With This Kiss

by Carrie Hope Fletcher

A brand new timeless romance with a sprinkling of magic from the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author ‘A complete joy to read, and once I’d started I genuinely couldn’t stop. I was entranced and beguiled from start to finish by this beautiful story. Carrie has single-handedly converted me to magic realism’ Jill Mansell ‘Carrie Hope Fletcher is not afraid to tackle big themes in this ambitious story, and the emotional pay-off cuts deep’
Heat , Book of the Week ‘A spellbinding and enchanting read with a charming cast of characters, With This Kiss is guaranteed to sweep you off your feet…I adored it’ Holly Miller, The Sight of You ‘Spellbindingly romantic – With This Kiss is utterly captivating. A feat of magical and mystical storytelling’ Laura Jane Williams, Our Stop ‘A gorgeous story with plenty of heart’ M. A. Kuzniar, Midnight in Everwood * * * If you knew how your love story ends, would you dare to begin? From the outside, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman with a normal life. She loves reading, she works at the local cinema and she adores living with her best friend. But she carries a painful burden, something she’s kept hidden for years; whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they are going to die. Lorelai has never known if she’s seeing what was always meant to be, or if her kiss is the thing that decides their destiny. And so, she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was eighteen. Then she meets Grayson. Sweet, clever, funny Grayson. And for the first time in years she yearns for a man’s kiss. But she can’t…or can she? And if she does, should she try to intervene and change what she sees? Spellbinding, magical and utterly original, With This Kiss is one love story you will never forget. * * *
Readers are spellbound by With This Kiss ‘A five-star read . . . Fun, enjoyable, funny and sweet with characters I absolutely loved’ NetGalley Reviewer,⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book was everything I didn't know I needed ’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘ Beautiful writing [that] captured me from the start. 5 stars ’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Carrie Hope Fletcher's book 'With This Kiss' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 18-04-2022.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, Magical Realism, Audiobook, Chick Lit

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2022

About the author

Carrie Hope Fletcher is an English actress, author and singer-songwriter.

She played Eponine in the West End production of Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre until February 13th 2016. She is the first actress to have played both young Eponine and older Eponine. In 2019, she returned to Les Miserables as Fantine.

Fletcher played Truly Scrumptious in the UK touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Wednesday Addams in the UK touring production of The Addams Family. She then starred as Veronica Sawyer in the UK production of Heathers: The Musical.

Her debut book, All I Know Now: Wonderings and Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully was published in May 2015. Her first fiction novel, On the Other Side was published in July 2016.

Fletcher is well known for her YouTube channel where she shares videos about her life and her work as an actress and author.

Reviews

[Charlie Todd · Rating 1 out of 5]

CW: A really, really poorly written trans character (if you could even call her that) and cis people trying to show their allyship in a way that'll churn your guts up.

I wasn't going to write a review for this, but I feel the need to talk about the uncomfortable virtue signalling in relation to the trans community in this book. Yes, I am trans.

Okay, so, I have long been a ‘fan’ of Carrie’s. I grew up watching her Youtube videos, desperately begging my mum to take me to les mis to meet her. Yada yada.

I have also read each of Carrie’s books over the years, all except her children’s book. Admittedly I never have thought much of her writing skills. Her plots are lacklustre, brilliant concepts fall flat and exposition traded for lengthy and repetitive internal monologues by the main characters. All of this is in With This Kiss. However, that is the least of the problems of this book.

A few chapters in we are introduced to a trans character simply as ‘a trans character. That’s literally it. Oh, and she has a cis boyfriend who’s surname is Love…? That is literally all we know about her. Lorelai (the mc) then accidentally says (shock! horror!) and immediately starts apologising to the trans character. Does she get a chance to speak about why she might have been offended by this? Nope, of course not. Her cis boyfriend has to jump in and explain her transness to the room, but don’t worry! It’s *perfect*, his non-trans explanation.

Then the meeting is over and we never see Generic Trans Woman and Boyfriend Surname Love ever again… That’s that! I read all the way to the end in hope this woman would get given a personality but nope. She’s just The Trans Lesson.

I was given an advance copy of the book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I really hope they take this embarrassment of a ‘scene’ or ‘statement’ out of the book before any other trans person is forced to read it so cis readers can feel Good and Woke about themselves…

[Ivana - Diary of Difference · Rating 3 out of 5]

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I am so thrilled to be joining the blog tour for “With This Kiss” by HQ Stories. If every time you kissed someone, you knew how they will die, would you have the courage to try and find love? “With This Kiss” by Carrie Hope Fletcher explores this in a sweet romantic fashion.



Synopsis:

When their lips touch, will she seal his fate?

