🥹 I live to see strong female relationships
💟 Liv’s secret diaries
💟 the banter and playfulness between Liz and Jake had me smiling and giggling
💟 Shakespeare references

It’s crazy how one small detail can change your life so drastically. If she would have kissed him how different her life would have been. You can’t live life with regrets and that is why it’s important to live life to the fullest EVERY SINGLE DAY. Olivia learns a lot about herself as a person and also learns to be happy/grateful for her current life despite its imperfections.

Things I didn’t Like
💟 There was missing information in the alternate universe that would have gave a better understanding of her new life…like why was her best friend and mom upset with her?! I NEEDED DETAILS.
💟 NO EPILOGUE!! I need answers on what happens to them after the real kiss 😭😭😭 How dare you leave me smiling and end the book like that.

Overall I really enjoyed it and thought it was a unique take on romance and second chances.

Spice Rating
🌶️/5

Thank you so much to Netgallery and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC! All thoughts and feelings are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of What's In a Kiss? In exchange for my honest review.

This story follows Liv, a broke wanna-be actress, as she helps plan her best friend's wedding. She has her beloved dog, her soul-mate of a best friend, and a loving relationship with her mom. She's not thrilled with where she is in life and that becomes even clearer when her arch-nemesis Jake, who has had great success in his life, is the best man in her best friend's wedding. Their rivalry starts in high school and comes to a head when Jake doesn't kiss her at prom.

During the wedding ceremony something strange happens and she realm hops to a different alternative life, one where Jake and Liv do kiss at prom. In the alternative life she's married to Jake, is a successful actress, her best-friend hates her, and she has no relationship with her mom. She has to figure out which realm she wants to live in and what aspects of life are most important to her. Can she live in a world where she doesn't have her mom and best friend? Or a life where she doesn't love Jake?

I liked the premise of this book and the butterfly-affect aspects. How can one event change the course of your life storyline always interests me...BUT....there were a lot of things that confused me. What happened during the wedding ceremony triggered the realm switching? What powers did Yogi/Rabbi Dan have to trigger this? I didn't understand why her mom, in the alternative life, would cut off her daughter for getting a loan and following her dreams. Seems a little extreme. Also, why do Liv and Masha have a falling out? Because Liv became famous? I did feel like the realm hopping happened so abruptly that I was confused as to what was happening and it frlt a little disjointed to me.

⭐⭐⭐

I am pretty unsure of what I wanna say about this book cause on one hand I had fun reading it but also it wasn't too impactful a story. The premise of this is great and I love time travel romances so I was excited for this too but I think it fell somewhat flat in the execution and didn't love up to its full potential. Nevertheless an easy and quick read so I don't have too many complaints.

Love conquers all, in many forms. I really liked this book, it was unique in the different versions of reality and the focus on what is truly important in a happy life. I will definitely read more by this author!

Thank you netgalley for this early title. What’s In a Kiss is a fun twist on enemies to lovers that contains a little magical realism’s in the form of an alternate timeline. It was fun and totally unbelievable. I enjoyed the story while suspending my disbelief. 3 stars from me.

Ugh. You guys. It was so good. Honestly.
I went into reading this book blindly. I never read the summary because just based off the title I knew I would like this book, and I did love it!

Here I was reading the book thinking it's a regular romance when all of a sudden, bam I'm like what am I reading?

I was instantly sucked into the world, and couldn't put the book down 😂

The plot, the characters, the heart breaking new reality. Ugh cried my eyes out and loved it!

10 out of ten would recommend, y'all.

This was a short, fun read. I typically don't like stories where adults are continuously thinking about things that happened in high school, but for this plot those issues helped the characters grow over the course of the story. I enjoyed the overall concept and liked all the characters a lot. I do wish we learned more about Liv's background in her alt-timeline especially why her mom and best friend are no longer a part of her life. This book could have been 40-60 pages longer to help build out Liv's alt-universe but a fun read overall.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for early access to this book.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. Different timelines tropes can be a hit or miss for me. There were moments that I felt nothing and moments that tugged at my heartstrings. I loved how the idea of "soulmates" exist. Saying that these couples are met for each other in every life. I do love stories that basically show how strong and powerful the love is that is expands beyond all and any potential versions of life.

This novel examined the relationship between Liv and Jake and the different versions of life they live depending on whether - or not – they kiss at their high school prom. It had a real Sliding Doors feel and while I enjoyed the banter between the couple, the stress of not knowing which path they would end up on got a bit old for me at times. Kate’s writing was witty, the format felt original, and I liked how everything came together in the end.

"Here. There. Everywhere. All the where's in all the worlds. Always."

What's in a Kiss is super cute romcom that explores the question "what if". What if one kiss changes your entire life. The FMC goes on a freaky Friday adventure in an alternate universe and answers that question, and while having to face the reality that not everything is good in the "high life". Just one kiss doesn't have to be had at the exact moment for true love to find it's way.
I absolutely loved reading about Liv falling in love with Jake and reading about her relationship with her mom and BBS. Thank you NetGalley for the advance reader copy!

