To start, it's a book about an aspiring ballerina living in Paris for the first time, plus with an adorable love story peppered in. What isn't there to love, because I'm like obsessed already. Here, Mia is an aspiring ballerina from New York about to spend her summer in Paris training at an exclusive ballet intensive summer program. Soon, she discovers there's more to the city when she meets a charming French boy Louis in an adorable meet-cute moment. He wants to be her tour guide as he takes her on all sorts of adventures in the city together. In a first-person account, we see Mia's a dreamer who works her butt off to dance and wants this as a career so badly. As a former dancer, I can totally understand that, it's part of what makes her such a relatable narrator and character. The book is chock full of rich language that makes me feel like I'm there too, right there with these characters. Her relationship with Louis gets complicated due to his father being her ballet instructor and mentor, plus she's battling with roommate Audrey to be the best in the class and earn the main role in the end of program production of Swan Lake, and she's desperate to meet her greataunt and discover if a story from her grandma about an ancestor and the artist Degas is true because that's part of her reason for dancing. There's so much going on and it's just so interesting and fun. This one-sitting read makes me want to be in France right now so badly and have my own journey like Mia's. Also, OMG, that HEA and epilogue was darn adorable and precious. Super cute YA romance book for fans of dance, Paris, and love stories.

3 stars
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Kisses and Croissants follows Mia during her summer abroad in Paris at a prestigious ballet program. Mia intends to focus on nothing but ballet during her stay in Paris, but the city, a family legend, and a cute French boy derail those plans. If you like novels set in Europe and cute summer romances, give this book a try!
I enjoyed the book. In theory, it’s everything I love in a contemporary: sweet romance, European tourism, and the forming of a strong female friendship. The synopsis even calls it “a book in the vein of Love & Gelato”—one of my all-time favorite books, but something about Kisses and Croissants just fell flat for. I never got into it. There’s nothing I can pinpoint as inherently bad about the book. The friendships were well-written, the romance cheesy in the best way, but the plot dragged. The pacing was often too slow.
In the first two chapters, it seemed as if Mia couldn’t take three steps across the room without a pirouette or some other ballet move. It felt tedious and a bit obnoxious, but after the second-ish chapter Mia moved like a normal person, so it wasn’t a big issue with the book.
Louis felt a little bland and underdeveloped for the love interest. A little too much like a cookie cutter cliché. I usually completely forgot that Lucy and Anouk existed until they’d pop back in. They were pretty two-dimensional characters. Audrey, however, felt really well developed to me, and I loved watching the friendship between her and Mia form. It might be my favorite part of the novel.
Overall, it’s a decent book. It’s just a little slow and missing that little oomph that takes a good book and makes it great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for my opinions, all of which are my own.

LOVED this book!! Ballet, Paris, romance!? Sign...me...up! Perfect lighthearted read I finished in 2 days. I think the romance factor was tastefully done for a YA novel. I enjoyed all of the characters and the overall outcome of the book.

Lovely!

This was such a sweet read. Perfectly crafted by a native of France, I truly felt like I was traveling in Paris with Mia! I enjoyed reading along as Mia journeyed to Paris for ballet. I loved the connections that she and Louis formed in their short time together. This truly was a wonderfully read!

This is a sweet & fun YA novel, perfect for fans of Emily in Paris and To All the Boys I Loved Before on Netflix. This romance set in Paris is a quick beach read for teens and adults alike.

I’ve been to Paris three times in my life and each time, I fell in love with the city. I can’t get enough of Paris! I devoured Anna and the French Kiss is a single sitting and have been on the lookout for another book set in Paris. Enter KISSES & CROISSANT. Aaaahh! What’s there to not love about this dreamy book?? Ballet 🩰! Romance! ❤️ PARIS 🥐!

This book made me SO HUNGRY. So I guess don’t read it if you’re on a diet. Aside from the delicious food, it’ll also whisk you away to the most magical city in the world. You’ll experience the art and culture and flowers of Paris and aaahh! Honestly, this is worth reading just for the setting alone.

The main character, Mia, is so easy to root for, and I adored all the descriptions of ballet and I was so invested in her dream of becoming a ballerina. Louis is the perfect compliment to her character, and I just loooved them as a pair.

It’s the kind of book that leaves you grinning and fills your heart with joy and delight. Loved it!! 🥰 The perfect read for this dark, heavy year. Such a ray of sweetness!

Okay. My desire to visit Paris is now a physical need after reading this novel. I am obsessed.

I never thought I'd enjoy a book about ballet, but it kept my interest very well and I loved every minute. The short chapters were very nice, the details were on point, and I can't wait to read more by this author!

