3.5 Stars

Kisses and Croissants was a cute French love story that reminded me a lot of the show Dance Academy. While reading, I could tell this is definitely meant for a younger audience, but the cute elements to the story are definitely enjoyable if you’re looking for a fluffy read to carry you over to your next read.

The setting being in France was everything. I loved the details, it really felt as if I was there myself in a lot of the scenes. It was definitely romanticized, but it made me want to travel to Paris myself and I believe Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau accomplished something great with that.

As for the love story itself, it didn’t try to be anything it wasn’t meant to be. It was young, it was cute, and it was heartwarming. There is no steam, but this book didn’t need steam. Fleeting kisses shared in Paris create a romantic vibe that is fulfilling all on its own. I really did enjoy the way the romance developed between two young teenagers, navigating their personal responsibilities and the responsibilities that come with young love. I enjoyed the grit of Mia, but also her ability to let go and live her best Parisian life as well as the boyish charm of Louis. The two together truly did make a wonderful pair. If you’re looking nostalgia of what young love feels like, try reading this and see where the Parisian love story takes you.

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-Arc of the book!

This was such a wonderfully sweet and realistic story. I loved the romance, I loved the ending. I'm just so pleased with the way the author handled many of the issues in this book and made the main character a young woman who knows what she wants. I just adored this one.

I was given an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I saw that "Kisses and Croissants" took place in Paris, France and centered around ballet, I knew I had to read it. The story revolves around Mia, an American ballet dancer, who was able to land a spot in a prestigious summer ballet program. She has six weeks to learn all she can from the program and hopefully catch the attention of her dream ballet company at the end of summer showcase. While in Paris, she also hopes to learn about an old family legend regarding a model for one of Degas' paintings. According to family lore, the model is Mia's so-many-greats-grandmother and was the first professional dancer in the family but there is no historical evidence behind it. This is where Louis, a charming French boy she meets outside of the dance studio, comes in. He offers to help her find information about her relative and the model of Degas'.

The story was super cute! As a dancer, I loved the ballet aspect. I also really enjoyed the Paris setting. The descriptions really made me feel as if I were there. I enjoyed the romance, especially with the forbidden love aspect. The side characters were great and I really loved the character growth between Mia and her roommate/arch-nemesis. The relationship between Mia and her mother and Mia and her mentor were also very interesting for me to read.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a cute romance, especially fans of Jenna Evans Welch's "Love &" series and Stephanie Perkins' "Anna and the French Kiss".

As an ex-ballet dancer (albeit, one who only took ballet for 2 years as a toddler, haha!), a self-proclaimed Frankophile, and a lover of YA romances, this book felt like it was written for me!

Mia Jenrow was such a fun character to follow. While I couldn't relate too much to her ballet struggles (as, again, I dropped ballet as a toddler), I truly felt all of the stress and anxiety she was shouldering on a personal level.

Louis was a super-loveable LI as well! I especially loved how supportive he was of Mia. Lastly, I really enjoyed the whole mystery regarding the family legend that Mia's "too-many-greats-to-count-grandmother once danced for the Paris Opera and was painted by Degas himself." It was really nice to see Mia take an interest in exploring her family history, as geneology is a big passion of mine.

If you're looking for a YA book that's INFINITELY better than Anna & the French Kiss, or just something to tie you over after falling in love with Emily in Paris, definitely be sure to check out Kisses & Croissants ASAP!

This book was fantastic! I loved the romance in it but also the whole finding yourself plot. It was really well done.

Kisses and Croissants is an absolutely adorable YA book! I quickly got caught up following Mia as she worked toward her dancing dreams. She needs to find a balance between practicing, falling for a cute French guy, exploring Paris, delicious food, and solving a family mystery. What's not to love? It made me want to travel and see Paris even more! I would recommend this book if you want a fun YA adventure and romance in Paris!

Thank you, Delacorte Press, for this complimentary copy in exchange for my review.

This was just the sweetest book, and I absolutely loved it. It was exactly what I needed right now. This book had me dreaming of eating warm croissants and watching a ballet in Paris. The descriptions in the book had me feeling like I was there with the characters.

