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Stolen Kiss
Annabelle Nelson, at a dive bar in her hometown after her life in New York City falls apart, is searching for the courage to face her family when she meets a beautiful stranger. Their chemistry is instant, and they share a stolen kiss. What could be the harm? They’re never going to see each other again. But when Anna arrives at her parents’ house, she comes face-to-face with the woman she kissed, Louise Tanner, her brother’s new girlfriend.
Louise is exhausted from a long semester of medical school and is rethinking the distracted promise she made to visit her boyfriend’s family. Spilling her heart to a gorgeous woman in a bar was a completely uncharacteristic move, not to mention their parting kiss. She didn’t think it would hurt anyone. But when she sees Anna again, Louise finds it hard to suppress her growing feelings.
Anna and Louise try to forget their stolen kiss but struggle to resist their attraction.
Surely, one kiss can’t change everything...Can it?
277 pages, Paperback
Published March 14, 2023
3 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
March 28, 2023
This was a bit of a mixed bag - on one hand I liked certain aspects of the plot, but on the other it was difficult to enjoy as some of the characters were really unlikable.
Anna is having a tough time with work and life when she heads home to stay with her parents over the holidays. Said parents are absolutely awful to her, and at times their behaviour was difficult to read. She meets Louise at a bar in her hometown, they share a connection and a kiss, then lo and behold she soon finds out that Louise is her brother's girlfriend.
I love a forbidden romance plot and at times, I really enjoyed it in Stolen Kiss. The one aspect that I found difficult though was Anna's attraction to Louise. For me, Louise was another unlikeable character and I couldn't see how Anna had such strong feelings over her after such a short period of time.
The amount of unlikable characters in this novel is a lot, which distracts away from the novel itself. Thankfully, there's a few gems and I liked the storyline of Anna's work-life.
I thought the ending was a little rushed, but overall its a decent debut and I'm keen to see what's next for Spencer Greene.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
Anna is having a tough time with work and life when she heads home to stay with her parents over the holidays. Said parents are absolutely awful to her, and at times their behaviour was difficult to read. She meets Louise at a bar in her hometown, they share a connection and a kiss, then lo and behold she soon finds out that Louise is her brother's girlfriend.
I love a forbidden romance plot and at times, I really enjoyed it in Stolen Kiss. The one aspect that I found difficult though was Anna's attraction to Louise. For me, Louise was another unlikeable character and I couldn't see how Anna had such strong feelings over her after such a short period of time.
The amount of unlikable characters in this novel is a lot, which distracts away from the novel itself. Thankfully, there's a few gems and I liked the storyline of Anna's work-life.
I thought the ending was a little rushed, but overall its a decent debut and I'm keen to see what's next for Spencer Greene.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
February 26, 2023
*this is just my opinion, what might not be for me, might be for you*
Louise tanner is taking a break from her regular life to visit her boyfriends family. She meets Annabelle at a bar while waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up and sparks fly, unbeknownst to her, she’s talking and flirting with her boyfriend’s sister.
This is gonna be one of those reviews…
Characters
I didn’t like any of them. Genuinely not a single character in this book that I liked. Now you’re probably thinking “damn, out of all those characters you didn’t click with a single one” well, it’s not that hard when they’re all the same characters in different fonts. I can’t think of any other way to say that.
There was little behavioral personalization of characters leaving the only differences to be their names and backstories.
Maybe Rachel did have some kind of gen z slang type thing going on but it just felt very out of place when you remember they’re a grow adult. Which also follows the other characters around as well but that’s also partially a writing issue.
One problem that arises with the characters is lack of introspection, or at least, without the help of heavily conversational interactions with other characters. There isn’t any “what’s the problem” it’s more telling other people the problem and finding out how our characters feel based on those interactions. I suggest the author builds on this.
Plot
They fall in love in almost two weeks span. Do I even need to say more? Probably not but I’m going to anyway.
Annabelle’s life is going to hell and when she gets home she’s immediately rattled by her parents but there’s no pleasure derived from reading this conflict. There’s no satisfying ending, just a dialogue announced demonstration that a certain someone else in the book had stood up to her parents, not her. So reading this and it having no karmic ending feels like a missed opportunity.
The last chapter felt rushed and lazy.
There wasn’t anything substantial or inspiring about this book. It felt like a bunch of cliches thrown together and nothing really significant about this particular compilation of them.
It could’ve been so so much more.
The book starts off on a hopeful note but quickly turns to predictability, immaturity and superficiality.
Writing
Good grammar, that’s for sure. But the writing definitely contributed to some irritable pacing. There’s a lot of dialogue, maybe too much dialogue especially in the later chapters so there wasn’t much to go off on with setting.
Just definitely not my style
If you’re interested in reading this, please read other reviews. This is the first book I’ve seen by this author and it’s seemingly a debut so even though this particular book wasn’t for me, I do wish her the best and maybe another one of her books might speak to me.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchanged for an honest review.
Louise tanner is taking a break from her regular life to visit her boyfriends family. She meets Annabelle at a bar while waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up and sparks fly, unbeknownst to her, she’s talking and flirting with her boyfriend’s sister.
This is gonna be one of those reviews…
Characters
I didn’t like any of them. Genuinely not a single character in this book that I liked. Now you’re probably thinking “damn, out of all those characters you didn’t click with a single one” well, it’s not that hard when they’re all the same characters in different fonts. I can’t think of any other way to say that.
There was little behavioral personalization of characters leaving the only differences to be their names and backstories.
Maybe Rachel did have some kind of gen z slang type thing going on but it just felt very out of place when you remember they’re a grow adult. Which also follows the other characters around as well but that’s also partially a writing issue.
One problem that arises with the characters is lack of introspection, or at least, without the help of heavily conversational interactions with other characters. There isn’t any “what’s the problem” it’s more telling other people the problem and finding out how our characters feel based on those interactions. I suggest the author builds on this.
Plot
They fall in love in almost two weeks span. Do I even need to say more? Probably not but I’m going to anyway.
