Review: With This Kiss

• Title: With This Kiss

• Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher

• Series: --

• Genre: Contemporary Romance / Fantasy

• Rating: ☆☆☆

• Trigger Warnings: death described in detail, nightmares

**Thank you Harlequin Australia and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. These are my honest thoughts.**

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.