This was cute! A nice lighthearted read. Some magical realism in that Olivia jumps to another realm of reality during her best friend’s wedding to see another life if just one decision had been made differently.

I loved the “reality” Liv and Masha and their bond, and exploring which relationships are priorities in life and why. I also loved the ending, and Liv’s actions both to return to her reality and her bravery once she got there. But I wish we got a bit more at the end; while it’s clear what happened, it felt incomplete.

Overall super cute with some thought-provoking elements, but wasn’t amazing (for me).

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Pub Date: 7/02/24

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

He was her high school rival and the one who gave her the most humiliating moment at prom when she thought they were going to kiss and he backed away. Olivia hasn't seen Jake in ten years and her life didn't go the way she expected back then but in a true sliding doors moment, she's tossed into a life where the kiss happened, she and Jake are married, and everything else about her life has changed. If she had the power to choose, which life would she really want?
It's strange to think how one little thing can change a whole life. How many decisions have I made in my own life that would have made it better... or worse? This is such an entertaining story of what ifs and miscommunications. I really loved Jake in the High Life reality and was so hoping that they'd get an HEA in her real life!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found the FMC a little immature and annoying in the beginning but, ultimately it helped to serve her character growth in the end. This was a really enjoyable romance with a fund alternate reality twist.

5/5 - My whole heart fell hard for this book! I stayed up late two nights in a row because I simply had to know what happened next.

Admittedly, I’m not typically an alternate world / what if / sliding doors / time hop gal. Often those stories have me a little anxious and unsettled. This was the opposite - I felt intrigued and excited and invested. It speaks to both Kate’s descriptive writing style, perfect pacing and the world of relatable characters she created and I adored. I felt like Kate’s words jumped off the page and pulled me right in!

This is a story about choices and changes. Can one decision change the path of your entire life? For Olivia Dusk, that choice was not kissing Jake Glasswell (her sworn competitor and high school enemy) after prom. But what if she had? A wild whirl of events plops her into a universe where prom night went differently… and so did the rest of her life. In both worlds, Olivia is loved - but it comes with a price.

Heart warming, thoughtful, insightful, witty and utterly charming, this story swept me off my feet! It was deeply relatable and emotional, too, and I caught myself holding my breath and tearing up more than once. I will miss this book so very much.

Thank you to @netgalley, Putnam and @laurenkatebooks for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! Out July 2nd!

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Who knew there was so much at stake in one kiss? In the story, What’s in a Kiss, we meet two high school rivals, spunky and super talented Olivia (Liv) and her handsome competitive classmate, Jake Glasswell. Their relationship in high school consists of them one upping each other in any and every event. It isn’t until their senior prom where they can talk as prom dates and maybe find out what’s behind all those pent up emotions. But it’s high school and every emotion is magnified and over analyzed 500% and rational decision making is out the window. Thank you teenage hormones and underdeveloped brains.

Fast forward to Liv’s current life years after high school and she’s barely scraping by, not living her dreams and hitting rock bottom by becoming an Uber driver. Meanwhile her arch nemesis, Jake, is living the Hollywood dream and has become a hot shot celebrity. Poor Liv, if only she could change the past… and that is where the magic begins. The what if question that we all go back to sometime in our lives becomes reality for Liv and we see this played out masterfully in Lauren Kate’s novel.

With the ability to go reversal on prom night and flip the switch in her life, we find Liv facing an alternate reality of her choices and lifestyle. But is her choices worth it compared to her current life in the real world? Is the loss of those relationships she valued so much worth it for fame?
I loved reading this story! Reading and watching Liv try to navigate her alternate reality and piece it together totally gave me 13 going on 30 vibes! Also her dog stole the show hands down!

Thank you Putman, Penguin Group and NetGalley for the ARC.

Firstly, I’d like to thank Netgalley and Lauren for allowing me to read in arc of her upcoming book in exchange for my honest review.
That being said, I really wanted to love this book. I love the concept. I really enjoyed the idea of the book but overall It just wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t really understand the whole nemesis thing. I felt like the narrative is a little confusing. it wasn’t a horrible book. I want to just say it was a good book. It just wasn’t for me, still highly recommend for anybody wanting to give it a try. This is strictly my opinion

This book was okay. The alternate universe thing was a bit confusing for me. This was very short and sweet and unfortunately left me wanting more. You'll find second chance, rival to lovers, parallel universe tropes here that had great prospect but needed more work. It was good enough to keep me intrigued with the plot and decent humor. Overall, a good palate cleanser.

Helllllllo Thirteen Going On Thirty.. Jennifer Garner is that you? This book had me laughing, crying, and gave me a bit of nostalgia from the major Thirteen going on Thirty vibes.

This was my first ever book by Lauren Kate and I thoroughly enjoyed it. At first I was not 100% sure I would be into the alternating timelines but she did an excellent job with it. At times I felt so connected to Olivia and could just feel her frustration and desperation trying to decide which world she wanted to be in. Alternate universe Jake Glasswell was a total golden retriever boyfriend and I wanted so badly for him to be transported to the real world.

I really enjoyed watching Olivia’s character develop and change in the alternate timelines but also throughout the entire book.

I would highly recommend this book if you enjoy:
Enemies to Lovers
A little magic
Second Chance Romance
Strong female friendships
Alternating timelines

Life for Olivia is not going well. She's recently been furloughed from her drama teaching job. She's living paycheck to paycheck. Her best friend Masha is getting married and Olivia is the maid of honor. Her nemesis is the best man, Jake Glaswell. Jake is living the high life, he's a famous talkshow host. As the celebrity yogi officiant allows the kiss. Something happens between Olivia & Jake. A flash and then they are holding hands and Masha is mad at her. Olivia is also a famous actress. It seems one kiss at prom that happened and didn't happen changed Olivia's life. Now she has to choose what life she wants.