From the outside, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman with a normal life. She loves reading, she works at the local cinema and she adores living with her best friend. But she carries a painful burden, something she’s kept hidden for years; whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they are going to die. But she’s never known if she’s seeing what was always meant to be, or if her kiss is the thing that decides their destiny. And so, she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was sixteen.

Then she meets Grayson. Sweet, clever, funny Grayson. And for the first time in years she yearns for a man’s kiss. But she can’t… or can she? And if she does, should she try to intervene and change what she sees?

Spellbinding, magical and utterly original, With This Kiss is one love story you will never forget.

My Thoughts:

I chose to read “With This Kiss” by Carrie Hope Fletcher because the cover looked gorgeous, and it fit for my April Monthly TBR Prompt to pick a book with a beautiful cover. But it was actually the synopsis that really intrigued me to want to really read this book. I really like the idea of Lorelai’s ability to see people’s deaths when she kisses them. It was an idea that was well thought of and well developed throughout the book. I couldn’t help but think what would I do if I was in that situation.

Usually, when the main character is going through something in their life, I am able to relate to their thoughts and feelings. And I had my concerns that I won’t be able to with this book, because what Lorelai is going through is very fictional. However, I was wrong. I felt everything she was feeling. Through her story and experiences, I was able to understand why she makes the choices she does and it all makes sense. I also loved her friendship with Joanie. Joanie is a true gem and every person deserves a friend like her in their lives.

I really enjoyed how Lorelai and Grayson meet.

The book club scenes made me quite excited and I could instantly feel the geekiness from Grayson, that I adored! But there were too few of these scenes. I can’t help but feel that this book club was only introduced for Lorelai to meet Grayson, as well as for the author to introduce a trans couple. But where I felt the frustration was that neither the book club nor the trans couple were mentioned later on in the book. So I’m not quite sure what the author wanted to achieve with this. The other bit that was mentioned here was Lorelai’s passion about working on movie adaptations, which she briefly mentions twice of three times in the book, and nothing comes out of it.

Now let’s talk actual romance.

I loved their meeting and I was all up for the little teasing combined with geekiness. But then the couple slightly lost me, especially during the period when Lorelai wasn’t sure what to do, but also kept leading him on, promising to explain things and never did. I also refuse to believe someone would let two weeks pass by and not listen to their voicemails.

However, I still enjoyed the book a lot! It just wasn’t the romance I was hoping for. Instead, it was a beautiful journey of a woman that has unique abilities. Her struggles to find courage to be able to truly love someone. Her relationship with her family, who are able to offer much more that she was led to believe all her life. This book will make you feel all the feels – you will be rooting for Lorelai to go out there and fight for what she loves!

[bookishcharli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one because the cover is super pretty and the premise of the story seemed like it would make for an excellent read… one kiss from the main character and she can tell you how you’ll die, talk about a death kiss. Unfortunately this one fell a bit flat for me. The characters were forgettable at best, I can’t even remember their names and I’m not fussed about looking them up, and not too long into the book we are thrown a token trans character, who’s literal point in the book was to be apologised to and then forgotten about without another mention in the story.

I’m sure there will be plenty of people that like/love this one, but it just wasn’t for me. I wanted substance and character development, and I didn’t get any of that. This was my first book by her and whilst I didn’t enjoy it, it hasn’t put me off reading her other books in time. Thank you to HQ for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Sara Bow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abgebrochen - irgendwie total langweilig. Sei es die Handlung oder die Charaktere

[Beth, BooksNest · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent this book by the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

There is a simplicity in the way this is written that initially, I found hard to adjust to, but at the same time it was quite soothing and I found myself carried into the story. This was an easy and pleasant reading experience, despite at times dealing with some tricky topics.

I went into this book very intrigued by the premise of seeing how someone would die by kissing them. It reminded me of the concept of They Both Die at the End, the question of does knowing about an imminent death in fact cause the death itself? Initially, I felt this book didn't quite explore this concept in the way I was hoping, but as the book went on, this because much more part of the plot. I liked the questions the main character asked and how she dealt with this strange gift she has.

It's clear Carrie Hope Fletcher has a passion for the arts, especially theatre, and I love how this seeps into her writing. This book follows a main character who works at a fabulous cinema that focuses on showing loved films of the past, she also writes her own book to screen adaptations. I really enjoyed seeing this side of Lorelai and getting to know her more. She was a flawed and guarded main character who certainly developed throughout this book.

[ChellesOfBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars
**Thank you Harlequin Australia and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. These are my honest thoughts.**
TW; death described in detail, nightmares

This book sounded great in the synopsis but sadly failed to deliver. The idea that Lorelai could see anyone's death with a kiss was rather clever, and that was the most fleshed-out part of this book. The deaths were grim and quite traumatising for her, and I could understand her shutting off from the world because of the fear that came from her nightmares and deemed "lethal kisses". However, aside from this element, Lorelai wasn't very much of a main character. In fact, my biggest issue with this story was the flatness of all the characters involved, most especially Grayson.

We are told a lot more than we're shown throughout With This Kiss. Both Grayson and Lorelai fall in love much too fast, with very little apart from an intense sense that they could be something magical to rely on building anything between them. I was pretty confused over Lorelai's attraction for him in the beginning too. She admitted he was handsome, but there wasn't much of an explanation to why, especially with her distant reactions. All their initial interactions didn't seem like much and then she would be off crushing over this man after he was gone. It felt far too unexplained and convenient. That we, as the reader, are meant to just accept she felt something for him.

I did like her friendship with Joanie, and the eventual reconnecting with her mother, but even the side characters were only present to push along the plot and not a great deal more. The plot itself often dragged or veered off path with characters reacting dramatically only to switch in another direction, thoughts flitting between this and that, and scenes from Lorelai's past experiences and then back to present day again. And yet, not a lot of something substantial was going on either to make turning the pages enjoyable. I lost interest early on, and whilst I did like the concept of what Lorelai could do, there were so many unanswered questions upon completing this book about her gift and what happened to characters that had been introduced along the way. I would have liked more building of the characters to help some reactions make more sense, and less of the fairytale, dreamy aspects that came at the end that didn't hit as hard as intended because of the lack of depth in the main characters.

[Jana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this read but I didn’t love it. I desperately wanted to but I think this light, easy book was lacking some true magic and I believe the writer missed out some opportunities to turn this into a gripping read.

For me, the final part of the book was the most interesting. I like how the novel is divided into three parts, symbolic of the theatre and cinema that both Grayson and Lorelai love. It is also where they first meet and despite a growing attraction, Lorelai is determined not to get too close, fearing her ability will add to the nightmares she suffers from. Learning that a kiss shows a person’s death, Lorelai has sworn to a lifetime of loneliness, accepting that this ability (or curse) is too painful to bear. Yet, meeting Grayson sets off a chain of events, starting with her colleague, Riggs, and Lorelai starts to learn more about what kissing really means.

I liked Lorelai as a character. I loved her name – it is so unusual and pretty! However, she does tend to procrastinate and waffle on for a fair bit before doing anything. I found this indecisiveness to be a little frustrating and was glad for her best friend, Joanie, to push her along a bit. Lorelai’s dream of being a screenwriter is never properly developed and I was hoping to see this ambition become a reality, instead of a dusty hobby. The friendship between the Joanie and Lorelai is so sweet and supportive, helped by the fact that Joanie knows Lorelai’s secret. There were many times in the story that Joanie made me laugh and I think she was an essential character in a story where death is centre-stage.

Whilst I did not wish to see Lorelai whoring herself around and kissing all and sundry, I wanted to see the writer develop the focus on Lorelai’s physic ability. This theme of the supernatural meeting romance was what appealed to me in the first place, but I don’t think it was ever established fully. Lorelai shuns learning too much about the visions that she sees and how they can be useful, and I was disappointed by her reactions to Grayson on so many occasions. True, she is presented as an understandably vulnerable character but, with Joanie’s support, I thought the writer could have explored Lorelai’s ability in a lot more depth. Furthermore, the final scenes were quite tense but I was hoping for a bit more development on this and thought the writer closed some plot strands off too quickly.

I liked how the story also provided an insight into Lorelai growing up. It gives the reader more background about how Lorelai coped with kissing others but again, I think there was opportunity for this to be expanded further, especially considering her relationship with her mother and grandmother. Although some detail is given on her strained relationship with her mother, I think more than just a few pages on their backgrounds would have added to their character.

The last third of the book was most interesting because this is where Lorelai gains so much strength. She is finally decisive and determined in her actions and this behaviour appealed to me. I also felt the pace of the story picked up for what felt like an easy yet, slow and meandering narrative. The Epilogue proved just as haunting as the Prologue and I think these small chapters truly demonstrated Fletcher’s writing skills.

There was a lot that I enjoyed about this romantic read, even if death was always around the corner! Yet, I think there was too much missing from the plot to set my heart on fire. I wanted there to be more romance between Lorelai and Grayson and I don’t think I found their relationship to be entirely believable. That being said, having seen Grayson pushed away for most of the story, I guess I can understand why he just isn’t as forthcoming as typical romantic heroes. In conclusion, this is an interesting concept but I think there was room to really develop the supernatural theme a lot more.

With thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lorelai from the outside looks like an ordinary young woman, she loves reading and works at the cinema with her best friend and flatmate Jeanie. But she carries a secret, something she has kept hidden for years.

Whenever Lorelai kisses someone on the lips she sees how they will die, but she is unsure if what she is seeing is meant to be or if her kiss is the thing that decides their destiny.

Then along comes Grayson who is funny and clever. Lorelai is attracted to him and for the first time in years she wants to be kissed by him. But she can't face seeing his death, and if they do kiss can she intervene and change what she sees?

I was intrigued by this story and couldn't wait to get started. It was great to read something different and a break from the norm.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review

[Rae's Reading Corner · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'ing

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with an eArc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am a huge lover of Carrie's other books and was so excited to see that she had a new book out. But unfortunately, it was a miss for me.

First of all, in less than 10% of the book, there was a Harry Potter reference. After everything that JKR has done to the trans and lgbt+ community, you would think that these references wouldn't exist in books that are being published in 2022... but apparently not.

There is also a trans character introduced a few pages before this reference and a scene of the MC apologising to Joy, the trans character, for saying, ladies and gentlemen.

It's a poor excuse for explaining the growth of pronouns and stuff like that. Joy shouldn't have been apologised to directly, but instead just apologised to the whole group and if asked, explain about pronouns without needing to bring up Joy. This scene is more putting attention on Joy and apologising just because she is trans instead of apologising to the whole room and correcting herself without needing to explain and talk about Joy. And then Joy and her boyfriend are never seen again in the book... yep, great representation there.

Overall I hope this is taken out and fixed before the book is published. I know there are many trans fans of Carrie, whether it be from her youtube or musical theatre work, and for this to be seen in the book so early on is shocking.

Other than that I felt that the story overall was a bit flat and the writing or characters weren't as engaging as in her previous novels.

This is such a shame because I really did enjoy Carrie's other books and was so excited to read something new of hers.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

18th January 2025 -

I’ve decided that there’s no point in me keeping this book as I really didn’t like it and I only want to keep books I enjoyed. I do really like Carrie’s theatre work so I am looking forward to seeing that in the future but unfortunately her books are mostly a miss for me! I will be unhauling this book.

—————————

Please note this review is 100% my own opinion!

Despite enjoying Carrie’s theatre & YouTube work, sadly I didn’t enjoy With This Kiss and think this is my cue to pass on any more of her books. The writing wasn’t bad or anything - there were some nice quotes but my main issue was with the execution of the story.

Like the other fiction books I’ve read of Carrie’s, I felt With This Kiss lacked character development, character growth and I found all the characters to be immature for being in their mid-late twenties. Although the plot & storyline was interesting (the main character seeing how people die when she kisses them), I felt it was all very surface level and a lot of things that were introduced at the beginning weren’t mentioned much throughout the rest of the book - e.g. the book club and the characters who attended it. I felt the club was only introduced so that Grayson and Lorelai could meet - but nothing much else came of it?

I felt there was a lot of miscommunication that could have been sorted out by the characters just talking to each other. I felt Lorelai treated Joanie poorly when she shouted at her and blamed her, and also felt Lorelai treated Grayson poorly when she kept running away when they were about to or did kiss and then she didn’t even really properly explain why or apologise for her actions.

I was frustrated numerous times whilst reading this and although the plot was unique and cool, I felt it could have been executed better and I wasn’t attached to any of the characters at all. I felt there need to be more growth and depth and the romance was a bit “convenient” - there was a lot of miscommunication and unfortunately I won’t be picking up any more of Carrie’s novels. But I’ll still support her theatre and YouTube work!

I’m not sure whether I’ll unhaul my edition of With This Kiss as it is signed but I’ll see.

This review is 100% my own opinion!

[claudia (purged my account) · Rating 3 out of 5]

pre-review
I don’t know why I was so put off reading this book?

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This doesn't feel like a gift. It feels like a dirty secret, and this huge responsibility all at once. I just want to be normal."
"There's no such thing as normal!" Joanie threw up her hands, exasperated. "everyone thinks they're not normal. Newsflashnormal is in the eye of the beholder. — Lorelai and Joanie (p.161)

I adored With This Kiss, I did find it to be a reasonably simple read and devoured it in two sittings. I appreciated the lore in play, the lore governing Lorelai's curse/power/gift, it is effective and easy enough to remember but hard for the characters to articulate, and difficult to accept in a real-world context (ie the characters push back against it). A couple of warnings With This Kiss contains sexual assault, unwanted intimate contact and death (? look that's the whole premise but you know). Some of the deaths are brutal. All of the warnings are for events that make at least some sense in context.

