Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC. This book was just very mid to me. Nothing impressive; not something I will be thinking about when I put it down.

Enemies to lovers with a second chance romance.

You have Olivia who is planning her best friend Masha’s wedding and the best man Jake who has always been her high school nemesis (or so she thought). After prom night when she was to attend with Eli and ended up with Jake as her date her world has never gone as she planned....her dad died and she never went to school to follow her dreams. It’s been 10 years since that night and something happens as Liz stares into the eyes of Jake as her best friend says I do at the wedding. The universe shifts on its axis and Jake is now the love of her life..the only problem is Masha and her mom hates her in new life. If you loved 13 Going on 30 or Freaky Friday you will like this book!




Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

Olivia is living in a "default" world. Rocked by the death of her father after high school, her dreams have been dashed and she has her plain life - Lyft driving, helping her mom with a podcast, and helping plan her best friend's wedding. Jake Glasswell, her arch-rival, is in town for the wedding and his strokes of luck have led him to the rich and famous life she dreamed of for herself. But, when the world turns on its axis and Olivia gets what she wants, can she sort out what is really important in life? And can she take the risk to make it hers permanently?

"In love with you. Here. There. Everywhere. All the wheres in all the worlds. Always.
A heartwarming rom-com journal. From the first sentence to the last I was feeling a ton of feelings. This is gonna do wonders on booktok, and booktube let me yell that from the roof tops.
Thank you to the publisher, the author and net galley for the chance to arc read this book!
3.5/5 stars

An enemies to lovers romance about what would happen if a moment from your past was altered and you got the chance to see how everything would have turned out. I loved this story about Jake and Olivia. This story had heart ache but also laugh out loud moments that really made you appreciate the people in your life who make up your inner circle. This book was what second chance romance dreams are made of. So good!

Fantastic novel, enjoyed every minute of it! Absolutely nothing not to like about it. Such a cute story and great characters. Highly recommend this!

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Not a badly written book but I couldn't stand Liv and that took me right out of it. Just couldn't keep going. DNF at 29%.

WHAT'S IN A KISS is a light and sweet read. Two high school enemies are forced to reunite several years later with the wedding of their best friends coming up. Olivia is still at home in California, didn't end up going to Juilliard, and is doing a podcast with her mother. Meanwhile, Jake is a successful TV personality and seems to have everything going for him. Olivia has managed to keep far away from him until she ends up being Jake's Lyft driver.

While at their friends' wedding, Olivia enters a parallel universe in which she had gone to Juilliard, plays a doctor on a television show... and is happily married to Jake. Being forced into this world, she is able to see Jake in a completely different way and how a relationship between is possible despite their past.

I liked the question the author poses of how differently can one's life change with just one decision. I thought it had an interesting premise of enemies-to-lovers and alternate reality tropes, but I will say I was hoping to see more of how Jake and Olivia's relationship changes once Olivia is back to her original life. The ending felt a bit rushed. I found it to be less deep and angsty and more of a cute, feel-good story. So, if you are into those stories, you may enjoy this one!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Olivia was a very relatable character and had me rooting for her from page one. While I greatly enjoyed her and her friends/love interest, I felt as though the book was confusing. The time parallel needed more explanation to fully understand and connect with.

Thank you to NetGalley, Putnam Books, and Penguin for the e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia isn’t living her best life but she does have her BBS(Broken Bone Sister) Masha and her loving Mom. Olivia spends most of her time doting on those she loves more than focusing on herself. Liv sacrificed college and her dreams of acting to take care of her grieving mom but she couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t made the sacrifices.

Enter her high school nemesis and the best man at her best friend Masha’s wedding Jake. Jake got the life she wanted in New York and is a thriving podcast host who everyone loves but Liv who wants to take him down.

Hijinks ensue at the wedding and Liv is transported into another life one where she’s a successful TV actress and happens to be married to Jake. Jake is the perfect dreamy husband. The catch? Her mom and best friend Masha hate her.

I adored the banter and relationship between Liv and Jake. The more you read the more you just fall in love with Jake. The book makes you think about what if you changed one thing, would it change your entire life? I loved this book, it had such a hold on me that I finished it in one day.

"In love with you. Here. There. Everywhere. All the wheres in all the worlds. Always."

I think this is my second read with the parallel universe trope. I loved reading the alternate reality in this and I loved Olivia and Jakes marriage, Jake was literally perfect and adorable. The ending was super sweet, I just wish that the real life portion was longer, or that there was an epilogue. I wanted to see more of that but I think we know they’d be happy together either way, in every world 🥹

There were some things that were left unexplained, like why her relationships with Masha and her mother in her high life between were ruined. I don’t usually say this but I feel like this book could have been longer, if felt a little cut short. I enjoyed it overall though!

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC

I got a little confused during the early portion of this book, but because it was early on, I kept reading and I'm glad I did.

