Max and Jillian are neighbors and longtime friends, but since his dad’s stroke Max hasn’t been himself. When he climbs through her window one night and kisses her, Jill begins to look at him in a new light. Unfortunately, her dad catches them and strongly disapproves. With her dad and stepmom expecting a new baby and fighting all the time, Jill finds herself spending more and more time with Max and hoping to take their friendship to the next level.

I enjoyed the voice of the protagonist and the characters were well-written, I just didn't enjoy the plot of the story much.

On Halloween night, Jill Eldridge hears a knock of her bedroom window. It's Max Holden, her neighbor. They used to be close friends but have recently become distant, especially since his father had a debilitating stroke. She lets him in, mostly so he doesn't keep banging and wake her father. Max is drunk. And dressed like a pirate. But somehow still charming. Max kisses Jill, which is quite surprising because Max has a girlfriend. Jill's dad tells her to stay away from Max who is on a downward spiral. Somehow Jill ends up kissing Max Holden again (and again). I'd read her next book.

In addition to teen romance, Jill is struggling with how to be a good friend, how to help her pregnant step-mother, and how to move forward with her dream of being a pastry chef. Jill is struggling with navigating her flawed parents as well as her own conflicting feelings about Max. Kissing Max Holden isn't revolutionary but it's good. I know scores of readers who will flock to Katy Upperman's novel. Upperman explores how we are more than the mistakes that we make and how we can choose to also work towards redemption (or not). Fans of Sarah Dessen will enjoy this story.

This book was okay. I liked the characters and enjoyed their story.

The thing that made the book just okay was all of the side stories. Max's girlfriend and his sister who was the girlfriends best friend (which was never explained why). Max's struggle to come to grips with his father's stroke and subsequent paralysis (which was never resolved). Jillian's mother leaving her behind with her father at a young age, going half way around the world to follow her dreams and not even communicating with Jillian (another conflict left without resolution). Jillian's father, his infidelity, his young wife and newborn child.

I felt that the ending to the book was weak, very rushed and as if the author was just ready for the book to end. If a situation is brought into a storyline it seems like it should be for a reason. There were too many loose ends at the end of this book that left me wondering why they were even introduced into the story to begin with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If half-stars were possible, I would likely bump this one up to a 3.5 rather than only a 3. I liked the book okay, but there was a bit too much teen drama and angst for my personal taste, and I think it would have mixed reactions from teen readers. There are readers who will love the book, as is clear from the reviews already given on here, but I think the book will be too fluffy and filled with drama and angst for the taste of other readers. It reads a lot like a romance novel, which isn't my thing really. While the book does deal with some more serious topics, something was off for me with them. It almost felt like two different types of stories were meshed together, with the parts not coming together completely seamlessly. The serious parts worked and the swoony/fluffy parts worked, but they didn't come together into one story very well for me. I think I would have preferred the story told as a super cute contemporary OR as a more serious contemporary dealing with the serious issues, as it just didn't work well for me with it all together, or at least it didn't work for me in the way that the author meshed these two parts into one. It did hold my interest, though, and I liked it well enough. I would recommend the book to romance novel readers and teens who enjoy drama/angst-filled type stories.