With This Kiss is Lorelai Sanderson's story. Lorelai happily works in a theatre that specialises in showing classic films, her free time is spent writing adaptations of books for the screen, she is also a woman with a secret. She has a curse/power/gift, when she kisses someone she sees how they will die. The story follows her trying to figure out if and how she can safely pursue a relationship with the charming and endearing Grayson Brady. A family-orientated, theatre worker with broadly similar interests to her, who at one point turns up in full Merry cosplay. Just because it makes his younger brother Aden happy and it makes for good family time. The relationship between Lorelai and Grayson was done well. You could feel Lorelai's growth and fear, Grayson's frustration and confusion, and both of them knowing that could be special. Lorelai's first vision of Grayson's death is more than a little distressing but the lasting vision from Grayson's kiss is beautiful and heartwarming. Unlike Sylvie, she won't have to fight for a long marriage.

It is a well-written book that relies on heavily on female characters to drive it. Lorelai is the sort of protagonist you either like or not. She is trying the best she can in her difficult situation but isn't necessarily letting her curse stop her from living her life. But she is all heart. Though it is sometimes hard to see behind her armour. There are times when that armour slips, often around her best friend Joanie, against her will around Grayson and when she kisses someone, especially if that person is going to die young. If she wasn't all heart the deaths she has seen wouldn't haunt her nightmares and she wouldn't eventually work to protect the men she sees die. In some ways, the character that shines is the character the book is dedicated to Joanie, Lorelai's best friend. Even though Joanie and Lorelai are opposites their relationship just works. Joanie is a brilliant creation even if she does have one seriously questionable moment. It is done with Lorelai's best interests at heart. I love Joanie. Everyone needs a Joanie in their corner supportive and willing to give you a push when you need it. Her acceptance of Lorelai's secret is just so perfect. Her asking to have the realities of the curse explained to her so she can as much as possible understand so she can share that load. It is a true friendship that borders on sisterhood.

There is a scene where Lorelai goes out kissing strange men in a club to test a theory. One of those men is Darren, a friend of Joanie's and a legitimately nice guy. The vision of Darren's death and Lorelai's response to it was a smart inclusion. That need to help give his life happiness, the impact of emotion on Lorelai. We do love seeing women supporting women and the changes that meeting Grayson caused in Lorelai, the confidence and determination he unknowing gave her. There is something to be said about the variety and dichotomy of the deaths of the men that Lorelai chooses to kiss. The one that looks like he's living life in the most carefree way is the one with the longest life.

This is quite LGBTQ+ positive. Bestie Joanie is gay and is given the exact same relationship as any heterosexual woman. We also meet transwoman Joy as part of the Page to Screen book club. Other than as a convenient way to introduce Grayson and Lorelai I'm not sure why the Page to Screen book club was included. It's a super cute idea that only appears in one chapter towards the start and one at the end. I hope that maybe Carrie Hope Fletcher comes back to this group and lets us see more of the club maybe using one of the four twenty-something friends (Nadia, Shanice, Sue or Meera) as a protagonist if she doesn't want to use Joanie.

