Despite occasional perplexities and a less-than-ideal conclusion, this book left a positive impression, echoing the sentiment of a great read. Many thanks again to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC experience!

The friendship between Masha and our main character Liv was really cute, and it made for a nice story arc alongside Liv and Jake.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

great premise but this one left me with a few unanswered q's. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What's in a Kiss? is a fun read that looks at how one moment/one decision could change your life. When Olivia winds up in an alternate reality, she begins to question everything she knew was true. Is it possible that her arch nemesis is actually her soul mate? Does loves have to involve sacrifice? How many alternate outcomes could there be? Lauren Kate does a great job developing likable characters and keeps you guessing along the way.

I could not get enough of this book! It consumed my time until I finished. I really enjoyed the story, the only thing that I felt was lacking is that I wish that there had been an epilogue in regards to what happened after Jake and Olivia kiss.

It was a fun story - I feel like the jumps between present day and future could’ve been explained better. They were super quick and I found myself going back to reread what exactly happened.

DNF at 36%.

I think the overall idea behind the book and the kind of “13 going on 30” idea was great! I did get really confused when the switch into this alternate reality happened since it was just in the middle of a wedding so that was a little odd.

I HATED Olivia. That might seem like strong wording but I could not handle her character from the beginning. It felt like I was reading from the point of view of a 12 years old holding grudges over the boy that didn’t kiss her. She flipped everything that Jake said into something negative, always doubting that he was being genuine. She was overly jealous of his life and I couldn’t stand to read her negativity any longer.

I don’t know if the book got better and maybe by the end she was more grateful for her life and the people in but I didn’t get very far.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a cute premise, but there were some major plot holes that were so distracting that it was hard to really invest in the story.


*****SPOILER ALERT*****





1) When they "almost" kiss at prom, Jake says that it would be a waste. We never really find out why he said that.
2) We never find out why Jake never asked her out in high school
3) Jake says his dad dies in the "real life", but was he lying? If so, why and what was the point of mentioning this? Also, Jake's estrangement from his family is mentioned a lot, but the reasoning is never fully explained. The author mentions that the father didn't approve of his career choices, but once again, it seems there should be more too it for there to be no relationship at all.
4) The author alludes to the fact that Jake might not be happy in the "real life" with his fame and career, but it's never explained.
5) Olivia's mom hates her in the "high life" and a "loan" is mentioned, but the falling out was never really explained and so it just didn't make sense that something that catastrophic could have happened to ruin the mother/daughter relationship.
6) Masha hates Olivia in the "high life", but the only reason given is that Olivia didn't have time for her once she left for New York and became famous. I'd understand that this is a reason for them to grow apart, but it doesn't makes sense for that to be the only reason that Masha hates her to the extent written.

Overall, the authors writing is good and it's easy to get into her story. That being said, I think this would have been better as a "enemies to lovers" trope, rather than a alternate reality one. The "high life" part really dragged and became repetitive. Also, the purpose of that timeline just didn't seem necessary as these are usually used for the purpose of character growth and awakening. None of that really seemed to happen, with the exception of Olivia discovering that Jake is awesome. Had she regretted not going to NYC in her "real life", then perhaps the second timeline would make sense because she would see that that life wasn't all she thought it could be. However, Olivia always stated that she was perfectly happy in her original life.

I think this book could have a lot of promise with some hefty editing, but as it is now, it just didn't work for me.

The concept for this book, which is very much a Sliding Doors type of thing, was good and intrigued me. And I do like Kate as an author generally speaking. But Liv was just such an unlikeable character from start to finish. Well, I may have gotten a bit warmer to her as the book progressed, but all in all, I had a hard time rooting for her to find her HEA with Jake or anyone for that matter. Sure, she was a really good maid of honor to Masha, but at the same time, even while she was making Masha's dream wedding a reality, I got the impression that she was making it about her. The trip on the boat was a bridal show for Masha but Liv would have hated it any other way too. Jake was a genuinely good guy in both realities, and the fact that she kept trying to turn him into a villain bothered me. Sure, maybe there had been some sort of rivalry as teens, but there's a lot of maturing that at least one of them did in the intervening years.

I wanted to like this book. And I gave it 3 stars because it did an okay job with the plot and the whole parallel reality. Not sure I bought the explanation for how she would get back to her own reality, but I guess that's the suspend disbelief. Although I had a hard time suspending my disbelief over her ability to not Google herself and Jake the minute she figured out that things were different in this world. That's the first thing anyone would do especially if the person they were with had fame oozing out of them in their previous reality.

Not a horrible book. Just not what I was expecting.

Liv has hated Jake since high school, but now that they're thrown together at a wedding, it's clear that she is attracted to him under all the animosity. It a slight fantasy twist, Liv ends up living an alternate life where the two of them kissed at Prom and have been together ever since ... But at the detriment of her other relationships?