Annabelle’s life is going to hell and when she gets home she’s immediately rattled by her parents but there’s no pleasure derived from reading this conflict. There’s no satisfying ending, just a dialogue announced demonstration that a certain someone else in the book had stood up to her parents, not her. So reading this and it having no karmic ending feels like a missed opportunity.
The last chapter felt rushed and lazy.
There wasn’t anything substantial or inspiring about this book. It felt like a bunch of cliches thrown together and nothing really significant about this particular compilation of them.
It could’ve been so so much more.
The book starts off on a hopeful note but quickly turns to predictability, immaturity and superficiality.
Writing
Good grammar, that’s for sure. But the writing definitely contributed to some irritable pacing. There’s a lot of dialogue, maybe too much dialogue especially in the later chapters so there wasn’t much to go off on with setting.
Just definitely not my style
If you’re interested in reading this, please read other reviews. This is the first book I’ve seen by this author and it’s seemingly a debut so even though this particular book wasn’t for me, I do wish her the best and maybe another one of her books might speak to me.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchanged for an honest review.
March 7, 2023
I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.
Anna is on her way home from NYC her life there hasn’t been great she stop at a dive bar where she meets Louise they are instantly drawn to each other and talks for hours at the end of night they share a passionate kiss knowing they won’t see each other again. When Anna arrives home she shock to see Louise and even more she is her brother Clay girlfriend. Anna and Louise can’t fight what they feel and everyone sees something going on between them but Clay but I get it sometimes you see what you want to see. I understood why Anna didn’t want to come home her parents are the worst there was no redeeming qualities about them. Overall a good read even though I don’t like cheating when you know it’s not right say something before you become something you never thought you’ll be a cheater.
Anna is on her way home from NYC her life there hasn’t been great she stop at a dive bar where she meets Louise they are instantly drawn to each other and talks for hours at the end of night they share a passionate kiss knowing they won’t see each other again. When Anna arrives home she shock to see Louise and even more she is her brother Clay girlfriend. Anna and Louise can’t fight what they feel and everyone sees something going on between them but Clay but I get it sometimes you see what you want to see. I understood why Anna didn’t want to come home her parents are the worst there was no redeeming qualities about them. Overall a good read even though I don’t like cheating when you know it’s not right say something before you become something you never thought you’ll be a cheater.
February 25, 2023
This book was light hearted and fun I really did enjoy it. The characters were interesting well written and felt real. I was a little unsure with the whole she has a boyfriend thing I was expecting no happy ending but I was wrong and it was beautiful small town love story. There was a little twist I didn’t see coming which I did enjoy and made me feel better about the boyfriend situation. I would definitely recommend this book it’s also my first lesbian book and will not be my last Thankyou for showing me a different kind of romance book.
February 25, 2023
This book has all the elements of a classic romance, there’s instant attraction, there’s something forbidden, there’s hidden truth and meddling parents. I’ll start with the parents, they have 0 redeeming qualities, they are mean, homophobic, classist, sexist. And then there’s the MCs and the secondary characters that happens to have their own story on the side. I won’t repeat the blurb but there’s a couple more twists than one may guess. I enjoyed reading this book, it was engaging and fun.
Free ARC via NetGalley
Free ARC via NetGalley
January 30, 2023
10/10! As an advance reader for this book, I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for a truly enjoyable lesbian romance. The characters are a perfect mix of fun and angsty and the storyline takes several unexpected turns. Can’t wait to see more from this author in the future!
April 1, 2023
Stolen Kiss is always going to be one of those books that people either love or hate on principle. The plot centres around someone cheating, which can be a sensitive topic for many readers. In my opinion, though, good on Spencer Greene for writing the story she wanted to write and not baulking away because of what others may think. After all, it’s a story, its character arcs, and learning curves. But most importantly, everyone gets their HEA. Stolen Kiss has it all.
Anna is dreading going home for the holidays to a family who judges every aspect of her life. To make matters worse, she has to admit defeat in her most recent enterprise and suffer through all of the ‘I told you so’s.’
Louise is in town to meet her (long-distance) boyfriend’s family and knows it is a mistake. She is ready to move on, but the time doesn’t feel exactly right.
When Louise and Anna meet in a bar and divulge parts of themselves, they wouldn’t usually, both find the other too easy to talk to, and the mutual attraction grows all the way to a kiss goodbye. When the two women meet again a couple of hours later, only to discover that Louise’s boyfriend is Anna’s brother, neither knows how to react. Add in a shared bedroom and lots of bonding; the initial attraction can’t be denied.
Stolen Kiss is well-written and fast-paced. The chemistry between Anna and Louise is sizzling, and it isn’t long before the story opens up and a few puzzles are cleared up. There is a bit of angst, but the support of family and friends balances it out nicely. Stolen Kiss is a great debut novel, worth checking out.
Anna is dreading going home for the holidays to a family who judges every aspect of her life. To make matters worse, she has to admit defeat in her most recent enterprise and suffer through all of the ‘I told you so’s.’
Louise is in town to meet her (long-distance) boyfriend’s family and knows it is a mistake. She is ready to move on, but the time doesn’t feel exactly right.
When Louise and Anna meet in a bar and divulge parts of themselves, they wouldn’t usually, both find the other too easy to talk to, and the mutual attraction grows all the way to a kiss goodbye. When the two women meet again a couple of hours later, only to discover that Louise’s boyfriend is Anna’s brother, neither knows how to react. Add in a shared bedroom and lots of bonding; the initial attraction can’t be denied.
Stolen Kiss is well-written and fast-paced. The chemistry between Anna and Louise is sizzling, and it isn’t long before the story opens up and a few puzzles are cleared up. There is a bit of angst, but the support of family and friends balances it out nicely. Stolen Kiss is a great debut novel, worth checking out.
February 24, 2023
5 stars.
