Jessica Stanley's book Consider Yourself Kissed is ostensibly Coralie and Adam's love story, but - for me, at least - the story of Coralie falling in love with herself is the more compelling part of the book. The two meet in London after a divorce (Adam) and a traumatic work experience (Coralie) and follow a trajectory familiar to many: infatuation, house, children, reality. As a working mother, I found Coralie's experience of losing herself in the needs of everyone else so familiar and I repeatedly highlighted certain passages that perfectly articulated my own experience of trying to balance too many urgent priorities. Kudos to Stanley for writing a book that speaks to the situation many women find themselves in today!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC; all opinions are my own.

When Coralie meets Adam it's after she saves his then 4-year old daughter from drowning. Coralie has moved to London for a fresh new start, and to focus on writing a novel. She and Adam quickly fall in love, and Coralie tucks her unfinished novel aside and throws herself into her relationship with Adam and Zora, then for she and Adam's two children together.

Spread out over ten years, Coralie realizes she has lost her own hopes and dreams for the future; she traded them in for the family she always longed for. She discovers that it's not enough to love her family; she has lost herself along the way. That is something so many women can relate to - one person in the relationship grows professionally outside the family, while the other cares for the house and family. Adam had it all; Coralie felt like she ended up with just half a life.

For me, this was a slow reading book. It touches on history and British politics, which is not something I know much about. I could relate to Coralie's feelings about the love she carries for her family, and the bit of resentment she felt toward Adam as they grew apart. It's a good book, if a little slowly paced.

It's a testament to the quality of Jessica Stanley's writing that she's able to make a slice of life novel about parenting against the backdrop of a decade that includes the Covid-19 pandemic gripping and enjoyable. I wouldn't say she breaks new ground in this story about the "ever after" part of "happily ever after" (parenting, work-home balance, deferred dreams, the aforementioned pandemic), but the ground she covers felt like a well-worn path. Although Consider Yourself Kissed is billed as a romance, main character Coralie's relationship with her stepdaughter, Zora, was the heart of the book for me, and it was especially delightful to see their relationship develop over the course of the decade during which the book takes place.

One of the best books I've read this year!

The romance is lovely, and the domestic routine fighting with self-search is relatable. The constant fear of not having done enough, of not being on time with big things in life, self-questioning.. SA at work and family issues - from parents-kids dynamics to blended families.
I really enjoyed Coralie's character, and the writing is just superb.
I was curious about all the bad reviews mentioning the politics, and sure enough, it was the right-leaning readers who got upset that the politics were mentioned in a book about a couple where the man is a political writer. Give me a break.
I enjoyed the politics - to me, that is a great book about a character living their life in a certain period and reacting to everything around them - politics included. If you want a book without politics, maybe try children's literature? I digress.

Amazing novel. I will be on the lookout for the author's future books.

Thank you, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Riverhead, for sharing an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Coralie transferred from Australia to London as a copywriter, meeting Adam and falling in love. As Coralie and Adam build a life together, including renovating a home, having kids, and more, Adam’s career takes off while Coralie feels she is losing herself. With the background of the politics of England during this time, Coralie’s frustration with her life begins to impact their relationship. The author provided a smart and well written description of a woman’s growth and introspection. Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This started out really good, but as it went on I lost interest. I loved the writing though, so I'd be interested to see what the author does next.

Absolutely gorgeous read! This was a really vivid and raw look at motherhood and the tussle it has on our romantic and professional lives. It was a love story without the rosy-lens distorting reality - it had the pains of covid and Euro-politics, the mental load of motherhood and the mismatch of efforts in long-term romantic relationships, the romance with the discomforts of reality. It was a graceful reflection on a life filled with everyday complexities like grief and disappointment and ambition. I adored this so much and hope Jessie Stanley continues to write fiction!

Coralie has moved to London and unexpectedly rescues a four year old girl from drowning. She encounters Adam, the girl's father, again and a relationship develops that turns into love and cohabitation and then so many complexities of life through a decade together. Coralie no longer is sure what she wants and must deal with big and small challenges of Covid and parenting and work and relationships and life to discover what her future could be.

Portrait of a middle class London marriage set against the backdrop of British politics in the last decade. Not as dull as it sounds but not by too much.

Coralie Bowers has moved from Australia to London after Something Happened in her job at an advertising agency. At first lonely and adrift, she eventually meets cute with Adam and his young daughter and their romance begins. Though they are well-matched and their relationship is warm and tender, we know (from the Prologue) that Coralie is going to move out in the future. They have two children and Mark’s career as a political journalist and author takes off but also sucks up his time. Coralie starts to feel resentful, trapped, and overwhelmed by her inability to have her own life. Meanwhile, the country is going to the dogs, politically.

I found the character development a bit glib for both the protagonists and the support characters: older generation parents are cold and unloving, Tories are idiots, gay people are tremendously warm and supportive, children are amazing and sooo smart. All of which is possibly true and would be fine in a romcom but this purports to be more than that.

Perhaps this is my age and upbringing, but I also found I wanted to tell Coralie to just buck up and get on with what she wants to do. You, on the other hand, may find her a sympathetic woman having a crisis and finding a way through it.

When I first heard about Consider Yourself Kissed, I knew it sounded right up my alley — I love stories about women getting to know themselves. Over the course of 10 years — through Brexit, various losses, motherhood, Covid — we also get to know Coralie, and I found myself completely invested in her story.