Some random quotes and comments
• With this Kiss is divided up into three parts. Part One: The Bad Beginning (pp.11-110), Part Two: The Messy Middle (pp.113-224), Part Three: The Happy End (pp. 227-317). It uses alternate formatting in about every third chapter. It is a simple way to indicate to the reader that events are not contemporary to the main plot. Sometimes those events happened years ago, sometimes weeks. It is intuitive in the moment.
• The epilogue and prologue are rightfully the old and new of Lorelai. Though both raise good points in their own ways.
• "I guess that when I meet intelligent, open-minded people like you, it restores my faith in humanity so it's easy to forget how ignorant people can be." — This feels like one of the greatest compliments a girl can receive. Nothing on the physical, all on the things that don't change. (Grayson, p.29)
• Meeting a beautiful stranger with a love of fantasy would be the ideal scenario for most people. A meet-cute. Something that only happened in books and movies. But Lorelai was not most people and Grayson would run a mile if he knew her secret. — (Lorelai, p.32)
• I kinda wish more had been done with Grayson's younger brother Aden. It feels like he was introduced with the sole reason of showing the difference between Grayson's family and Lorelai's.
• "What the fuck, Riggs?!" Lorelai shrieked. Men
Riggs stepped back and surveyed the result of his toxic masculinity masquerading as a defence of Lorelai's honour. His mouth flapped open and closed in an attempt to catch an explanation, an excuse, anything to make sense of what he'd just done, but he clearly came up short. — Riggs has an odd role in the story. He seems to exist just to create drama, drive the plot and present a couple of prime moments of toxic masculinity. His apology doesn't redeem him, though it is a start. (Lorelai, p.85)
• "Death is part of life and we all have to deal with people we love dying. It's inevitable. If there's one thing we can all be certain of, it's that we're all going to die one day and you can't stop that from happening." — 1. There are no lies here. 2. Mother Death (aka Caitlin Doughty) would be so pleased with this level of death positivity. I am aware this book deals with death so this had to be addressed but this is a great way to do it. (Joanie, p.161)
• "Hear me out! It's so when you both order burgers with gherkins, one gets the satisfaction of handing over their gherkins and making the other happy and the other takes away the thing that makes the other unhappy." — This is Grayson's theory on a key to relationship success. And I really like this idea, that idea of it relating to happiness rather than the food itself. Lorelai follows up a couple of pages later with "The demon cucumbers are yours". (Grayson, p.175)
• Lila put the back of her hand against her head as if she were a damsel in distress, Lorelai saw her for what she really was: the strongest women [sic] she knew. Her grandmother, too. — As a woman from a Welsh family (though we live in Australia) strong, fierce women are our whole deal. I love this quote because of that, so few people forget how strong the women closest to them are. (Lorelai, p.262)
• "No, listen to me, darling. Power or no power no man deserves you at your best if he can't handle you at your worst. regardless of what your worst may be. If you two were meant to be together, he would have stopped you from leaving and would never have let you go, It's his loss and his loss alone. There is someone out there who would help you bury bodies if he had to and would feel lucky about it, too!" — Is this tropey af? Yes. do I love it anyway? Yes. Do I think everyone male, female or enby needs to hear this? Absolutely. (Lila, p.297)
• The acknowledgment's last lines and the dedication are both fantastic. One recognises the import of friendship and the support of best friends, the other loyal readers and fans.
• With this Kiss feels quite different from the other Carrie Hope Fletcher I've read, On the Other Side. Both have magical elements their women Lorelai and Evie are so different. Also, Grayson feels slightly more active in the relationship's success than Vincent. Evie feels a bit like what might have become of Lorelai of her and Grayson didn't work out.

"Shall I get you a drink?"
"Don't worry, I'll get these ones." Lorelai stood, her legs shaking. "See if I can find anyone drunk enough to kiss me right off the bat."
"Go forth fair maiden into the night, fair maiden, and return with a porn star martini and less lipstick than you originally applied!" — Joanie and Lorelai (p.145)

Read for QBD Reading Challenge 2022. Filling the prompt: "A Book with a Blue Cover" 📘
This is a really pretty blue cover with gold stars that actually comes from a wonderful place in the story. "Lila leaned over the crib and saw that little Lorelai was wide awake. She was staring at the mobile of stars and clouds that dangled above her, and in the inky darkness of that night, Lila finally looked in her daughter's eyes.". The cover essentially represents the moment a mother recognises her love for her child.

A representative gif:

[Oana-Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

O carte pe care o aveam în bibliotecă încă din 2022 și pe care, dacă nu o includeam în provocarea Blind date with a book, nu știu când aș fi ajuns să o citesc.🤭

Am fost atrasă de coperta superbă și de marginile la fel de frumoase ale cărții. Nu-mi amintesc dacă i-am citit sinopsisul atunci când am achiziționat-o, dar am fost surprinsă de idee când am început lectura.💙

Premisa este intrigantă: Lorelai are o abilitate specială, atunci când sărută pe cineva, vede cum va muri acea persoană. Totuși, nu înțelege pe deplin cum funcționează acest „dar”: este o premoniție sau își pecetluiește victimele prin sărutul ei?💋

Deși ideea cărții mi s-a părut foarte interesantă, modul în care este scrisă nu m-a impresionat. Ritmul este lent și chiar dacă eram curioasă să aflu mai multe despre puterea lui Lorelai, nu am fost captivată de poveste decât în ultimele 50-100 de pagini.🫣

Personajul principal, Lorelai, nu mi-a fost pe plac. Am încercat să empatizez cu lupta ei interioară și cu povara secretului, dar, de multe ori, mi s-a părut că mai degrabă fuge de oameni decât încearcă să își protejeze abilitatea.🫣

Un roman cu un concept de realism magic interesant, dar nu foarte bine executat.🤷🏼‍♀️

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice easy read

[Melanie’s reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored this author’s book ‘all that she can see’ and the premise of this sounded just as unique so I couldn’t wait to jump in, plus it had films and books so what could possibly go wrong?