It’s a nice contemporary romance. Beautifully written and well paced. The romance, or rather how serious the characters were feeling for each other, was lightning quick. But the writing and the pace of the book was just right. There wasn’t a dull plateau, I was turning page after page loving the story. It’s not all doom and gloom, but it’s far from a fairytale either. I was emotionally invested in the characters, and I liked the story, and of course I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys reading a contemporary romance. It was believable and realistic enough.
Now, there were a few not so great things. The author made some weird word choices. I wouldn’t mention it if it was simply my discomfort with the word, but it really was inconsistent with the characters. At the beginning of the story, during their first meeting, Anna and Louise talk about a particular profanity and how frustrating the word is, and then the author uses that same word during sex scenes. Why would you choose to use the word your characters wouldn’t use? And then there were Anna’s parents. Characters with zero redeeming qualities don’t make such great characters at all. Could they have at least loved a pet or something? There’s just nothing human about them. Pure evil with names.
Overall, I still think it’s a 5 star book. This book isn’t perfect, there were things I didn’t agree with, things I didn’t like, and some simplifications made to fit the story. But it’s a book made for entertainment, not a textbook, and I had a good time with this story. It might seem ridiculous how fast the characters declare they’re falling for each other, but the author is right, there really isn’t a rule for how fast and how strongly you’re allowed to feel.
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It’s a nice contemporary romance. Beautifully written and well paced. The romance, or rather how serious the characters were feeling for each other, was lightning quick. But the writing and the pace of the book was just right. There wasn’t a dull plateau, I was turning page after page loving the story. It’s not all doom and gloom, but it’s far from a fairytale either. I was emotionally invested in the characters, and I liked the story, and of course I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys reading a contemporary romance. It was believable and realistic enough.
Now, there were a few not so great things. The author made some weird word choices. I wouldn’t mention it if it was simply my discomfort with the word, but it really was inconsistent with the characters. At the beginning of the story, during their first meeting, Anna and Louise talk about a particular profanity and how frustrating the word is, and then the author uses that same word during sex scenes. Why would you choose to use the word your characters wouldn’t use? And then there were Anna’s parents. Characters with zero redeeming qualities don’t make such great characters at all. Could they have at least loved a pet or something? There’s just nothing human about them. Pure evil with names.
Overall, I still think it’s a 5 star book. This book isn’t perfect, there were things I didn’t agree with, things I didn’t like, and some simplifications made to fit the story. But it’s a book made for entertainment, not a textbook, and I had a good time with this story. It might seem ridiculous how fast the characters declare they’re falling for each other, but the author is right, there really isn’t a rule for how fast and how strongly you’re allowed to feel.
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 5, 2023
Thank you, Bold Strokes Books, Inc., Spencer Greene, and NetGalley, for the ARC.
This book was great. It is a holiday story. I don't usually go for cheating in romance stories, but the way this one played it was great. Anna and Louise are cute together. Clay was annoying until about halfway through the book. He wanted to please his parents and made Louise feel like she had to please his parents too. Louise dealt with a lot at a young age and closed herself off. Anna is not afraid to be herself even if her parents don't like who she is.
I recommend reading this book. It is a great story and very well written.
This book was great. It is a holiday story. I don't usually go for cheating in romance stories, but the way this one played it was great. Anna and Louise are cute together. Clay was annoying until about halfway through the book. He wanted to please his parents and made Louise feel like she had to please his parents too. Louise dealt with a lot at a young age and closed herself off. Anna is not afraid to be herself even if her parents don't like who she is.
I recommend reading this book. It is a great story and very well written.
June 12, 2023
I was hesitant at first given the synopsis of this work book. But I was taken in by Greene's delicate handling of the situatuon.
Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing an eARC for a honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing an eARC for a honest review.
March 8, 2023
I almost dnfed this about halfway through. I’m glad I didn’t, the second half was definitely better than the first!
Anna’s and Clay’s parents were the worst. Oh my god I could not stand them. That was the whole point though lol. This book gave me Kiss Her Once for Me vibes (though the family in KHOFM is so much better), which I wasn’t mad at. I loved the found family trope that came into play and I wouldn’t say no to a book about Clay and George 👀
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Anna’s and Clay’s parents were the worst. Oh my god I could not stand them. That was the whole point though lol. This book gave me Kiss Her Once for Me vibes (though the family in KHOFM is so much better), which I wasn’t mad at. I loved the found family trope that came into play and I wouldn’t say no to a book about Clay and George 👀
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
March 3, 2023
It’s no secret that I love mess so I was excited to start this and it was such a unique and fun read.
Alright so if you read the blurb, you know this has cheating in it, and look, the cheating trope in a book doesn’t turn me off as long as I’m entertained. I get that not everyone is okay with it, but without spoiling anything, I just want to say that the cheating ends being kind of a nonissue in the end.
Both separately and together, Anna and Louise are such interesting and likable characters despite the circumstances. Louise’s mom is the best fictional mom I’ve ever read, she’s who I want to be for my future kids. In contrast, Anna and Clay’s parents are almost too terrible to believe. Anna’s friendship with Rachel is the healthiest adult friendship I’ve ever read, I loved that Rachel was so honest with Anna and Anna was so receptive to everything Rachel had to say.
I loved how the gang (Anna, Louise, Clay, Rachel and George) all interacted with each other.
This was smutty and angsty and so much fun to read.
Alright so if you read the blurb, you know this has cheating in it, and look, the cheating trope in a book doesn’t turn me off as long as I’m entertained. I get that not everyone is okay with it, but without spoiling anything, I just want to say that the cheating ends being kind of a nonissue in the end.
Both separately and together, Anna and Louise are such interesting and likable characters despite the circumstances. Louise’s mom is the best fictional mom I’ve ever read, she’s who I want to be for my future kids. In contrast, Anna and Clay’s parents are almost too terrible to believe. Anna’s friendship with Rachel is the healthiest adult friendship I’ve ever read, I loved that Rachel was so honest with Anna and Anna was so receptive to everything Rachel had to say.
I loved how the gang (Anna, Louise, Clay, Rachel and George) all interacted with each other.