I actually really enjoyed the book! The initial flirty banter between the two characters, the knowledge that there's definitely some fire chemistry between them and beneath that frustration - it was fun to watch. And then, once the alternate universe came into the picture, I was very curious about how they'd end up back in their real lives.

My only frustration was that I wanted to see more love between the characters after they got back to their real lives - i wanted to see more banter and fun and interaction!

Overall, the book is cute. reminds me a lot of 13 going on 30 vibes. The book however felt really slow and then really rushed, also the jumping of realities was just really confusing and that made it difficult to follow. I typically love books with the butterfly-affect (how one event can change your whole life!) but this one just didn't do it for me. It felt confusing and left me with a lot of questions and no answers. The ending felt incomplete.

You'll enjoy if you like enemies to lovers tropes, banter between the main characters, and an alternate reality plot line.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Book is released on 7/2/2024!

Olivia’s life has not gone as planned. And her nemesis, Jake, has it all. He’s a popular TV personality everyone adores. When Liv’s best friend marries Jake’s best friend, the two will reunite for the first time since high school. After the vows, Liv is transported to a parallel reality where Jake is the love of her life and all her acting dreams have come true. Olivia is faced with evaluating the significance of her choices and decisions.

The book gave me 13 Going on 30 vibes. I enjoyed the premise of truly how much our decisions affect our lives and their outcomes. The pacing was inconsistent. It started out slow, but then felt rushed. So rushed that it left me with questions. Overall, it was a cute story.

✨ ARC REVIEW ✨

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! If you're a fan of Catherine Center, add this book to your TBR immediately. It made me laugh out loud, it broke my heart, and it made me think about what is really important in life. There was banter, love, and soul mates of every kind- friends, mother and daughter, and romantic- and it was all written beautifully, with a hint of the best kind of sarcasm.

"In love with you. Here. There. Everywhere. All the where's in all the worlds. Always"

What if you had to choose between a life where you have no job, no love, but a best friend and sister who you couldn't imagine life without and a life where you have your dream job and a soul mate who you love with everything you are? Olivia is put in that position in this beautiful and witty story about choosing the life that you love and being brave enough to go out and get it.

"Without them, a flat tire would lay me low. But with their support, I could navigate a four-tire-blowout on the Autobahn, backwards and upside down."

✨ Enemies to Lovers
✨ Best Friends = Soul Mates
✨ Strong Female Relationships
✨ Parallel Universe

📚 Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🔥 Spice Rating: 💗 with a little extra

"The only way to love eternally is to love now."

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Lauren Kate for the opportunity to read this amazing book in exchange for my honest review.


Spice Rating
🤍 clean romance
💗 closed door/ fade to black
❤️ sexual content
❤️‍🔥 explicit, play-by-play
🖤 graphic, more than vanilla

****THIS IS A NETGALLEY ARC REVIEW****

I thought this book was super cute. It had heartwarming moments and was definitely comedic, and I loved the FMC’s thought process.

That being said, I didn’t love the pacing of the book, and felt that we took too long to get to the real plot and then after it felt a little rushed. I also didn’t enjoy the fact that we don’t really know why certain things in the “High Life” world happened, and it felt like there were plot holes.

Cute and fun romcom. I did feel that it could have used more depth / explanations as to where and what was going on. Thanks for the arc

“Here. There. Everywhere. All the wheres in all the worlds. Always.“ 🥹

‘What’s in a Kiss?’ was such a cute enemies to lovers romance. If you love 13 Going on 30, you will love this book! It’s about Olivia and Jake and a prom kiss that almost happened and a chance for Olivia to experience an alternate world where it did.

Things I loved:
-the banter and chemistry between Jake and Olivia
-Olivia’s relationship with her mom and best friend
-the Last name nicknames

Things I didn’t love:
-the ending - it was so cute and I wanted more! I wish there was an epilogue.
-the plot holes in the alternate universe. I was confused a lot. Especially with what happened with Masha and Olivia’s mom. That was never answered.

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC!

had a hard time pushing through it, The writing style was not my favorite. I wish there was an epilogue and it felt rushed. It was super cute but overall not my favorite.

What's in a Kiss? by Lauren Kate intricately weaves the magic of second chances and parallel universes into a delightful tale of love and self-discovery. As Olivia, a furloughed drama teacher, faces her high school rival, Jake Glasswell, at her best friend's wedding, a chance encounter catapults her into an alternate reality where a long-lost prom night kiss sparks a different life with Jake as the love of her life. The novel skillfully blends enemies-to-lovers dynamics with humor, banter, and swoon-worthy moments, making Liv and Jake's journey both nostalgic and endearing. While the supporting characters, particularly Liv's relationships with her best friend Masha and her mom Lorena, add warmth to the narrative, the intrigue of parallel universes and unanswered questions leave readers pondering the significance of choices and love. Overall, What's in a Kiss? is a sweet and whimsical exploration of unexpected love, inviting readers to reflect on the magic of second chances.