Well, I’m all for inclusivity, however within a few pages this felt more like a lesson/tick boxing exercise in gender identities and sexual preferences and a clumsy one at that. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they were just characters without need for explanations and admonishments, especially as this felt more of a YA read and they are a pretty clued up generation.

Lorelai is understandably a very vulnerable character but she does develop strength throughout the story, mostly thanks to her best friend Joanie who to me was more of a leading lady and certainly had the best lines. Joanie is full on and says it how it is with not much tact or diplomacy but is needed to push Lorelai along and without her this book would have struggled a lot more.

This is also marketed as a romance and while there are touches of it, it wasn’t developed to be all that it could be, much like Lorelai’s screenwriting adaptations that I thought would be a big part of the book but then never really amounted to much.

With that aside there was some really nice touches and some well thought out characters, Riggs the cinema owner’s son in particular as there was so much more to him than I was first led to believe. It is also very thought provoking and makes you ponder what you would do in Lorelai’s position.

In the end it turned out to be quite a lovely, life affirming read just not the one I was expecting and one that could be so much better.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story and thoroughly enjoyed the mix of paranormal and romance. Loreley is a relatable character and I liked her relationship with Joanie
The romance was a bit lacking chemistry and I wasn't a huge fan.
It's a compelling and engrossing read.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Aoibheann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zero character development, cliché and boring, I will never trust a mystery book wrapped in brown paper again

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Book with a super intriguing premise; Would you want to know how you where going to die? Would you want to kiss someone and see how they where going to die? This book explores this premise. This was an easy and pleasant reading experience, despite at times dealing with some tricky topics; But I just wish that People would talk and be honest with each-other.

This book felt a little unpolished and rather predictable but having said that I really enjoyed the magic within the book and parts where super emotional and touch me as reader which I loved. The book had a dual perspective as we saw Lorelai’s throughs and experiences from the past showing how she had arrived at the feelings in the present day.

From reading this one its clear to see that Carrie Hope Fletcher has a true passion for the arts, especially theatre, & I loved how this was woven into the writing. The book follows Lorelai who works at a fabulous cinema that focuses on showing loved films of the past, she also writes her own book to screen adaptations.

The setting and style had 'It Only Happens in the Movies ' by Holly Bourne vibes. If you liked that book you will like this one I think.

One last thing of note was that all the character names are so unique, and great! 

So to sum up, predictable but magical. You won't regret reading it 😊✨

[Elaine - Splashes Into Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually finished this some months ago
But somehow, I just don't know
What to write in this, my review...
It's different, with something new.
What would it be like if, when. you kiss,
You saw the demise of someone you'd miss?
What a cruel fate, a dreadful curse
But that's the start - and it gets worse!
A very different story that left me perplexed
Still not sure about it - that's left me vexed!

[Safire_tears]

This cover tho 😍😍 I'm SOLD!

[Chloe Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this one like I have with her other books. Pretty boring storyline with characters I didn't connect with.

[Sally Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a teenager Lorelai discovers that when she kisses someone on the lips she has the power to see how they die. She makes a vow to never kiss anyone ever again. That is until Grayson walks into her life. But can she risk seeing his ending in return for his love?

Upside…it’s a love story and who doesn’t love a love story? It has been written about since the dawn of books - two people meet, sparks fly, problems arise and they live happily ever after (or do they?)

Downsides… There’s not enough interaction between Lorelai and Grayson. I needed more to really get that heart-twisting palpitation feeling.
You need to be able to suspend reality for this one and I’ve a feeling that some people may be way better at doing that than me.

Enjoy it for what it is but don’t expect to be struck by lightening.

[Maddie Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't want to say too much as I'm looking forward to discussing this with my book club next month! But generally felt more like YA than adult fiction. An easy, quick read with a cute premise, but the ideas aren't developed well and the writing style is a bit simple. Also, the inclusion of a trans character who was never mentioned again was just painful virtue signalling. Give us developed and complex LGBTQIA+ characters!

[Paulo Martins · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful, full of complex emotions this book is. Very heartwarming and funny in ways you wouldn’t expect.

