Book Review: Kissing Lessons by Stefanie London

Kissing Lessons by Stefanie London is a contemporary romance. Audrey Miller doesn’t believe in happily-ever-after, so she is definitely living in the wrong town. But she’s never getting out of Kissing Creek, because playing pseudo-mom for her younger siblings doesn’t leave time for much else. She’ll do anything to make sure they don’t end up stuck like she is, working as a barista in a college town, serving Pink Passion mochas with Chocolate Smooch donuts. Then Ronan Walsh, a new young professor and walking cliché, right down to the elbow patches on his blazer, steps in for a coffee and into her life. She knows his type—intelligent and charming, yet sweet as a cinnamon roll, the sort of man she’s inevitably attracted to but is always out of her league. So why does someone like him have any interest in a worker bee with no future? Her bland-as-oatmeal existence has nothing to offer, but Ronan’s temporary teaching position is only a stepping stone on his way to somewhere else. He isn’t here to put down roots, Audrey’s roots are firmly planted—neither of them is looking for love. And maybe that’s just perfect.

Kissing Lessons is a book that had some ups and downs for me. I liked the complexities of both Audrey and Ronan as characters, their challenging families and their awareness of how it impacts them in more than the obvious ways. I liked the small town wackiness, particularly the llama, and the verbal sparing between Ronan and Audrey was well done. The secondary characters were well built as well, and there was a nice combination of support system in the friends and family for the major players, even when they were unable to admit or accept their help. For me I found that the book ran a little long. I kept waiting for something big to happen, and felt like things were drawn out a little longer than it needed to be. There were mild character introductions that had me expecting them to pop up again and be a source of conflict, only to find they were never to be seen again. The book was good, it just did not keep me an engaged as I had hoped. 

Kissing Lessons is a solid small town romance and I think fans of the author will really enjoy it.