This reminded me a bit of 13 going on 30 and sliding doors. I really loved this book and the different realities trope. The writing hooked me right off and I devoured this book in one day. Such a fantastic romance. *Swoon

"...every dream manifests the dreamer’s deepest, unspoken desires."
Olivia Dusk is single, unemployed and can barely make rent. The most important relationships in her life are her Mom and her BBS Masha, and of course her dog, Gram Parsons. She's hated Jake Glaswell since high school. But when she sees him again at Masha's wedding, she finds herself in an alternate reality where she and Jake are madly in love and happy but, her Mom and BBS hate her. Does she stay in this new life having found true love? Or does she find a way back to her old life filled with family and friendship? Is there a way to combine the best of both worlds?
At the beginning of this book I was not fond of Olivia. I found myself really struggling to like this character. She has some incredible qualities, like the love for her Mom and Masha but, she was immature and blamed everything bad in her life on a guy from high school that she hadn't seen in 10 years. But over the course of the book her character shows some real growth and her fun quirky characteristics start to shine. I ended up really enjoying this book and let's be honest, Jake is the perfect book boyfriend and star of both realities!

The synopsis of this so drew me in because I love books with time travel, time loops, parallel universes, or magical realism elements. And this one added in the what-ifs of romance that goes a different direction than the way it actually played out.

I loved all the characters in this and found the side characters as compelling as the MCs. The chemistry and witty banter between Jake and Olivia really shined. I laughed out loud a few times at their exchanges and rooted for them as a couple. I also loved Olivia's relationships with her mom and her best friend in her real life, so I felt for Olivia. Her choices were not easy, and I enjoyed how the author handled Olivia's growth as she experienced these two realities, the crossroads she found herself at, and the deeper themes that came up along the way.

I did wish for a few things by the end, though. Specifically, I would have liked more context as to why her mom and Masha hated her in The High Life, why their estrangement wasn't fixable, and an epilogue. Though I realize the ending was a stylistic choice, and I didn't dislike it, I was just left wanting more.

Overall, this was a cute, fun, quick read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the free book!

*3.75 rounded up

I loved this one! I didn't feel bogged down by the time travel/alternate world, and I loved the High Life and Real Life comparisons. Such a beautiful story.

DNF @15%

This was extremely confusing to understand. I really wanted to like it because I was really drawn in by the blurb.

I liked this book a lot. I didn't love it but it kept me reading, even while I was a little confused at times.

I really enjoyed Olivia & Jake's ongoing conflict in the first part of the book. In that "reality" they hate each other, of course. Or do they?

In the other "reality" they're blissfully in love BUT two of Olivia's people aren't her people. In fact, they hate her.

It's an interesting question; what if you could get that love story you want but lose your people?? I think Olivia does a good job navigating both realities, and I really hope she finds her HEA with Jake.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a fun and sweet read! I loved the second chance romance and parallel universe storyline and really felt like the love was believable! The writing was easy to read, and the story was easy to follow along with despite the FMC often being confused while in the alternate universe.

I often found myself smiling and giggling while reading this but also felt the FMC ‘s sadness and yearning to be back in her old world with the people she knows and loves as they have been her whole life. Overall super cute and fun read!

The HUGE “what if” that’s something that Olivia has been living with for a very long time, she was destined for greatness but something happened to her mom she stayed behind, so she has a few little jobs to make ends meet but she has the most amazing best friends and they are getting married, the best man is the one who probably got away but she avoided??? Idk, their romance was hard to follow at times until her reality got altered, and in her new reality she’s married to Jake, her arch-enemy-ish….. lol

I will say this, Jake and Olivia have this STEAM, and it was amazing to read. And the book was funny I loved the humor, did I fully understand what was going on? No, but I love romance and a happy endings and this book gave us that.

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I’m not someone that typically likes alternate reality what if situations, and I think that this was done pretty decently however, some parts of the time switch were a little difficult to follow. This is my first book written by this author and I can confidently say I will read some of her other works, but I had to push through this book at some points. I also put down the book for a while and picked it back up, hoping that it would spur my interest. The romance was cute and the MMC was kind of annoying at some points

This book was really hard to follow. The whole time jump thing was confusing. I really couldn't keep up with these characters. I did not finish this book.

DNF. Part of it is that I’ve realized Lauren Kate’s writing style just doesn’t click for me, and I’ve also realized the “time loop” a la 13 Going on 30 just isn’t for me in books.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️

Just when you think you know the ride you’re on, you don’t!

This is the first book from Lauren Kate I have read since the Fallen series (13-ish years ago), and I have to say I am just as hooked on this one. Olivia, our quirky and loveable (albeit stubborn) FMC has the most loving and protective relationships with her mom and best friend. Even though we only get a short snapshot in time of their connections, the affection just pours off the page. We get to see the chink in her armour as Olivia’s best friend’s wedding approaches and we learn the best man is charming celebrity podcaster Jake aka the guy who rejected Olivia at her senior prom a decade ago. Those wounds have NEVER healed and the hurt is still deeply raw. Now, just as you the reader get settled into this storyline and where you think it’s headed, everything gets thrown into a blender in the span of a sentence (Thank you Yogi-Rabbi Dan iykyk). As Olivia lives out the biggest what if? of her life, we also get to consider and explore tough questions and think of our own “what ifs,” and wrestle with the decisions we’ve made right alongside her. This was a fantastic, quick read and a beautiful, thoughtful romance. I was and continue to be a steadfast fan of Lauren Kate.

What to expect:
✨Single POV
✨Enemies to lovers
✨He falls first
✨What if?
✨Forced proximity
✨Yogi-Rabbi Dan 😆


Thank you Penguin Group Putnam for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.