It took me a very long time to get into this book and a shorter to understand what happened when an alternate reality kicked in I was confused for a second but then it was a pretty good book, I loved the book before and this author is a good writer I wish the beginning was a bit more and you got to see more of Jake olivia at the end in the now

➵ 4.25 ⭐️

Shockingly this was the first book I've read by Lauren Kate even though I've had Fallen on my shelf for years.
What's in a Kiss? did not disappoint.
It gave me Just My Luck meets Woke Up Like This vibes and Liv and Jake really reminded me of Charlotte and J.T. and I adored that.
I loved Liv an her banter with Jake was hilarious. I loved the side characters, Liv's relationship with her bff Masha and her mom Lorena, I loved how they were her rock and they supported each other through everything.
I only wish some of the side characters were more fleshed out and I wish we'd found out more about what happened between Liv and her mom and Liv and Masha in the alternate timeline. Though it is understandble why we don't since we only know what Liv does and she can't exactly ask too many questions and it is hinted i just wish we knew more.
The romance between Liv and Jake gave me "I love you in every universe" energy and OHMYGODS, that had me sooooo weaaaaaakkkkkk. Absolutely adored this, and I think we needed more "real world" love on the page. The ending came too soon, we should've had an epilogue at least for my sanity.

All in all, this was fantastic, it has many of the elements I love in romance books, and I'll be reading more books by LK!

eternal gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

This was a delightful read! I love how the relationships were portrayed and have been thinking back on the book days after finishing. It took a while for me to get into it, but I'm glad I kept going because I was quickly invested in Olivia and Jake's story once we got to the twist of fate. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Spoilers ahead:
-I loved the honest portrayal of Olivia and Jake's relationship in the alternative timeline. They loved each other, but it didn't mean they didn't go through hard times. Olivia realizing what love and marriage can be was refreshing to read.
-The first part of the book was oddly paced to me. I felt like Olivia's misfortunes were too strung out and that it took too long to get to Jake and the alternate timeline. I was not invested until then which was 25-30% of the book.
-I wish there was slightly more at the end so we could see them after the main events of the book. Olivia and Jake had a history in the alternate timeline that we got glimpses of and I would've loved to see how their relationship worked in the real timeline.

An endearing story of love, friendship, and the road not taken. Olivia "Liv" is fully focused on giving her best friend the best intimate wedding possible, but dreading the best man, her high school nemesis, competitor, and the one that got away. With his return, she can't help but revisit her life choices and dwell on what might have been, but what happens if you wake up in an alternate reality/dream, and you now have everything that you thought you wanted?! It's a classic tale and forgiveness, self-acceptance, love, and appreciation, told in a modern day rom-com. I'm a fan of Lauren Kate's writing and witty banter, and this one did not disappoint! Thanks so much to Lauren Kate, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc!

Thank you for the ARC!

This book was wonderful! It took me a couple of chapters to really get into it but once I was in I was HOOKED! Loved witnessing the growth of the main character. By the end of the book I was totally rooting for her which surprised me because I didn’t love her in the beginning.

In the second half of the book there were so many quotes I saved because they made me emotional! Also the main male character is AMAZING! Loved him from the first page we met him on!

Overall it was such a fun story with the perfect amount of emotional rollercoaster and drama to still be a lighthearted read. Will recommend to all of my friends! Will definitely be purchasing a physical copy for my bookshelf!

I read this in a day! I truly enjoyed it. I have to admit I haven’t read anything by Lauren and now I’ll be seeking out her others.

I LOVED this version of an enemies to lovers story. I loved the twist of fate. I didn’t even see it coming. I loved the journey Olivia took in both storylines to start her healing process over loss & to open her heart to Jake. I loved that the two worlds collided where she was able to see a life with both worlds and their outcomes but then still ending up back in reality. For being willing to make the jump & take the risk! I just hope she continued that after! I would have LOVED to see an epilogue of where they were in their real world journey a year later!

I appreciated the depth of each character. I enjoyed the storylines of each running parallel to Olivia’s. I liked we got to know each of them a bit. I absolutely loved the Yogi Dan character I was laughing so hard over the weed shop portion!

All in all it’s a lot of love, a little classy smut which I truly appreciated, & a story of the journey sometimes we wish we could take when figuring life out!

Thank you for sharing this story I Loved IT! Huge thank you to Penguin Group, Lauren Kate & NetGalley for this early reader copy!

4.5 ⭐️

This books was just amazing!

We have the chance to know the story of Liv, a girl who’s celebrating the bachelorette party of her best friend of all time and who’s pretty close with her mom (this is important), but turns out that she has to see her high school sweetheart in her best friend’s wedding because he’s he the best man, and even if she doesn’t want to see him again, she has to.

The reason she finds want to see Jake is because, in the high school prom, they went together and he didn’t kiss her 🥲 and this where all the story starts.

I just loved LOVED, how the author built this story or stories I might say, because the plot here is, going through all the “what if’s” that Liv have in her life, and how even the small decision can have a huge impact in her life, to me, this was a very special and emotional reading because I went through a very difficult situation a couple years ago and the first thing that I though when I was living that was precisely “what if…” so obviously I cried my eyes out because just like Liv I wish I could have that chance, the chance of choose and see what would that choice will be.

And the best part is, we also can choose which life we want Liv to stay in!!! This was a very amazing reading and very personal too so, please read this ✨