This was smutty and angsty and so much fun to read.
March 1, 2023
'Stolen Kiss' by Spencer Greene.
Enjoyable romance with plenty of drama. Loved Anna and Louise. Loved Anna's friend Rachel too. Would love to see a continuation of the story.
Thanks to NetGallery UK, the author Spencer Greene and the publisher for letting me read the book in return for an honest review.
Enjoyable romance with plenty of drama. Loved Anna and Louise. Loved Anna's friend Rachel too. Would love to see a continuation of the story.
Thanks to NetGallery UK, the author Spencer Greene and the publisher for letting me read the book in return for an honest review.
March 9, 2023
Anna kissed an alluring woman whom she spent hours at the bar with. Although the chemistry was intense, they had to part ways and to leave it as that but what happens when the object of her attraction reappears; with an identity no less, as her brother’s girlfriend.
Louise has plans. They are structured and organised. She has everything contained, until a certain Anna threatened to pry it all open and neither is able to stop everything in its track.
For a debut, Stolen Kiss was well written and the dissection of the leads’ thoughts were clear and concise. The draw and chemistry was off the charts, it was as quick as it was intense. If you are looking for an angsty plot and you live for moments where you get to experience an overwhelming rush of emotions with some twists thrown in, it’s your book. I loved how jealousy was freely mentioned in the book, it’s like they can’t help themselves and just tuned in to the other.
I just reviewed Stolen Kiss by Spencer Greene. Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Book for the ARC.
Louise has plans. They are structured and organised. She has everything contained, until a certain Anna threatened to pry it all open and neither is able to stop everything in its track.
For a debut, Stolen Kiss was well written and the dissection of the leads’ thoughts were clear and concise. The draw and chemistry was off the charts, it was as quick as it was intense. If you are looking for an angsty plot and you live for moments where you get to experience an overwhelming rush of emotions with some twists thrown in, it’s your book. I loved how jealousy was freely mentioned in the book, it’s like they can’t help themselves and just tuned in to the other.
I just reviewed Stolen Kiss by Spencer Greene. Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Book for the ARC.
March 16, 2023
Good book. This story was very entertaining from beginning to the end. The relationship between Anna and Louise was a complicated one for sure, there's quite a bit of angst and drama throughout this book. Louise at times seemed very indecisive to me and Anna at times seemed to judgemental, but I can understand why she was this way especially with the dysfunctional family she came from. The supporting characters were very messy as well you will just have to read this book to find out what I mean, because I am not giving any spoilers. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and I look forward to what's next from this author.
March 13, 2023
Man I’m torn. I liked everything about this book: the characters, the writing, and the story line. BUT I really disliked the love and long term commitment after less than a week…. And the story ends. Just like that. One week, we’re in love, oh and and we live on opposite sides of the country. That sounds like a recipe for disaster, not a HEA. Spell that shit out. I have no imagination, which is why I read books and don’t write them. Give me an epilogue. I think that would have turned it around for me and really made it work… or a sequel possibly?
April 8, 2023
Really enjoyed this debut novel from Spencer Greene! I’m a sucker for any kind of mutual pining/angst and this story provides a healthy dose of both (followed by several satisfying resolutions 😘)! I loved most of the characters and loved to hate Anna’s awful parents. Greene’s dialogue is also a particular strength, especially with her comedic relief characters. Highly recommend!
April 3, 2023
I tend to typically avoid books which are centered around the cheating/unfaithfulness trope but the combination of instant attraction and forbidden love really drew me into the plot so I decided to put my reservations to one side and I’m so glad I did.
Stolen Kiss is told through a dual POV narrative, with chapters alternating between the different perspectives of Anna and Louise. This was really well executed and the insight into the thoughts, feelings and background of both women it gave us really added depth to their characters and made us really want to root for their relationship.
Anna and Louise were incredible instantly-likeable protagonists with off the charts chemistry who both have real depth to them. I loved how unapologetically herself Anna was and through the character of Louise we were given a beautiful exploration of grief and the difficulty of allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to open your heart to a new relationship following the death of a partner.
We also had some really strong supporting characters through Rachel, George and Louise’s Mum (who is an absolute gem). I’d really love further books on this gang as I feel they have so much more to give and it would be lovely to see some of the potential relationships hinted at towards the end of the story play out.
As you would expect from an LGBTQIA+ romance, Stolen Kiss has a really diverse set of characters and we have lesbian, bisexual, gay and non-binary representation. There’s a great coming out scene and we get some wonderful spicy scenes which were some of my favourite I’ve read in queer romances.
I liked the simple choice to set the story around the holidays. The description of the Christmas market made me fall in love with the fictional town of Trenton and it added a real cosy element to the story.
In Anna and Clay’s parents, Spencer Greene has successfully written two of the most intentionally unlikeable characters I’ve ever come across, which is no mean feat. They honestly have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I did like the choice to give the parents no reprieve and focus more on the characters cutting ties and focusing on their found family instead as this isn’t something I’ve seen a lot of in other stories despite it ultimately often being the reality for LGBTQIA+ people with unaccepting families.
Towards the end of the book there is a twist involving the character of Clay and I will say that this was something I predicted very early on and I’m in two minds of whether or not I think it was a necessary twist.
I would also have liked an epilogue to give some closure on how their relationship played out. They do have a real whirlwind romance so it would be really interesting to get some insight on how their relationship is months or even years down the line.
Overall, Stolen Kiss is a strong, heart-warming queer romance which is hot and flirtatious from the first chapter and very difficult to put down. It would be the perfect holiday read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I have posted an extended review on my blog www.yourschloe.co.uk
*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
Stolen Kiss is told through a dual POV narrative, with chapters alternating between the different perspectives of Anna and Louise. This was really well executed and the insight into the thoughts, feelings and background of both women it gave us really added depth to their characters and made us really want to root for their relationship.
Anna and Louise were incredible instantly-likeable protagonists with off the charts chemistry who both have real depth to them. I loved how unapologetically herself Anna was and through the character of Louise we were given a beautiful exploration of grief and the difficulty of allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to open your heart to a new relationship following the death of a partner.
