I attempted reading this book again through my library. However, I still could not quite connect to the two main characters. I had a very hard time connecting with the two sisters and found most of their arguments very grating. However, I think this would be a book I would recommend as a short winter read for any YA readers who enjoy a romance that takes place during the holidays and deals with family.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

A lovely romcom that is perfect for the holiday season! It’s sweet and fun and a joy to read. Definitely improved my day and brought me joy, which is exactly what I was looking for!

This was an extremely easy-to-read, wholesome story! I flew through this book, and loved every second of it. The romance was also cute, although at times also very frustrating... Can highly recommend!

A sweet romantic tale for those teens and in-betweeners looking for a love story without much bite. Likeable characters, predictable plot, fast read...perfect for those days you want to do a little mindless reading.

Tess just wants her family to be whole again and doesn't think being exiled to her grand mothers ranch beneficial. But meeting an injured boy and a Bucket List to complete before New Years may just be change everything. New Year's Kiss is a slow burn rom com that will definitely fill the awe and drama factors for readers. The story is fast paced and jammed packed with interactions that create drama. While the characters superficially are entertaining there is not much more to them. Tess can grate at nerves with the constant doubting and over analyzation, while the supporting characters don't really get much depth added. Tess's parents, sister, and grandmother do not have any kind of depth that has an impact on the plot or add anything to the cannon of the issues presented. There seems to be a disconnect with the characters and emotion, Mathews seems to be skimming the surface and only wanting this to be rom com and not much else.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Tess and her sister are spending the holidays with their grandmother at her grandmother's hotel/inn. While there, Tess meets a young man who challenges her to step out of her shell and try new things. Tess makes a bucket list that she wants to accomplish prior to the New Year. While in the process of accomplishing these things, Tess and Christopher fall in love.

It had been a while since I read a YA book. I for sure think this could be a Netflix movie (think the Kissing Booth). It was a cute, fast, holiday read.

This was a delightful romantic comedy with some depth to its personal and familial arcs. A perfect heartwarming holiday read!

(....) Além disso, New Year's Kiss pode não se aprofundar muito em alguns problemas que os personagens têm, mas de forma geral é uma leitura bem leve e envolvente, perfeita para o clima de final e começo de ano e para deixar os problemas de lado.
De modo geral, é o livro perfeito para você que procura uma leitura leve, envolvente e com um romance bem fofinho. Infelizmente, ainda não uma edição em português.

Thanks for the free book, @PRHGlobal/@prhinternational
.
.
Tess e sua irmã Lauren foram enviadas pelos pais para passar o feriado de ano novo com a avó no hotel que a família possui. Acontece que os pais das garotas estão se separando e claro cada uma delas está reagindo de um modo. Enquanto Lauren está cada vez mais impulsiva e não está falando com o pai, Lauren está cada vez mais certinha e não está falando com a mãe. Quando Tess briga com a irmã no lobby do hotel, ela conhece um garoto chamado Christopher que a aconselha a ser mais espontânea e é assim que Tess acaba fazendo uma lista de coisas espontâneas que quer fazer antes do ano novo. O que inclui: usar salto alto, cantar em público e falar com uma pessoa desconhecida. Será que Tess vai conseguir concluir a lista?
.
.
Que livro mais delicinha de ler! Com uma narrativa super jovem e divertida Lee Matthews nos leva a uma história de fim de ano com personagens fofos e bastante divertidos.
.
.
Tess é uma personagem que precisa se soltar mais e sair um pouco da concha. Ela quer se descobrir e fazer coisas que não faria por medo ou timidez, e faz mesmo que isso a deixe assustada.
.
.
O livro é realmente sobre a protagonista, Christopher, a irmã Lauren e todos os outros são personagens até interessantes, mas essa jornada é sobre uma garota que quer se encontrar e viver novas aventuras.
.
.
Lógico que há um romancezinho fofo ao fundo da narrativa e a gente fica torcendo pra que dê absolutamente tudo certo.
.
.
Infelizmente esse livro não chegou ainda por aqui, mas eu espero que chegue em breve, pois a mensagem de esperança é bem legal.

This is a cute story that I would love to get into the hands of all of my students that think the only way they will be validated is by strictly following the directions of every adult in their life. I wish that we had gotten a little bit more build-up at the beginning to get to know Tess as a character so that her list-making was a bit more impactful, but I think the story still gets its point across with the addition of cute boys.

This is a really nice, holiday-themed YA read. I loved its atmosphere - it felt like a Hallmark movie, but for teens! The characters are interesting and well-developed. Tess, the MC, shows tremendous growth over the course of the book and I like how confident and courageous she becomes. This book will have lots of appeal for teens looking for a simple, cozy romance. I could easily see this book being turned into a movie - it appeared like a movie in my head as I was reading it. I would definitely recommend it.

When I first started this novel I was in love. It pulled me in immediately, I loved the feeling it gave me while I was devouring the pages, and I honestly though I was on a way to discover new Anna and the French Kiss.

However, as the story progressed, it took a different turn and if I'm completely honest, it bored me for one with it's predictability, and second, with selfishness of the main character who's only focus was on her love interest.

Yes, her sister was the good one either, but that was explained from the very beginning, that they were not close and were mean to each other.

I mean, this was okay story, but I didn't like how romance took all the focus and bigger problems were hidden under the carpet, instead of explored. I mean, how can one character have a break down and the next day everything is back to normal without even a talk? Don't want to put spoilers here, but this is an example how some situations were there just so our main character could build her story from them, without ever looking at side characters or solutions to problems that were maid.

