Sam@WLABB
Written on Jun 11, 2017
Kissing Max Holden was one of my most anticipated reads for the second half of 2017, needless to say, I was ecstatic when Kiersten brought this one back from BEA. It was a wonderful boy next-door romance, that hit all the sweet spots for me.
These two had such a deep bond, which was cultivated through a decade of friendship. I always love when the MCs share a past, and Jillian and Max had such a wonderful and storied history. I really enjoyed those peeks Upperman gifted me of their past, because they helped me fully understand the depth of the hole left in both Jillian and Max's lives when they grew apart. It also helped me understand why they turned to each other as their lives were falling apart.
For all you out there who love a broken boy, Max totally fits the bill. In the beginning of the book, he was binge drinking and making many bad choices. Jillian and his friends were having a difficult time standing by and watching him as he fell deeper and deeper into his hole of despair, but I, along with Jillian, never lost hope. That was something Upperman did so well. There was so much going wrong in both Max and Jillian's lives, but there was always hope. There was always a bright spot, and the sun came out after the rain. I really appreciated that, because I need it in a story.
This story was built upon a lot of drama, but I really liked that most of the drama was outside of Max and Jillian's relationship. Yes, all these events affected the dynamic between Max and Jill, but it wasn't that typical, petty boy-girl drama.
There were a lot of broken relationships in this book, but the beautiful thing was that while some relationships were breaking, some were forming or becoming stronger. So, I got a little sad, but it was balanced out by me getting a little happy. Jillian in particular was forced to make some difficult choices, as she learned things she never wanted to know. My heart broke for her over and over again, and I was really proud of the choices she made.
Upperman gave Jill and Max a wonderful support system. They both had some really solid friends, who genuinely cared for them. Max's family may have been adjusting to his father's health issues, but they were still a rather cohesive group, who loved each other very much. Jillian did not have that same level of support from her father. In fact, he was a huge disappointment, but she grew to appreciate her step-mother and the Holden's continued to be her surrogate family when she needed them.
One piece of advice I must offer is to NOT read this on an empty stomach. Jillian was quite stressed out during this story, and her coping mechanism was baking. Upperman did not simply say, "She was baking." Oh, no. She describes smells, tastes, ingredients. I found my mouth watering quite a few times, and was sad that I could not climb into the book and share some snacks with them.
I enjoyed every page of this book. It was a wonderful story of family, love, and loss. A great romance, that warmed my heart, and left me with no doubt that I will be reading more of Katy Upperman's work.
**I would like to thank the awesome people at Swoon Reads for the advanced copy of this book.
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