We also had some really strong supporting characters through Rachel, George and Louise’s Mum (who is an absolute gem). I’d really love further books on this gang as I feel they have so much more to give and it would be lovely to see some of the potential relationships hinted at towards the end of the story play out.
As you would expect from an LGBTQIA+ romance, Stolen Kiss has a really diverse set of characters and we have lesbian, bisexual, gay and non-binary representation. There’s a great coming out scene and we get some wonderful spicy scenes which were some of my favourite I’ve read in queer romances.
I liked the simple choice to set the story around the holidays. The description of the Christmas market made me fall in love with the fictional town of Trenton and it added a real cosy element to the story.
In Anna and Clay’s parents, Spencer Greene has successfully written two of the most intentionally unlikeable characters I’ve ever come across, which is no mean feat. They honestly have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I did like the choice to give the parents no reprieve and focus more on the characters cutting ties and focusing on their found family instead as this isn’t something I’ve seen a lot of in other stories despite it ultimately often being the reality for LGBTQIA+ people with unaccepting families.
Towards the end of the book there is a twist involving the character of Clay and I will say that this was something I predicted very early on and I’m in two minds of whether or not I think it was a necessary twist.
I would also have liked an epilogue to give some closure on how their relationship played out. They do have a real whirlwind romance so it would be really interesting to get some insight on how their relationship is months or even years down the line.
Overall, Stolen Kiss is a strong, heart-warming queer romance which is hot and flirtatious from the first chapter and very difficult to put down. It would be the perfect holiday read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I have posted an extended review on my blog www.yourschloe.co.uk
*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
March 9, 2023
Anna arrives in her hometown of Trenton, VA and drops into the local bar to kill time before heading to her parents house for the holidays. She meets Louise, a medical student who comes to her rescue when being bothered by a drunk man. The two hit it off talking and before they separate they share a magical kiss. Surprisingly they meet again an hour later when Anna’s brother Clay introduces the family to his girlfriend Louise.
Anna and Louise are now sharing a room and in Anna’s homophobic parents home. And the pressure in the house is a lot because the parents are also controlling and demanding. I’ve seen this type of story played more lightly and this does have fun moments. But because of the guilt over potentially cheating, jealousy, communication mistakes, and the horrible parents, everything feels more angry and angsty. There are reasons for secret keeping but of course things are going to blow up.
I liked both Anna and Louise. Louise gets depth of character because of her past experience with her first love that leads to her decision to attend medical school. And I love the relationship with her mom via phone call check ins. Anna resilience is shown by her becoming the person she is despite her parents. Her best friend Rachel is a standout. There is a start to a new understanding between Anna and brother Clay who lives as the golden child to his parents.
The author handles the “cheating” aspect well putting it into a grey zone. Louise lives in Seattle and Anna has a life in NYC so I would have liked a few lines on how they envisioned their future relationship working. (Clay and Louise were long distance as well, with him studying in England.) A few times in the story when something big happens the next chapter hops back in time giving you the other characters POV to the same event. It was a quirky way of storytelling that made me have to pause and adjust my timeframe in the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Anna and Louise are now sharing a room and in Anna’s homophobic parents home. And the pressure in the house is a lot because the parents are also controlling and demanding. I’ve seen this type of story played more lightly and this does have fun moments. But because of the guilt over potentially cheating, jealousy, communication mistakes, and the horrible parents, everything feels more angry and angsty. There are reasons for secret keeping but of course things are going to blow up.
I liked both Anna and Louise. Louise gets depth of character because of her past experience with her first love that leads to her decision to attend medical school. And I love the relationship with her mom via phone call check ins. Anna resilience is shown by her becoming the person she is despite her parents. Her best friend Rachel is a standout. There is a start to a new understanding between Anna and brother Clay who lives as the golden child to his parents.
The author handles the “cheating” aspect well putting it into a grey zone. Louise lives in Seattle and Anna has a life in NYC so I would have liked a few lines on how they envisioned their future relationship working. (Clay and Louise were long distance as well, with him studying in England.) A few times in the story when something big happens the next chapter hops back in time giving you the other characters POV to the same event. It was a quirky way of storytelling that made me have to pause and adjust my timeframe in the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 14, 2023
4.5 ⭐️
The drama was so good. It gave off a "Delilah Green Doesn't Care" vibe in the best way.
Anna was going home to her small town and Louise headed to meet her boyfriend's parents for the first time. They meet in a bar and obviously, the rest is history because after an impulsive makeout session after leaving the bar thinking they would never see each other again, right?
The story was interesting from the start. The setting was done nicely and the characters were lovable—minus Anna and Clay's parents I don't think anyone could love them. The romance hits quick and while everything happens within less than a week it doesn’t actually feel like it. The characters were written well and with flaws and backstories. I will say all the back and forth was a bit annoying even after learning about their past/reasoning. I just wanted to lock them in a room and force them to talk. I guess I just don't do well with the miscommunication trope.
I was really happy with how this ended. Even if I wanted to scream at Anna to look at the situation differently there for a moment (it does make sense that she misunderstood the situation given her family but still had me wanting to yell at my phone as I read).
And lastly, George is the absolute best and I can not express that enough, he deserves all the best vibes.
(A kind thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for a review.)
Sapphic
Switching POV
Brother's Girlfriend
Small Town Romance (with a twist)
Miscommunication (resolved by the end)
(Third Person POV)
The drama was so good. It gave off a "Delilah Green Doesn't Care" vibe in the best way.
Anna was going home to her small town and Louise headed to meet her boyfriend's parents for the first time. They meet in a bar and obviously, the rest is history because after an impulsive makeout session after leaving the bar thinking they would never see each other again, right?