Well done debut.

Warning- should be paired with a fresh croissant!

I’m a sucker for a sweet romance set in Paris. It’s the perfect backdrop for a love story. Kisses and Croissants is charming and sweet! I loved it so much. I don’t know much about ballet but this book made it easy to understand and connect with the characters. Mia is adorable and determined. I loved her. Louis was charming and sweet. I loved reading about their adventures in Paris!

This book was definitely a light-hearted read and I enjoyed the setting of the book! There is some triggering content such as divorce, bullying, alcohol, and dieting.

I really loved Mia's experience with ballet and it was fun to read about. There were definitely some wholesome moments. There were a lot of cliches and predictable moments but and that's what makes it a light-hearted read so if you want to read a book that you can just fly through and enjoy then this is the book for you.

This was fun book to read. I loved being transported to Paris in the world of Degas and ballerinas.

I can't wait to chat with Anne-Sophie for the podcast. I am. also excited to feature this book in a blog post of YA Books that your should add to your TBR.

It was a little boring for me. I found it difficult to pick up to read and finish. Things were just too perfect for too long then out of nowhere something finally happens near the end. I felt like it was just thrown in there because she realized there was no real conflict in the story. Louis wasn't very believable as a love interest. I just didn't feel their chemistry. My favorite character was actually Audrey. I feel like she has a way better story to tell than Mia. Even the mystery with Mia's ancestors was a little flat. The instructor was repeatedly referred to as a strict and mean instructor but all interactions with him were completely the opposite. Mia would SAY he was mean to them but it was never really there. Even when he was reprimanding her for going out late he was still pretty nice and understanding with her. It was overall ok, I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy a good ballerina story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Random House Children's for providing me with an eArc in exchange for an honest review!

I’m such a sucker for a good contemporary romance, and when I saw this book marketed as a contemporary ya romance compared to Love & Gelato, another book that pulled me straight in, I knew I simply had to read it. As a fan of the idea of Paris, that was just another reason for me to request this book and hope for the best, knowing that I’d read it upon release if I wasn’t approved. I’m beyond happy that I was able to read and experience it early, however.

I say this in every other review I believe, but I am such a character driven reader. While I enjoyed the plot and I’ll touch on that again soon, the characters just felt so real. Mia, Louis and Aubrey were teenagers written as flawed which gave them all that extra layer of depth to sell me on them being teenagers and exploring life as they grew up. Their choices and decisions and reactions all rang true to the ages provided for them in narration, and I was so happy to be reading about characters that didn’t feel wrong in the setting. I also adored so many of the side characters, and enjoyed being pulled into their lives and their experiences.

Now here’s where I talk about the plot and why this could have been a 5-star book. Mia is in Paris to help achieve her dreams of succeeding in the ballet world, and I am an avid ballet fan (as a watcher, I was far too clumsy growing up to even try and beg for dance lessons) so I entered this hoping it would touch a fair amount on the dancing rather than letting romance take the lead and I was left so satisfied. Seeing so much of the book be about her passion for the dance and the progress she and Audrey made was so good to see. I genuinely loved the plot progression and seeing where the story took them. I am, however, not a fan of the plot twist towards the end that left me mouth agape completely shocked that it had happened. I understand authors can take the story anywhere they wish and I still did like seeing how Mia came back from everything and I absolutely adored the ending, I just think that one thing in particular didn’t necessarily need to happen.

Overall, I enjoyed this book except for the above mentioned plot and a few language choices (using he or she rather than replacing it with they) and a 4-star rating is still a really good rating to get! I think it’s likely I’ll reread it when it comes out and will convince my romance friends to check it out then too!

[ review will be posted on my blog linked on my profile closer to publishing date ]

This book was ok. It was cute and made me want to go to Paris but it felt slow and like there wasn’t any real urgency to it, and because of this I didn’t end up finishing it.

I'm not normally someone who picks up a romantic novel, but every once in a while it's a refreshing cleanser between heavy reads. This was perfectly light and lovely and I fell right into the whirlwind of the ballet and Paris.

There was a lot going on in the novel between ballet, hunting down mysterious family stories, and falling in love, but I adored every second of it! Every time I walk out of a building I hope Louis is waiting for me...lucky girl Mia is...hahaha.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves fast-paced YA romances.

3.75 ⭐️

Move over Emily, there’s a new American in Paris!

Mia was born to dance. There is even a family rumor that her great-great-great-great grandmother was once painted by Degas. When she gets a spot at a prestigious dance academy in Paris, she plans to use the next 6-weeks chasing her dream of becoming a professional dancer. That is until she gets swept up in a Parisian whirlwind complete with cute boys on vespas. Can she keep her eye on the prize, or will she learn there’s more to life than ballet?