I'm not going to say anything more.
Still, I am glad I read this ya novel.

3.85/5 ⭐
This was such an adorable YA romance! Since one of my 2020 resolutions was to delve into books outside the YA sphere, I ended up not reading a lot of YA books in the last few months. New Year’s Kiss made me fall in love with YA all over again. I really missed the warmth of cheesy, lovey-dovey books! 💜

I’ve always loved reading books which center around bucket lists, which is why reading New Year’s Kiss was such a treat! The main character, Tess, makes a list of things to accomplish before New Year, with her newest friend Christopher. It was very fascinating to see them crossing out different things along the way. I couldn’t wait to see what steps Tess would take to complete the task for the list to be complete. The plot was filled with twists and turns, which were predictable most of the time, but the drama was just what I needed in a book back then. :’)

Tess was a likable character, but her selfish nature really annoyed me throughout the story. I wanted to see little more of character development from her side. Her issues with her parents were a pivotal point behind her breakdowns, so I wish the author provided a closure regarding that space before the book ended. Nevertheless, New Year’s Kiss was a very enjoyable holiday read. It’s the perfect story to cozy up to during the winter season.

New Year’s Kiss was fun and uplifting New Year themed YA romance that revolved around Tess’ ten bucket list to accomplish before New Year. It was about getting out of comfort zone, trying new things, and enjoying life for yourself once in a while, family, friendship and love.

Writing was gripping, entertaining and fast paced. It was first person narrative from Tess’ perspective set in Tess’ family resort Evergreen Lodge, in Vermont . The resort, all the activities for guests in resort, skiing slopes, and the town around the lodge made the book atmospheric.

It started with Tess and her elder sister, Lauren, forced to spend a week right after Christmas at their family resort- Evergreen Lodge, so their parents could settle things at final stage of divorce. Their very stylish, sophisticated, and stern grandmother- Loretta- who now run resort, had put them both in same room with a mandatory schedule of activities they had to attend while they were staying there. Tess wasn’t happy about it as she and Lauren could hardly live in a peace sharing same space, there was nothing common between them and Lauren was always rude and mean to Tess. But when she met Christopher with cast leg in lobby, things started to change. They decided to make bucket list of ten things to accomplish before New Year that can help Tess prove her sister wrong, not living her holidays alone copped up in her room, and live out a little for herself. It was fun to read how Tess was going to accomplish her bucket list and how that was going to change her life.

Christopher was cute. I liked him for supporting Tess, helping her with her bucket list. It was not just Tess’ bucket list, he too was part of it until a guy because of whom he was in cast leg started talking with Tess. His reaction was natural but I also felt for Tess and her dilemma. I was a bit disappointed when he disappeared in third half but even after everything, he was lovely him.

I wasn’t sure if I liked any secondary characters at first as Lauren was rude and mean, she said unpleasant things to Tess and didn’t look out for her like elder sisters should but as we know her more we see most of the squabble was because of their contrasting nature and she wasn’t good at expressing her feeling. She preferred to live out and find distraction than talk about it. Loretta was stern, formidable and a bit controlling, always busy with some meeting at resort, making both girls do stuff they weren’t interested or happy about and half the time she wasn’t present for those activities. She didn’t make effort in knowing or understand them or asked what they really wanted. But we can also see, her mind was somewhere else and there was serious legal matter going on at resort. I was glad to see changes in both of them, how they developed and were panned out at the end.

Romance was cute. I was surprised and at the same time enjoyed reading how Tess and Christopher became friends, started having feelings, managed to fight, derailed and made up in just four days. But never I felt it was too short time. Author filled this duration with flying paper plane, skiing a black diamond slope, meeting famous star, singing in public, lots of drama, fun, and entertainment.

Twist and turns were predictable, I could see things a mile away and still I enjoyed everything. End was just perfectly magical and I loved epilogue with another bucket list. Out of all holiday themed book I have read recently, I enjoyed this most. I don’t know why this has average and some low rating, I agree this will be more for younger population and predictable, but I don’t care. It was really fun for me and it did cheer me up so I’m not taking away a star for predictability.

Overall, New Year’s Kiss was sweet and entertaining holiday themed YA romance. If you want uplifting quick read, you should try this.

I love list books and this one gave me everything I needed. It was a quiet flirty book. While not much happened, it perfectly captures the time between New Year's and Christmas with the hopes for the future and the come down from Christmas craziness. The ending was predictable, but the love story was enough and it gave me the warm fuzzies.

Thank you NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for review

This will be the perfect high school, holiday, romance book for any teen's gift list. Tess goes to her family lodge for the New Year holiday ready to park herself in a spot to read all week. But a meeting with Christopher, a new friend, and her sister take her on adventures to get her outside her comfort zone. Will it work?

High school characters but will be just as enjoyable for middle schoolers to read.

New Year's Kiss was just really cute and fluffy. However, the book reads much younger than expected with a seventeen-year-old main character. Tess, her behavior, and even her bucket list felt like they belong in middle school instead of almost being college-bound. Also, the trajectory of the characters and their relationships were obvious, with nothing about the book being unexpected. New Year's Kiss was a cute book with a little romance that is tween safe, and if that's what you're looking for, then you should definitely read it.

DNF. Usually love romance but this was predictable and felt unoriginal. I don’t think it has enough umph for my high school readers. Maybe more middle grade?