Review: Kissing Lessons by Sophie Jordan

Kissing Lessons
by Sophie Jordan

June 2, 2020
288 pages

Goodreads Summary:

A steamy contemporary YA romance by New York Times best-selling author Sophie Jordan about a girl with a bad reputation giving lessons on how to attract guys for some extra cash—only to fall for her client’s golden-boy brother. For fans of Kami Garcia, Katie McGarry, and Netflix’s Sex Education.

Wild, beautiful, and (as rumor has it) experienced, Hayden Vargas doesn’t have time for love or relationships. She’s learned the hard way that the only person you can count on is yourself, and she’s hell-bent on earning enough money to leave her small, judgy Texas town as fast as possible. So when nerdy Emmaline Martin offers to pay Hayden for lessons in seduction, the money is so easy, there must be a catch. Enter the catch: Emmaline’s older brother, popular, all-around nice guy™ Nolan Martin, who doesn’t want his sister’s reputation tarnished by the school’s resident bad girl.

But Hayden should know that looks can be deceiving. Nolan may seem like a golden boy, but like Hayden, he has a few secrets of his own. And the more he meddles in her lessons with Emmaline, the more these polar opposites clash—and the more sparks fly. Turns out Nolan may have some lessons to teach Hayden, but only if she’s willing to learn.

Review

Sophie Jordan is a romance author I keep an eye out for since I've enjoyed many of her books. With that synopsis, Kissing Lessons was definitely on my radar. It turned out to be an entertaining read even if I found the romance lacking.

As the main character, Hayden was not the most likable. I didn't much care for her lone-girl ways but I understood she had good reasons to put up shields around herself. "Regret was for people who didn't know their own minds." (ARC, p. 236). Hayden was very stubborn but she knew her mind and stuck to her own rules. I respect that.

For such a short book, Kissing Lesson had insta-like, insta-love and insta-lust. I am not a fan of insta-anything so the romance sadly didn't work for me. There was no real build-up or genuine development to Hayden and Nolan's relationship. Their attraction sounded mostly superficial. The only thing I liked about their romance was the growth it prompted in each of them. "He was starting to realize passivity could still be part of the problem." (ARC, p. 149).

Kissing Lessons featured all the teenage drama. A second romance, between a more believable pair, sparked a lot of dramatics which were definitely teen movie-worthy material. They were quite cliché but fit well with the overall tone of the story.

Kissing Lessons is a book I would've enjoyed more if the romances were flushed out more. Even though the relationships weren't very convincing the story itself was cute. I'd still recommend this book to readers looking for a quick love story.

*I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the ARC I received.