The story was interesting from the start. The setting was done nicely and the characters were lovable—minus Anna and Clay's parents I don't think anyone could love them. The romance hits quick and while everything happens within less than a week it doesn’t actually feel like it. The characters were written well and with flaws and backstories. I will say all the back and forth was a bit annoying even after learning about their past/reasoning. I just wanted to lock them in a room and force them to talk. I guess I just don't do well with the miscommunication trope.
I was really happy with how this ended. Even if I wanted to scream at Anna to look at the situation differently there for a moment (it does make sense that she misunderstood the situation given her family but still had me wanting to yell at my phone as I read).
And lastly, George is the absolute best and I can not express that enough, he deserves all the best vibes.
(A kind thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for a review.)
Sapphic
Switching POV
Brother's Girlfriend
Small Town Romance (with a twist)
Miscommunication (resolved by the end)
(Third Person POV)
February 26, 2023
When Anna and Louise first meet at The Bar they are immediately drawn to each other. They spend hours talking and flirting despite Louise having a boyfriend. Expecting to never see each other again, they share a passionate kiss before parting ways. Unfortunately for them things aren’t so simple and it turns out Anna’s brother, Clay, is the boyfriend.
Anna and Louise aren’t able to fight their attraction and tension in the novel was easy to believe. Additionally, the actions taken and mistakes made by the characters managed to be dramatic without feeling counter to their personalities or what they knew at the time. However, there were a couple of things that pulled me out of the story. A couple of the early chapters jumped back in time when switching POVs which I found distracting. The other thing that kept tripping me up was how concerned Anna and Louise were about potentially being in a long distance relationship from NYC to Seattle. This would be a reasonable concern if Louise and Clay weren’t even more long distance (Seattle to England).
It seemed like almost everyone but Clay figured out that there was something going on between the two. Greene managed to find probably the only reason for this that would be believable and it was very well done.
Throughout the story Anna and Clay’s parents are repeatedly rude and/or queerphobic to everyone they come in contact with. Often this type of story ends with parents starting to come around, but I appreciated that Greene didn’t try to send this message. Instead, the novel ends with a found family starting to come together.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read that lives up to expectations.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!
Anna and Louise aren’t able to fight their attraction and tension in the novel was easy to believe. Additionally, the actions taken and mistakes made by the characters managed to be dramatic without feeling counter to their personalities or what they knew at the time. However, there were a couple of things that pulled me out of the story. A couple of the early chapters jumped back in time when switching POVs which I found distracting. The other thing that kept tripping me up was how concerned Anna and Louise were about potentially being in a long distance relationship from NYC to Seattle. This would be a reasonable concern if Louise and Clay weren’t even more long distance (Seattle to England).
It seemed like almost everyone but Clay figured out that there was something going on between the two. Greene managed to find probably the only reason for this that would be believable and it was very well done.
Throughout the story Anna and Clay’s parents are repeatedly rude and/or queerphobic to everyone they come in contact with. Often this type of story ends with parents starting to come around, but I appreciated that Greene didn’t try to send this message. Instead, the novel ends with a found family starting to come together.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read that lives up to expectations.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!
April 2, 2023
This book didn't do the groundwork required given the setup. I need to see a believable and sympathetic reason for the couple to be cheating with each other. Flinging It has Cora's marriage on the rocks and her husband is emotionally abusive. Behind the Green Curtain has Amelia trapped in a loveless marriage to a serial adulterer. I could understand why these characters cheated on their partners. In this book Louise is unhappy with Clay, her boyfriend, but she never expresses her concerns. She planned to break up with him, but she still agreed to go see his parents for Christmas. If her last relationship had poor communication, why will her relationship with Anna be any different? The plot would have worked better as a fake relationship between Louise and Clay, especially since . Anyone But Her, Kiss Her Once for Me, Make You Mine This Christmas, and The Wrong McElroy are some examples of successful books with that setup. Anna's motivation for spending Christmas with her parents is never really established. They are abusive bigots and she's not in regular contact with her brother, so why did she attend? The last third of the book had way too many plot elements introduced when there wasn't enough space to address them. It really wasn't necessary for . They're already cheating together and live on opposite sides of the country, that's quite enough for a third act breakup.
March 1, 2023
I’ve read other books on a similar theme and found they were generally quite entertaining to read. This one was OK but I found Louise a bit of a pain. She seemed to be the instigator of all the romantic (if you could call them that) interludes and then kept changing her mind. The renewed relationship between the siblings was good to see. I liked it well enough but would not go out of my way to buy it.
March 3, 2023
I had to DNF this book almost immediately. The dialog was boring and the first few pages are just info dropping. The characters didn't seem likable in any way and I found nothing charming here. I'm going to give the author the benefit of the doubt with a 2 star review, because I fully admit: I am just very hard to please.
April 3, 2023
I am reading quickly to find the resolution in a difficult situation. One of the mains I haven't really taken to, which always puts a book at a disadvantage. I also find some interactions stilted or at least not so much the interactions as the descriptions around the interactions.
I got irritated by the whole a conversation would have avoided all the drama. I realise the drama is needed to keep the book interesting but that only works for me when I am immersed in the drama and I cant be immersed when I’m thinking “why didn’t she just tell her?”
For me the lack of communication as well as my not really liking one of the mains as well as even the sex scenes not working for me meant this was not the book for me. There were some lines I did like and I kept reading but this wasn’t the book for me but it may be the book for you! 2.5 rounded to 3 because it was potentially an interesting plot dilemma.
I got irritated by the whole a conversation would have avoided all the drama. I realise the drama is needed to keep the book interesting but that only works for me when I am immersed in the drama and I cant be immersed when I’m thinking “why didn’t she just tell her?”
For me the lack of communication as well as my not really liking one of the mains as well as even the sex scenes not working for me meant this was not the book for me. There were some lines I did like and I kept reading but this wasn’t the book for me but it may be the book for you! 2.5 rounded to 3 because it was potentially an interesting plot dilemma.
April 15, 2023
Thanks to Bold Stroke Books and NetGalley for this eARC
I don't know if I've ever encountered a title that I enjoyed this much that also nearly made me rage quit reading it! I honestly have a bit of whiplash from it.