[GraceyBookster · Rating 3 out of 5]

‼️CONTAINS SPOILERS‼️

This was a solid 3 stars for me though at times it did fluctuate lower because I found Lorelai (the FMC) really frustrating! I felt there was a lot of unnecessary repetition throughout and ‘filler’. I also didn’t quite agree with Lorelai’s experiment part of the book. Perhaps I’m old fashioned but, purposely going out to find someone ‘drunk enough to kiss her right off the bat’….just felt icky to me - if genders had been reversed it would have been deemed inappropriate and somewhat predatory…this also really annoyed me when she happily changed James’s outcome with the bike, someone she hardly knew just for experiment sake, but ran off not wanting to change the fate for Grayson (someone she actually cared for). I get that this all needed to happen for her to go home and learn more about herself, but it was an example of having to wade through thick mud to get to where we needed to be…

That being said, I really loved Joanie as a side character. She was a great friend and was funny. Also, the subject of death is a hard one for me as I have a lot of anxiety around that due to past traumas, especially around fears of losing people I love, so I held off reading this for a long while. However I am glad I did, because it made me confront it a little more - just like Lorelai, and there were some really good philosophical moments/advice that had me crying. The premise of this book was really great, it just went around in circles a little too much for me. I will read more from Carrie though as I like her ideas and think her books are easy reads.

[Ruby Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to preface this with I’m a big CHF fan, love her theatre work.
This book was just not it, I have a few issues
1) What is with the names?!?? They’re so super American for a book set in London and the countryside with English characters
2) the plot just didn’t plot like it was set up to. There was no real pivotal point and ‘ah’ moment
3) I felt like I was consciously reading and ushering the story along in my mind
4) loreali was unbelievably infuriating, Grayson deserved better. If she’d have ran one more time I’d have DNF’d (to be fair after the second run I was tempted to DNF but my love of CHF made me continue)
5) Side characters were never really explored or given a backstory? Grayson is very convenient as is Joanie and are very clearly just plot enablers for the worst MC.
6) the font that the flash back chapters/pages were in sent my glasses wild (but that’s a me problem)

Things I did like:
- the theatre and cinema references. They felt ‘real’
- the premise of the book could have worked and was set up well
- Big fan of the cover, very pretty
- that loreali redeemed herself a bit with not being a mega goblin to her mom any more

Couldn’t in good conscious recommend this book, but I will try more CHF novels to see if they’re different

[Claire Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Falls flat

2.5 stars 🌟

This was an ok read. It's my first book by CHF.
It had so much potential, but I feel the characters just weren't developed enough.
Lorelai, the FMC, was frustrating. She felt so sorry for herself most of the way through the story, pushing everyone away. Her power wasn't really explored fully, and I think it could have been handled in a different way. She had this block with her parents, which I felt was totally unfounded as they were such lovely people.

There was so much miscommunication that it didn't really move the story forward until about 75% in.

Grayson was lovely, but I found the chemistry just wasn't there between him and Lorelai. Joanie was the only character with any personality, really.

I didn't like how the trans card got played and wasn't explored any further other than one sentence? It felt like it was just in there for the sake of it.

All in all, it was a quick, easy read but one i won't remember really.

[Kelly (miss_kellysbookishcorner) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: With This Kiss
Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3.0
Pub Date: June 28, 2022

Thanks to HarperCollins Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

T H R E E • W O R D S

Charming • Straightforward • Original

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Lorelai appears to lead a quiet and routine life. She loves books and reading, works at the local cinema and lives with her best friend. However, she's been living with a overwhelming secret since her very first kiss - when she kisses someone she sees how they die. She's unsure whether what she sees what would unfold anyways or whether the actual kiss seals the recipient's fate. Thus she hasn't kissed anyone since she was sixteen.

💭 T H O U G H T S

When I read the premise for With This Kiss I was instantly intrigued and thought it had the potential to be such a deep, interesting read exploring both death and friendship. However, it didn't flush out the concept in the way I had anticipated, and I ended up not really caring. There's definitely a touch of magical realism, but it felt like some of the magic was simply missing. Maybe it's because it started out extremely slow or because the writing was so simple that I didn't really connect to the characters. This is also marketed as a romance, and if you're looking for romance, this is probably not the book for you as it really take a back seat.

What I did love was the friendship between Lorelai and Joanie. Their relationship just felt so genuine, and well-developed portrayal of the type of person everyone needs in their life. Secondly, the relationship Lorelai develops with her mother was a welcome addition to the plot. Yet my absolute favourite aspect of this book was the books to screen book club. And I wish it had been a more central part of the story.

It read more like a YA, which just isn't my thing, and felt more made for screen than anything else. It was still an enjoyable read which left me contemplating 'if you knew how your love story ends... would you dare to begin?', but didn't live up to my expectations.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• YA fans

⚠️ CW: cursing, death, misgendering, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, suicide, car accident, alcoholism, fire/fire injury, drug use, overdose

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

I was drawn to the beautiful cover and unique premise with this book and it didn't disappoint. Lorelai discovered at a young age that she sees the death of anyone she kisses and as a result has closed herself off to love. Until Grayson comes along and their friendship quickly has her wishing for more. A beautiful story about having the courage to go after what will make you happy and great on audio too.

Steam level: Kissing only