This was a light and easy read, and I enjoyed it to begin with. It started to drag though and getting to the end seemed to take forever. A shame because it had real potential!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for review

A pretty quick romance read, with a a "time jump" trope (for a lack of a better term). I do think I liked By Any Other Name more, but don't pass this up if you were a fan of that earlier work. Only knocked some stars down because I found myself skimming pages out of lack of engagement with the plot and characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin group for the arc!

I felt like this book was a bit confusing sometimes, but I actually liked it. I absolutely love the whole "meant to be" trope, but I kind of felt like the ending could be better (it was a bit forgetful for me!). This book made me remeber "In a Holidaze" by Christina Lauren, which I totally love.
Great book!

Instagram review coming soon!

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This was a cute and fun romance story. I loved everything about this book, and I enjoyed Olivia’s character a lot!! I was so excited to find small details that made me feel like I was there with Liv! It was so fast paced (I finished in 2 nights) and so easy to read. I needed a read like this: light, funny and happy ending! If you are into romcom and enemies to lovers this one is for you! Add it to your TBR!

This is my first book by this author and there are some things I really enjoyed and there are some moments that frustrated this reader.

Olivia is our FMC and she didn't want to see Jake Glasswell for the first time in ten years this way. Once her high school rival and the prom date who humiliated her, now a successful TV personality, he’s more attractive than he has any right to be. And he’s her Lyft passenger.

Since the prom night kiss that never was, Liv’s life has not gone to plan. She deferred Julliard to be with her mom during a crisis, and now swears she’s happy as a recently furloughed drama teacher going on no-strings dates. This weekend she’s maid of honor to her best friend, Masha, and, of course, Jake is the best man. But when Liv glares into Jake’s eyes as Masha says, “I do,” the universe turns on its axis and Liv is suddenly living a version of her life where prom night was the beginning of her and Jake, not the end, and it turns out he’s the love of her life. The catch? Her mom and Masha hate her now. What’s in a kiss? Maybe everything.

The reasons for the issues with her mom and Masha are vague and not really believable. The miscommunication that happens with Glasswell could have been cleared up so easily with conversation. I felt Liv was very immature in most of the book.

The switch to the "highlife" as she calls it doesn't allow us to really "feel" the couple's tension and I am starting to think that the time=travel/parallel life trope isn't for me as I cannot wrap my head around some of the plot holes.

Overall... it's an average 3 stars.

I enjoyed the FMC’s personality and her friendship with Masha. I am glad she got her HEA. I didn’t love that the HEA was with a guy introduced in the last 2% of the book. But better than the original love interest. I struggled to get into the book and found myself skimming it. But I enjoyed the plot overall and the characters.

This book was a very fast, entertaining read. We see our FMC, Olivia, in two different versions of her world-- one in which she never kisses Jake Glasswell, and one in which she does. And that one moment, that one kiss, changes everything for Olivia (as she learns in the otherworld reality of her life). The relationship between Olivia and Jake was super sweet to read about, but I wish we would have gotten more about how she ends up in the other reality. I feel like that wasn't explained very well, and I finished the book with more questions than answers about it. Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Liv's life is okay-ish. She has her best friend and her mom as her go-to people in her life. She's not much on the long-term relationship front. Jake Glasswell is the guy from her past that she felt was always trying to be better than her. What happens when she is put into an alternate reality where she's with her enemy & estranged from her mom and BFF ?

So this was very middle of the road for me. Nothing special for me. There was a little bit of disappointment for me because I absolutely adored the Fallen series by Lauren Kate!

I found Liv to be annoying and unlikable. I found Glasswell to be like fine-ish??? but like also a doormat in a not so good way. I feel like he was just such a nice guy that he deserved more than what he got the entire book. I felt like the shift from present day to alternate reality was not displayed wel;.. I literally went back a chapter and re-read cause I thought I missed something. Coming in, I didn't realize that it was going to be about an alt. reality, so it's possible that is on me, but I like going into books knowing as little about them as possible.

I do not think that I would re-read this one, but I do think that Lauren Kate is still an auto-buy author for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam books for providing me with this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This was a great alternate reality, parallel dimension romance. Has some mild to moderate spice maybe 2 or 3 chili peppers. I kinda wanted more romance in the "real" world romance instead of just the last few pages but the ending was nice and everything wrapped up great

This was a cute and sweet romcom. This author's writing is really easy to get into. I liked the idea of the parallel universes in this but it was a little confusing as the book switched between Real Life Olivia and High Life Olivia. It would have been so much simpler if the sections were labeled instead of readers having to pick up on the subtle differences. Jake and Olivia had a cute romance and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop.
I definitely got 13 Going On 30 vibes from this book and I think fans of that movie will enjoy this. I liked it, I just wish the alternate timelines were clearer and that Olivia was a little more likable and relatable at times.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this story of Olivia. I kinda got 13 going on 30 vibes. This was such an interesting and unique story. I really enjoyed the “what if” / “parallel universe” vibes. highly recommend this book.