Did we grow up in the best Disney era? With movies like Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid it’s hard to argue against it. Kiss the Girl is the next instalment in the Meant to Be series which is a modern retelling of the Little Mermaid’s story.

After being in the spotlight for fifteen years singing and touring with her sisters as Siren Seven, Ariel needs a break. She meets Eric, an up and coming singer, and has the best night ever. When he invites her to join the tour, she can’t resist the offer to escape her life for a bit.

We throughly enjoyed reading this book. Eric was the perfect dreamy leading man to Ariel’s soul searching superstar. It’s told in dual POV which enhances your reading experience and you get both sides of the love story! Eric’s band is his found family and they were a delight. The ribbing and teasing showed how close Star Crossed is. Ariel’s relationship with her sisters was everything you want from siblings. Their sister group chat was a highlight. And of course, every fairy tale has a bad guy, and Teo del Mar was a classic villain.

We absolutely loved all the easter eggs/nods to the movie sprinkled throughout the book. From Ariel/Melody mentioning having thingamabobs and the gossip site being called the Tuttle Teller, it was such a cute way to pay tribute.

So far this has been our favourite retelling of the series. The story was easy to binge and Ariel and Eric were easy to love!

Read if you like:
▪️The Little Mermaid
▪️Celebrity romance
▪️Forced proximity & only one bed!
▪️Secret identity
▪️Closed door romance
▪️Mutual pining

Thank you to #NetGalley, Zoraida Córdova, and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ariel and her sisters make up the famous band the Siren Seven. They've been a world hit ever since they were little girls. Known for wearing her red wig, Ariel is a star. Everyone thinks she has it all. All Ariel wants though is a normal life.
She gets what she wants and starts to get a feel for what a normal life is by sneaking out for a night of fun with her sisters. While out on the town, Ariel runs into Eric, the lead singer of an up and coming band. It doesn't help that he's cute, but easy to talk to also.
Unaware of who she truly is, he invites her on their summer band tour and she accepts! All against the wishes of her father.
Will Ariel cave under the pressures of her dad or will she be able to find her own voice?

I LOVE this series that is based off of Disney princesses. I loved the others and I love this one! I will definitely recommend it to others.

A cute story. I enjoyed this book and of course it reminded me of the Disney movie. It was a fun twist on a classic. I liked the band and was interested throughout. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Loved this contemporary retelling of "The Little Mermaid" as part of the Meant to Be series. Making Ariel the lead singer of a pop powerhouse band, Siren 7 and Eric as an up-and-coming guitarist in a band was so much fun. I loved Ariel's closeness with her sisters. And the insta-attraction between her and Eric. Definitely a fun, fast, flirty read.

This series is called "Meant to Be" and let me tell you. It was certainly meant to be for my reading tastes. I absolutely loved the setting of the band Siren Seven. Then our main girl being named Ariel really hit all the boxes with a heck of a ride. The story and the romance between the characters was so fun to follow. The vibes were immaculate and I had such a blast reading Kiss the Girl.

The Siren Seven have just finished their goodbye tour and Ariel Del Mar was promised a break. Too bad her overbearing "dadager" (dad + manager) has decided he's going to launch Ariel's solo career without her consent. Ariel bargains her six sisters' freedom and agrees to her father's conditions. Ariel has one last night of freedom before her big announcement, and she wants to spend it incognito as a normal girl at a regular concert. Fate has other plans when Ariel stops a thief from stealing Eric Reyes' beloved guitar. The two spend a magical night together, and Eric, not knowing who Ariel truly is, offers her a job selling his band's merch and touring the US. Ariel has obligations, but decides to defy her father and fall off the grid. She longs to be a normal girl, and this tour is the perfect opportunity to experience a world she's never known. Ariel's sister's support her rebellion, so she's able to avoid her overbearing father for a while, and slowly but surely falls in love with Eric. Eric still doesn't know who Ariel, now going by her legal first name Melody, really is. Eventually, Ariel's dad catches up to her and he's going to blow up everything she's made for herself.

This was a delightful Little Mermaid-inspired story. Ariel is sympathetic and interesting, Eric is adorable (although at the end infuriating). and Ariel's dad is the perfect villain. I will highly suggest this book for purchase and push it in Reader's Advisory.

A creative, contemporary retelling of Disney’s version of Little Mermaid. 3rd installment in the cute Meant to Be series. Having a Latina author brought a fresh cultural perspective.

A retelling of the Little Mermaid that centers around two singers. This was an overall cute rom-com. It wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t bad. I think it does just through you into a bunch of characters without much context. I also generally love mixed format writing (tweets, interviews, etc.) but at times, especially early on it felt weird. I think many will like this one though because of the nostalgia of the Little Mermaid!

I received an E arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this book! I love the little mermaid, and this was a interesting twist on the little mermaid story. I love that they didn’t shy away from the dad being super controlling. I love all of her sisters, and I adore Eric‘s band. This was the perfect escapist read that I needed. I will be buying this to go with my meant to be collection as soon as it comes out so I can read it again. I like that this is a book about musical groups that doesn’t rely heavily on fake lyrics to move the plot line.

I have been enjoying the Meant to Be series and this might be my favorite of the bunch!

Kiss the Girl is a modern retelling of The Little Mermaid but with pop stars and bands instead. I loved the little nods to the movie but I really loved how Ariel and Eric are Latine! Prince Eric has always been my favorite prince but Eric Reyes might be one of my favorite MMC.

Ariel is in a pop group with her 6 sisters, Siren Seven, and she's looking forward to the break their dad promised them after 15 years of being in the spotlight. However, she quickly realizes her dad is not going to honor her wishes and tries to create a solo break-out career for her. The night before, she sneaks out to a rock concert where she meets Eric Reyes, lead singer of Star Crossed. Ariel and Eric then spend the most magical night in the city and then invites her to go on tour with his band.