“And if she felt like a door had closed somewhere, that a complex experience was being tidied away without being fully understood, that she was alone in still interrogating it — that was a small price to pay for his acceptance, his support, his love.”

Jessica Stanley’s writing is warm, witty, and rooted in real, relatable feelings. I especially enjoyed watching Coralie’s journey unfold — you can see her grow from the woman who first arrives in London, eager to find love, to someone more grounded in what she truly wants and needs.

The story’s London setting adds to its charm, and the chemistry between all of the various characters (romantic and otherwise) felt authentic and layered. Ultimately Consider Yourself Kissed is a story about womanhood, relationships, rediscovery — especially in midlife — and love in its many forms.

Coralie and Adam met when his 4 year old daughter, Zora, falls into a pond, and Coralie pulls her out and saves her life. Slow-fast-slow-fast forward through the next ten years of their lives as Coralie decides whether or not she actually wants to have the life she's made for herself.

Ugh. I loved the title of this.

I kind of hate the execution.

I can see this going over well with the Boomer set, particularly those who like Danielle Steel, because this is VERY similar to her current writing style.

Coralie is lost on her own. She finds Adam, falls for him and his daughter. But they don't get married. They just start living together and loving and caring for each other, and for Zora.

Coralie wants to be a writer and a mom. One of them comes to fruition. She winds up having 2 kids with Adam, but hating how it happens because he's focused on his career in political reporting, and keeps putting her needs and wants off so he can write another book about the British political scene.

The book talks about Brexit, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, the Covid lockdowns, and all the other nonsense over ten years of politics.

I couldn't be more bored with what's supposed to be a love story, but turns out to be a politics book with some romance, and love-to-hate storylines.

Some chapters, it spends pages upon pages talking about Coralie and her feelings at the time. Some chapters, it spans an entire pregnancy in about 4 sentences. A pregnancy, by the way, that was much sought after, and fought for, and thereby skipped over nearly in its entirety.

I feel, after this book, the same way I felt about the Steel book I read this year. Wishing for some actual romance and love story in a book claiming to be a romance novel.

At least there's a hastily ever after.

No, that's not a typo.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

This is a cute romcom but I didn't love it. It is a good story and while I enjoyed reading it, I just didn't love it.

Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley follows Coralie as she navigates through meeting her partner, losing her mother, having children, losing and ultimately finding herself.

I have seen this referenced as a “literary love story,” which I could see, however it wasn’t for me. I felt like there wasn’t enough direction in the story. Since the book took place primarily in London, there was a great deal related to English politics which I have very little experience with. For someone who prefers reading literary fiction or dramas, this might be right up their alley.

A literary love story told over a decade of a woman's life as she builds a family while trying to maintain her identity.

Jessica Stanley's Consider Yourself Kissed was a truly original read that kept me engrossed from beginning to end.

Coralie leaves behind a frustrating past to tackle her office's London branch. While she tries to cobble together her notes into something cohesively longform, she also tries to put her personal life back on track. When she saves a little girl from drowning, she is drawn into the world of Adam and Zora. So begins the next decade of their lives, which Stanley spells out. Quiet and contemplative, Stanley has the reader consider what it is to share a life with another person in our modern times. With a backdrop of Brexit and the pandemic, Stanley covers a lot of ground to create the London of Adam and Coralie's world.

I really liked the cover of CONSIDER YOURSELF KISSED by Jessica Stanley; finding it to be bright and happy, I was expecting to escape through a rom-com of some sort. Instead, I was disappointed by the characters and their actions. In its review, The Wall Street Journal says, "'Lost woman tries to find herself' is a familiar story, but CONSIDER YOURSELF KISSED is buoyed by fresh, funny writing and, pretty much without exception, a terrific cast of characters." Unfortunately, I could not get past the "lost woman" aspect and found the main character, Coralie, to be a willing doormat, despite an initially promising romance with Adam, an English political journalist. Granted, circumstances are difficult (Coralie has to return to Australia where her own mother is dying, the pandemic looms, etc.), but even Coralie acknowledges that "all the while, she was conscious of an argument going on inside her, between the part of her that loves Zora [Adam's young daughter] and would do anything for her and the part that hated being taken for granted by the adults in Zora's life." The pattern repeats itself and readers, like me, may struggle to develop empathy for this character even though The New York Times says, "Stanley's delightful novel reminds her readers of the joy, humor and even subtle hope that can be experienced during life's lowest moments."

Coralie left Australia to live in London after a job transfer. Newly arrived, she rescues a girl from a pond and ends up dating the girl's father. What follows is the story of their relationship over 10 years, through Brexit and COVID. It is heavy on politics and light on love. I didn't need to read another fairly mundane book about a mother approaching 40, but it had some interesting characters and family dynamics.

I didn't think I was going to enjoy this as much as I did. I found the main character to be frustrating, but she was going through understandable huge life changes, and watching that was really interesting at this point in my life. It was a really fast read with snappy dialogue.

I’m a bit of an Anglophile, so I was hoping to enjoy a contemporary story set in London more than I did. It was fine, but I had trouble connecting with the characters.

I think perhaps I'm still not ready to read pandemic literature.

Maybe one day I will find myself in a headspace where this works for me. But that is not today.

The writing is fine. Just not the right time for me to read it.

"If she didn't love, she'd be half a person. But if she did love, she'd never be whole."