Right from the start of the book I was hooked and didn’t want to put it down. I thought Mia and Louis were such great characters. They were so cute, and I was dying to see what would happen between them. It was the perfect teenage romance, I loved it. If you’re looking for a quick and cute YA read, I highly recommend checking this one out!

As cute as this book sounded… I did not know enough about Paris, French, or ballet to fully immerse myself into the story.

I found myself really rooting for this relationship though. I was also very worried about the consequences of it. Which means I was really annoyed by how her instructor checked her about having a summer fling over one missed step. I get it that it’s high stakes but one tiny mistake is not a career ruiner.

It all came together in the end though! Even tho I had no idea what any place looked like other than vague ideas on Paris architecture and absolutely no idea what these ballet moves looked like. I was very happy to see my ship sail in the end and even happier for Mia’s dreams to come true.

I bet someone who knows more about ballet and Paris would love this book.

2.75 stars.
This is a story about an aspiring ballet dancer named Mia who goes to Paris for a summer dance program. She's rooming with her nemesis but hoping to get into ABT by the end of the program. She meets a boy named Louis and tries to balance a summer fling with her dancing. I was actually more interested in Mia's dancing and her slow budding friendship than with Louis. It's your standard YA romance that isn't anything special. There were the standard ups and downs that came with the rigorous demands of being a ballet dancer and I actually wish there was a little more.
As for the twist, I hate that I guessed it before it happened. Like...20 pages before it happened. I thought that everything was going really well for Mia so I wouldn't be surprised if the twist happened. I actually shouted 'I was joking!' when I got to that part.
The book ends happily like most YA books do. It's a cute book that I would recommend to the younger audience and for anyone looking for dancing fluff.

Thank you Delacorte Press at Random House Children’s for this eARC via netgalley.

3.5 / 5 stars

Mia is headed to Paris to get a full professional ballet experience before she begins her audition process for the school of her dreams. Mia finds many things in Paris along the way that help her to see her life in a brand new light. Mia uses these new experiences, friendships, and practice to question which step to take next.

This book was extra heartwarming to me with the Parisian setting. I loved following Mia around Paris as she went through her summer program. I love how this book has other inclusions that are important to Mia. I loved being able to follow the family mystery with the paintings as well as Mia meeting some of her relatives who live in France. I found all these inclusions great additions to the story and it helped strengthen the characters as they went through various things.

I loved being introduced to new things related to ballet. I found this topic to be so interesting and I loved how the story revolved around ballet and how much it means to Mia and these characters. I was so excited to see them studying and performing Swan Lake as well. I also love how while we see some rivalry, the characters ultimately come together and support one another. I love being able to see character change done so well and in a way that makes the story much more enriching.

The only thing I did not like was some of the drama and abrupt dramatic scenes because they all felt so rushed, sudden, unnecessary, and confusing.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I think it would be great for my students. I am going to have to pick up a copy for them!

This was very cute and sweet.

I loved a lot about this book.

I loved Mia’s passion for her craft and I loved the friendship that blossomed between the dancers. I felt like that was such a great approach with girls loving and supporting each other rather than tearing themselves apart.

The romance was predictable in this and I didn’t get a ton from it but it was a nice to have.

My favorite was the slight mystery in the book.

Overall a cute and light read- it definitely made me want to go to Paris again soon!

I received arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I did not care for this young adult contemporary title. Teens pay enjoy it more than I do, I just couldn't get into it.

I sincerely wish that YA contemporary book covers weren't as pretty as they are. Especially the illustrated ones that make me wonder whether it's not too late to drop everything and become a Bookstagrammer for the rest of my life.

'Kisses and Criossants' follows Mia, an aspiring ballerina visiting France for a summer to get more practice and potentially get a scholarship. She works hard is holding onto her dream with a vice-like grip - after all, ballet runs in her blood, or so she's been told. But then Mia meets Louis, and is experiencing the romantic French summer of her dreams - will she be able to pick between her dreams or love?

The first thing that I will say about this book is that I actually liked how passionate Mia was about her sport. It was clear that she had worked hard to get to be where she wanted to be, and it certainly wasn't something that was mentioned at the beginning of the book and then tossed aside - it was a fundamental part of her character.

That being said, this book is, at its core, a romance novel. And as sad as I am to say it, this book reminded me of 'Anna and the French Kiss'. Which I absolutely hated.