I was loving this book. It was giving me a lot of the same vibes as Kiss Her Once for Me, which was among my favourite books last year. I really enjoyed Anna and Louise as characters, and the story had a great mix of their POV's. On top of this, their chemistry is off the chart, when they get along (more on that in a bit)...also, the spicy scenes are written SO well, super hot.
The supporting cast is really interesting...I would die for George, that big marshmallow deserves the best in the world. Josh is nice, a non-toxic cishet white dude who readily accepts when someone tells him that they're gay and doesn't push. Even the 'Heathers', who you expect to be the same old mean girl-type stereotypes they clearly were in high school. I cannot express how much I loved the expectation subversion with Gina, how it seems like she'd going to be the standard toxic rival for Anna's affections while trying to remain closeted, but we get pretty much the exact opposite of that. Rachel when they are on page is the consummate incredible best friend, Louise's mother what we get of her is also an incredibly accepting voice of reason. Even Clay is decent a lot of the time. It's all so sweet and so good!
Unfortunately, it's all nearly completely undone by the 3rd act. As I said above, I was so angry I nearly rage-quit the book, and those feelings lingered throughout much of the rest of the book. Big spoiler filled rant:
That sort of brings us to the other minor qualm I had with the book, the one that honestly would be almost forgettable by comparison: This book needed another pass with an editor to help with the flow, particularly with the dialogue. There are a lot of instances where a character will be speaking and Greene will break their dialogue up by putting the next sentence or two on a new line, seemingly randomly, without any descriptive text to explain why, like Anna shifted uncomfortably or something, and also she'll have characters having conversations where she has line after line of dialogue without clarifying who is saying what. When she does both of these in one conversation, it was really hard sometimes to figure out who was saying what.
All in all, I was loving this book, and fully ready to give it a 4.5 stars, but my annoyance with the 3rd act was so extreme, it takes a full star off and so I've giving this a 3.5 stars.
I don't know if I've ever encountered a title that I enjoyed this much that also nearly made me rage quit reading it! I honestly have a bit of whiplash from it.
I was loving this book. It was giving me a lot of the same vibes as Kiss Her Once for Me, which was among my favourite books last year. I really enjoyed Anna and Louise as characters, and the story had a great mix of their POV's. On top of this, their chemistry is off the chart, when they get along (more on that in a bit)...also, the spicy scenes are written SO well, super hot.
The supporting cast is really interesting...I would die for George, that big marshmallow deserves the best in the world. Josh is nice, a non-toxic cishet white dude who readily accepts when someone tells him that they're gay and doesn't push. Even the 'Heathers', who you expect to be the same old mean girl-type stereotypes they clearly were in high school. I cannot express how much I loved the expectation subversion with Gina, how it seems like she'd going to be the standard toxic rival for Anna's affections while trying to remain closeted, but we get pretty much the exact opposite of that. Rachel when they are on page is the consummate incredible best friend, Louise's mother what we get of her is also an incredibly accepting voice of reason. Even Clay is decent a lot of the time. It's all so sweet and so good!
Unfortunately, it's all nearly completely undone by the 3rd act. As I said above, I was so angry I nearly rage-quit the book, and those feelings lingered throughout much of the rest of the book. Big spoiler filled rant:
That sort of brings us to the other minor qualm I had with the book, the one that honestly would be almost forgettable by comparison: This book needed another pass with an editor to help with the flow, particularly with the dialogue. There are a lot of instances where a character will be speaking and Greene will break their dialogue up by putting the next sentence or two on a new line, seemingly randomly, without any descriptive text to explain why, like Anna shifted uncomfortably or something, and also she'll have characters having conversations where she has line after line of dialogue without clarifying who is saying what. When she does both of these in one conversation, it was really hard sometimes to figure out who was saying what.
All in all, I was loving this book, and fully ready to give it a 4.5 stars, but my annoyance with the 3rd act was so extreme, it takes a full star off and so I've giving this a 3.5 stars.
March 12, 2023
✨ SPOILER ALERT ✨
I both enjoyed and found Stolen Kiss incredibly frustrating. I really liked Anna, and found her intriguing, but she was the only character I particularly had any attachment to. I absolutely despised her family, LOVED Rachel. I found them amusing, but I didn’t necessarily care about them either. Louise and Clay drove me crazy. The lack of communication was its own brand of toxicity in the chaos and pain it ultimately caused. It just seemed like nothing in comparison to the parents. The abuse she went through, and the damage from Gina, then the way things played out with Louise was honestly so heartbreaking. I’m glad they got a hopeful ending, but I really wish Anna got her HEA ending. There are experiences difficult to read about in this book. There was also a plethora of things happening at once, so chapters felt constantly busy, not much calm and building. Clay was just frustrating the whole time, and I didn’t really buy into his “attempts” at fixing the relationship. The characters ultimately dealt with things with a mixture of confrontation and sexually. If I were to sum this book up, it would be chaotic, but I do think it demonstrates the damage lack of communication does, especially when it’s due to sensitive, personal topics. Even if some of the scenarios were a little out there at times such as the post break up, busted hooking up proposal. That just made no sense as a panic option to me. I wanted to love this story more than I actually did, and the opening at the bar, I definitely did. However I was permanently frustrated throughout the book, and definitely experiencing the whiplash along with Anna chapter to chapter. I do think some people will love this story, some will hate it. It is worth checking out. It just unfortunately wouldn’t be a re read for me.