This is a clean romance with very loveable side characters. Oh, and the rowboat scene from the movie is included in the most amazing way!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

I have been such a fan of the Meant to Be series, and Kiss the Girl is such an amazing addition. While it could get a little tricky at times to keep track of all of the characters, Ariel and Eric at the center anchored the story. I also loved the flip in the villain from the original story. And of course all of the subtle yet perfect nods to The Little Mermaid.

I think out of all of the books in the Meant to Be series, this is my favorite. I love everything about the way Zoraida Córdova writes. The story does follow the Disney classic, but it also changes the dynamic between a few of the main characters and I am here for it. I cannot wait to purchase a copy for my school library. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced preview.

It is a fairly clever reworking of Disney’s Little Mermaid, with lots of humor and a sweet romance. Since it follows the standard structure of a romance novel, it was obvious what would cause the obligatory break-up. I hoped throughout that the author wouldn’t go that way, but she did. Generally, I enjoyed he book but such a clichéd ending will keep me from giving it more than three stars.

I am loving the idea of this Meant to Be series but this one didn’t quite work for me. I felt there was way too much emphasis on the singing career and tour rather than the relationship. A bit of a let down after loving the first two in the series and of course the Little Mermaid.

I love this series. I have read both other books, but this book has to be my favorite out of the entire series. You have Ariel aka Melody trying to find her voice. While there is no true villain every other aspect of the story that you could possibly want out of the original Disney Little Mermaid story line. I love the fact that Zoraida Cordova was able to find a way to acknowledge most of the main characters in a unique way. It allowed everyone to still shine though they may have a different role then in the original plot line. I also love that while Ariel and Eric still fall in love at first sight, they are given the time and space to figure out if that was just a moment or if it was something more. This book was just perfect. I can’t wait to recommend it! It will be at the forefront of my mind. Thank you so very much to Hyperion Avenue and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this amazing title.

In this modern retelling of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Ariel and her 6 sisters are famous pop stars, not mermaids, although they did play mermaids on TV. Their overbearing and controlling father has promised them a break after the band’s final performance, but within moments of the last note still echoing in the venue, he informs Ariel that he has arranged the opportunity of a lifetime for her to cut a solo album with a famous producer. In order to appease her father, she agrees to it if he lets her sisters have their year-long break. That night, Ariel attends a concert with one of her sisters and meets an up-and-coming singer in a band, Eric. The two of them spend the night getting pizza, talking, and dancing. Ariel introduces herself as Melody, her given name, in order to have one real night with someone who doesn’t have any knowledge of her pop persona. Eric invites “Melody” on tour with the band as their merchandise salesperson has just bailed on them. After a fight with her father the next morning, Ariel decides to take Eric up on his offer with the hopes that maybe she’ll figure out who she is and what she wants to do with her life.

This book was riddled with references to the Disney movie. It was fun whenever one would pop up (for example, Ariel untangles her hair with the plastic trident that came with her cocktail at the bar where she and Eric go dancing). The premise was cute and the characters were sweetly ridiculous. The ending was very predictable, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the updated trip down memory lane.

Recommended for adults. Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Group/Hyperion Avenue for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Look, I adore rom-com fairy tale retellings, and I will buy every single one. And with the Little Mermaid being my favorite Disney movie, I knew I had to read Zoraida Córdova's Kiss the Girl. The book delivers on all of my expectations, keeping with the general ambience of the original movie (including names) while giving the tale a fun rockstar makeover. The chemistry between Ariel and Eric is chef's kiss, and I enjoyed the overall plot.

Kiss the Girl is a fun lighthearted romance retelling of the Little Mermaid. As one of my all time favorite childhood movies, I was super excited to read this one and ended up enjoying it.

At times it felt a little repetitive and cheesy. The 2 main characters also had no flaws which felt a little off to me. I prefer when the characters, even in a romance, are a little more messy and realistic. Some things were hard for me to believe such as that no one would recognize a super famous singer just because she wasn’t wearing her wig.

But overall , if you like romance this one was fun to read and I felt completely invested in the story! I also enjoyed the musical elements to the story and thought that was a fun touch.

Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Kiss the Girl is a retelling of The Little Mermaid that reimagines King Triton as Teo del Mar, the head of the record label that manages the Siren Seven, his seven musical daughters. When the seven sisters negotiate some time off to pursue other passions, Ariel gets singled out as the sister that Daddy del Mar wants to continue making music, but Ariel has other plans for herself. She wants to be where the normal people are. It's almost like fate brings the perfect plan to her when she's swept up in a whirlwind night with a wannabe rockstar, Eric, the lead singer of a band called Star Crossed. Star Crossed is desperate for someone to sell their merch on tour, and Ariel is desperate to get away.

I found this book super sweet and fun. I enjoyed the dynamic between Ariel and Eric. While I would classify this as a celebrity romance, I think it's so fun that Eric is finding his fame, while Ariel is hiding from hers. I loved the characters, especially the on the tour bus. And there were a lot of characters, but I thought it was well done and not confusing.

I did feel like the ending was oversimplified, especially when it came to the main characters and their family drama, but that definitely didn't detract from the book being a super fun take on The Little Mermaid.

Additionally, this book is a closed door romance, which makes it a great option for younger readers or anyone who enjoys/prefers that style.

Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the eARC!

Absolutely adored this book! The Little Mermaid was my favorite movie when I was little (and still is) so when I saw this I knew I had to read it! Not to mention it also combines another one of my favorite things, music! I loved the bond that the Del Mar sisters had and that Eric had with his band as well. It was definitely a book I could not put down and immediately preordered from the author after reading!