Louis is nothing more than your average YA love interest. I know I read this book a couple of months ago, but there is absolutely nothing, and I really mean nothing, that I remember about Louis. He was generic in that all Mia could rave about was how "hot" he was. There was nothing about him that distinguished him from any other French boy existing only for the sake of being Mia's romantic daydreams incarnate. (I might be a little prejudiced because he reminds of Etienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss, but I think I'm justified in these feelings.)

And the romance itself between the two of them? It was so dry. I get the feeling that I wasn't able to enjoy most of this book because I wasn't able to enjoy their relationship at all. It was a classic push-and-pull, I-love-you-but-we-can't sort of situation, which I might have enjoyed under other circumstances.

That being said, I absolutely loved the rivals-to-friends relationship that Mia had with Aubrey. It was so wholesome to see how they slowly but surely became friends, and how Aubrey was given a proper backstory, unlike many of the other side characters (apart from the love interest). Honestly speaking, I think that Mia and Aubrey's relationship had more chemistry and potential than Louis and Mia.

The plot was alright, all things considered. Some plot twists seemed convenient, but ultimately, they weren't unrealistic, and that's what really matters here. The plot was intriguing and easy to follow along, which made for a light and fluffy but quick read.

Overall, there were some parts of this book that I enjoyed, but they are ultimately overshadowed by the parts that I didn't. If you were a fan of 'Anna and the French Kiss', I would probably recommend this to you, or if you're looking for a palate-cleanser sort of read.

Mia's life revolves around ballet and this summer she will prove she has what it takes. Attending the summer program in Paris could make or break her career but is that the only thing at risk. This was a cute summer from com with a dash of mystery and dance. Mia was highly relatable and charming even though she did have flaws that needed to be worked on. The plot also touched on the highly competitive and perfectionist nature of ballet. I was disappointed that the story revolved around the relationship between Mia and Louis, only slightly overlapping with her ballet program. She is in Paris to prove herself yet the author chose to focus primarily on her love interest. I would have preferred more balance of the two themes.

This book will make you wish you were in France! It was adorable and atmospheric all at once. I loved the ballet descriptions and getting to travel through Paris via the main character's eyes. A wonderful YA read!

I think this book was a great love letter to Paris and being a teen in a new beautiful place and being swept away by an attractive and fun romantic partner.

As a complete story, it left a little something to be desired. I do like the lessons our MC learned but overall it didn't spark to me as anything special.

Though, as I am not in the target demographic for this book, I can say that if you're a teen interested in the arts/ballet and Paris, you'll probably adore this one!

Though reading this several months after the publication date, I did receive an eARC of this novel from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of my favorite YA reads of the year! I couldn't gobble it down fast enough, and at the same time, I didn't want it to end!

Mia is headed to Paris for a 6 week summer ballet program with high hopes of landing an audition at the end of the summer with ABT in NYC. She is determined to not let anyone or anything get in her way. That is, until she meets Louis. Now Mia spends the summer trying to prove herself in dance, uncover a family history that may be hidden is Paris and unsuccessfully avoiding falling for a young Parisian boy.

Kisses and Croissants was an adorable YA read with just enough tension among characters to keep it interesting. It was full of yummy French foods, interesting ballet information and an enemy to friends relationship that developed throughout. I also like the art component included when Mia was searching for her family history. This was a cute and quick read that I think will be a popular read among young women.

Thank you Netgalley, Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau and Random House for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“French kisses taste a million times better in France.”

3.5/5

Kisses and Croissants is an adorable YA contemporary novel.

Mia is in Paris for an intense summer ballet program, if all goes according to plan, she'll snag an audition with one of the world's best ballet companies. You can’t really have a summer in France without some romance though!

I enjoyed this book overall. The author did a fantastic job with making you want to be in Paris! I wanted to be there eating a croissant. It was a fun lighthearted book, definitely for younger teens. It felt more like a middle grade novel to me.

If you’re looking for a sweet romance I recommend you read this!

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This book will make you want to visit Paris. You will get sucked into the story. The romance is wonderful in this story. The friendships within this story is great. This is my first book by this author and I can already tell you I will be reading the next book this author writes no matter what genre it is. The writing style is fantastic. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It is in stores now for $18.99 (USD).