I both enjoyed and found Stolen Kiss incredibly frustrating. I really liked Anna, and found her intriguing, but she was the only character I particularly had any attachment to. I absolutely despised her family, LOVED Rachel. I found them amusing, but I didn’t necessarily care about them either. Louise and Clay drove me crazy. The lack of communication was its own brand of toxicity in the chaos and pain it ultimately caused. It just seemed like nothing in comparison to the parents. The abuse she went through, and the damage from Gina, then the way things played out with Louise was honestly so heartbreaking. I’m glad they got a hopeful ending, but I really wish Anna got her HEA ending. There are experiences difficult to read about in this book. There was also a plethora of things happening at once, so chapters felt constantly busy, not much calm and building. Clay was just frustrating the whole time, and I didn’t really buy into his “attempts” at fixing the relationship. The characters ultimately dealt with things with a mixture of confrontation and sexually. If I were to sum this book up, it would be chaotic, but I do think it demonstrates the damage lack of communication does, especially when it’s due to sensitive, personal topics. Even if some of the scenarios were a little out there at times such as the post break up, busted hooking up proposal. That just made no sense as a panic option to me. I wanted to love this story more than I actually did, and the opening at the bar, I definitely did. However I was permanently frustrated throughout the book, and definitely experiencing the whiplash along with Anna chapter to chapter. I do think some people will love this story, some will hate it. It is worth checking out. It just unfortunately wouldn’t be a re read for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2023
When Anna Nelson goes to see her family at Christmas it wasn’t because she missed them, it’s because she needed a break from all the not happening on her website. She thought she was done but her friend Rachael thought if Anna gave herself a little time things might change, maybe her site was going to start making some money. Why she chose to go home is a mystery to me, seeing it as the home she couldn’t wait to get away from in the first place. Her mother and father were spiteful and bullies to Anna as long as she can remember.
Louise Tanner found herself traveling to meet her fiancé's family. She should have told Clay she doesn't love him but she doesn’t want to hurt him. Raised by a single mother she had a good childhood. After graduating school she found herself, along with some very hard work, about to become a doctor. Dating Clay wasn’t her best idea.
It’s at a small town bar the two women meet, not knowing each other they spent the afternoon flirting. If only they had met under different circumstances. Low and behold it turns out the two women had something in common. Clay was dating Louise and Clay was Anna's brother. Now the fun begins.
Ms Greene gave us, you and me, a really great read. Great characters with a strong supporting cast along with a story like that keeps you turning pages. Very, very enjoyable book.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books
Louise Tanner found herself traveling to meet her fiancé's family. She should have told Clay she doesn't love him but she doesn’t want to hurt him. Raised by a single mother she had a good childhood. After graduating school she found herself, along with some very hard work, about to become a doctor. Dating Clay wasn’t her best idea.
It’s at a small town bar the two women meet, not knowing each other they spent the afternoon flirting. If only they had met under different circumstances. Low and behold it turns out the two women had something in common. Clay was dating Louise and Clay was Anna's brother. Now the fun begins.
Ms Greene gave us, you and me, a really great read. Great characters with a strong supporting cast along with a story like that keeps you turning pages. Very, very enjoyable book.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books
March 21, 2023
A frustrating book. My issue is not with the premise itself — in fact, while I’m not a big fan of engaging with cheating themes in my romance lit, I felt the opening scene underpinning the premise was very readable and had potential — but with everything that follows. Thematically speaking, this is the kind of a book where characters have more issues than Vogue, and trying to fix them by throwing romance at them just makes me wince. A pretty bad case of instalove - aggravated by a really long chain of misunderstandings - does not, you know, reinforce the impression that these characters should be romancing as opposed to going to therapy. YMMV on how much drama and misunderstanding is too much drama in a romance, but I feel like this might have worked better as a piece of women’s fiction.
And on a structural level the book had a serious problem with repetition: not only would the same events be played through both main leads eyes, they would also have excruciatingly detailed phone calls with their friends/family to live through the events Yet Another Time! And here I am, sitting and blinking in disbelief, muttering to myself that this is not a 40 episode drama where at least the length of episode dictate some reminders to the audience.
I remain deeply devoted to all new releases for queer romance writers, because I so deeply wish there to be more of different things for everyone to enjoy, but this one simply didn’t work for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
And on a structural level the book had a serious problem with repetition: not only would the same events be played through both main leads eyes, they would also have excruciatingly detailed phone calls with their friends/family to live through the events Yet Another Time! And here I am, sitting and blinking in disbelief, muttering to myself that this is not a 40 episode drama where at least the length of episode dictate some reminders to the audience.
I remain deeply devoted to all new releases for queer romance writers, because I so deeply wish there to be more of different things for everyone to enjoy, but this one simply didn’t work for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
March 5, 2023
Anna meets a stranger in a bar while gearing herself up for some time with her parents for the holidays. They speak for a few hours before they have to go and as they part ways the stranger kisses her. When she finally makes it to her parents house though she finds out the alluring stranger is her brother's girlfriend and craziness ensues.
This was an ok read for me. I think the writing was well done but there were a few things I disliked about the plot. I also didn't really like Louise and didn't see why Anna would be drawn to her. Every encounter with the two of them is really just not being able to keep their hands off each other and other than the initial meeting in the bar they don't really talk much. I very much hated Anna's parents and her brother Clay, they were awful and it was hard to understand why she'd subject herself to them or think they would help her in any of the ways she was struggling. I did like Rachel and George seemed nice as well. I think the story was well paced but I just couldn't get into it because of the cheating and horrible family dominating the plot. The big kerfuffle at 85% was also not fun and I didn't really like all the drama that caused and made me like Louise and Clay even less. I liked the writing style but the characters were a miss for me. Hopefully Greene's next book will include some more likeable characters.
This was an ok read for me. I think the writing was well done but there were a few things I disliked about the plot. I also didn't really like Louise and didn't see why Anna would be drawn to her. Every encounter with the two of them is really just not being able to keep their hands off each other and other than the initial meeting in the bar they don't really talk much. I very much hated Anna's parents and her brother Clay, they were awful and it was hard to understand why she'd subject herself to them or think they would help her in any of the ways she was struggling. I did like Rachel and George seemed nice as well. I think the story was well paced but I just couldn't get into it because of the cheating and horrible family dominating the plot. The big kerfuffle at 85% was also not fun and I didn't really like all the drama that caused and made me like Louise and Clay even less. I liked the writing style but the characters were a miss for me. Hopefully Greene's next book will include some more likeable characters.
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