This book was just like it’s croissant namesake: warm, golden, and buttery. It was an indulgent, fluffy, feel good read.

My only wish is that it had been more atmospheric! I felt like the descriptions of Paris were glossed over at times, and would have loved to felt more transported. The story was so romance driven that a lot of things took a backseat to Mia and Louis’ love story.

Characters were pretty stereotypical and one dimensional. Mia was a bit of an emotional tornado. Audrey was the misunderstood mean girl. And Louis was the cute French boy who opened her eyes to new possibilities. Their formulas worked well within the book, but I would have loved for them all to have more depth.

Kisses and Croissants was a fun and frothy read. A great choice if you are in need of a little escapism!

A special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a very sweet, YA romance story! I loved how much the setting (Paris) played into the plot and gave me a little escape especially during a time when travel is not safe (i.e. COVID). It was fairly predictable until the last five chapters when I was truly caught off guard with a big plot twist/event. Would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy books by Jenny Han or Meg Cabot! A very solid four stars.

While I am continuing to post my regular content, the BLM movement is still going on. Please keep referring to my story and linktree to find ways to help out.✊🏻‼️

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Yes we are back with a new netgalley review. I promise I am catching up. I promise.😅
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Kisses and Croissants is a YA contemporary that features Mia, a ballet dancer who gets the opportunity to dance at one of Pairs’ best programs over the summer. Once she’s there, it is clear that it’s where she’s supposed to be, even if the work is constant, exhausting, not to mention it puts tons of pressure on her future in the dance industry. But then Mia meets Louis, a boy whose French accent is just as gorgeous as his heart. Soon she realizes he is not just a cute boy, but the cute boy who also just happens to be her instructor’s son. Battling her feelings for Louis and busy with concentrating on dancing, will Mia really leave Pairs with a broken heart?💔
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If you’ve been following me for quite some time you know one of the theme/tropes that I love more than anything are Dance themed stories, so you can imagine my excitement when I found out that this book included it. I did really like this, although it was full of a bunch of cliches that were extremely predictable, not to
mention the conflict with the romance with the ever so (not) amazing miscommunication. That lead me to take .5 off, and although there was not as much dancing as I would’ve liked, I kept my rating at 4.5.🥰
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What is a theme or trope you love to read about in the books you read? Let me know!💋
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Dm me to talk about all things book or writing related! I’ll be looking forward to it! —Em😌

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I really enjoyed this book! I loved Mia’s passion for ballet and how driven she was. While I loved Louis and her relationship, I really appreciated Audrey and her friendship. A typical frenemies to friends, but i really enjoyed both of their character developments!

—Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Anne-Sophie Johanneau for the opportunity to read this book in advance!—

Anna and The French Kiss meets Dance Academy in a wonderful novel written by French author Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau!

16-year-old Mia has the opportunity of a lifetime: participating in a 6-week summer intensive ballet course in a city she loves: Paris, France. She’s not only excited to hone and expand on her skills, but she’s eager to learn more about herself and her ancestry. From the moment she’s stepped into the City of Love, obstacles continue to find her. The highest level of the course awaits Mia, but who does she have the pleasure of meeting while she tries to prepare for her first day of class? An absolutely adorable French teenager who captures her heart. Intrigued? That’s all I can say before I start delving too much into the plot.

I enjoyed this book! Ms. Johanneau did an great job with the writing of this novel. For the most part, I didn't find myself becoming bored of the plot or the characters, and I was always excited to see what came next. It was easily cliché, but I didn't mind reading on because the book is worth it.

I think my favorite character was Audrey. As a secondary character, we didn't get to see all of her, but it was evident that she went through major changes during the book. From hating her to rooting for her, I think Audrey is a prime example of the secondary character we grow to love over the course of the novel.

I didn't always enjoy the relationship between Mia and Louis, as I feel at some points, Mia used Louis transactionally. Whether Mia's intentions were pure or not, I still didn't find this transaction-like relationship to be loved or desirable. However, it was resolved by the end.

Overall, Kisses and Croissants takes the clichés and makes it a little bit better, while still maintaining the nostalgia. I look forward to more by Anne-Sophie Johanneau!

I ADORED this book. Paris, ballet, art, FRENCH BOYS. Literally what else could you ask for. It was the perfect chick flick read and I swallowed it up. I loved the characters and relationships formed and the whole mystery and search for the painting of her ancestor. Great story and enjoyable read.