Intriguing book, beautifully told, with interesting characters. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book

Lorelai and her fried Joanie share a flat and work together at a local cinema that shows old movies. Lorelai loves old movies and writing, especially adapting her favourite books to screenplays.
Lorelai has a secret, that prevents her from falling in love. If Lorelai kisses someone, she sees how they will die.
Lorelai has shared her secret with Joanie and together they try to find away of changing what happens.
This was a romance set in the present time with some flashbacks to earlier times. It is about families, friendships and writing.

What an extraordinary, unusual and yet deeply satisfying story With This Kiss has been. Heroine Lorelai is relationship-averse and sees herself as a monster, who is unworthy of love thanks to her unwanted psychic ability to see the deaths of those people she kisses. Despite feeling an instant zing of attraction to Grayson when they meet, she pushes him away again and again, fearful that if he finds out about her he’ll loathe her. I loved that despite his hurt and confusion at Lorelai’s behaviour, he was still willing to give her a chance. This book is about trust and love and how our attitudes to life can shape the way we live it. It is deeply emotional and just a beautiful story.

I was really excited to read this book but unfortunately it wasn't for me - I do however think some readers will like this book. The writing and the pacing were fine but I wasn't a fan of the character development and found the story as a whole to be a little disjointed. It's a shame really because the premise was great - I mean, imagine if you could see how someone was going to die if you kissed them - but the execution wasn't strong. I would still recommend this if you're looking for something quick but I would check the content warnings.

Sorry, but a DNF from me.

I liked the concept but I got bogged down in all the backstory.

The characters were flat and I just didn't care enough to continue with the story.

Lorelai has locked up her heart, but not for the usual reasons - whenever she kisses someone, she can see how they will die. Understandably, she has spent years avoiding men. But then Grayson, a regular at the cinema where she works, catches her eye. It's strangely difficult to avoid him - but how can she start anything with him if she'll see some horrible fate when she kisses him?

I really liked the concept and I do enjoy magical realism, but this book fell flat for me. Mostly, I think, because Lorelai was so annoying and didn't really gain the maturity she lacked from the start. I was also hoping to see more of her and Grayson together...alas. I liked the scenes with Lorelai and her family - the only time I was truly charmed by With This Kiss. But I also had to suffer through a scene with some guy assaulting Lorelai and people subsequently feeling sorry for him.

Thank you for the chance to review this ARC. I loved the synopsis of the book, and the idea behind the book. However, I did find the narrative a bit slow at times and not intriguing. It didn’t hook me in, and I was glad to finish it.

I really, really wanted to love this. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. The main character, Lorelai, just fell flat and something was missing. I can't put my finger on what exactly it was that I didn't enjoy, I just couldn't finish it.

** Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for this ARC. Here is my honest review **

When I read the synopsis for this book, it caught me hook, line and sinker. It sounded oh so promising, and yet the delivery fell short.
I knew of Carrie Fletcher and her work beforehand and I can't lie and say that didn't excite me, because it did.
This story could have been so much more than it was. The main character Lorelai, seemed somewhat selfish with her 'gift' at times. Only thinking about herself and what she endured by kissing someone.
I did like her friends Joanie and Riggs, both of these characters I felt had more to them than we got to see. And I also liked her love interest, Greyson.

I felt that if the delivery of this story was executed better, i would have enjoyed it far more than i did. I did finish the book though, and I only hoped to catch a glimmer of what i was hoping to see, yet that never came.

The world-building seemed somewhat unrealistic, even though it was set in our modern day times. It felt a little bit carried away with the story to give it too much realism, which again makes me sad.

I do hope to read more of her work, in hopes i find something that catches and holds me.

**Thank you Harlequin Australia and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. These are my honest thoughts.**
TW; death described in detail, nightmares

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.