Kissing Lessons

by Sophie Jordan

Wild, beautiful, and (as rumor has it) experienced, Hayden Vargas doesn’t have time for love or relationships. She’s learned the hard way that the only person you can count on is yourself, and she’s hell-bent on earning enough money to leave her small, judgy Texas town as fast as possible. So when nerdy Emmaline Martin offers to pay Hayden for lessons in seduction, the money is so easy, there must be a catch. Enter the catch: Emmaline’s older brother, popular, all-around nice guy™ Nolan Martin, who doesn’t want his sister’s reputation tarnished by the school’s resident bad girl.

But Hayden should know that looks can be deceiving. Nolan may seem like a golden boy, but like Hayden, he has a few secrets of his own. And the more he meddles in her lessons with Emmaline, the more these polar opposites clash—and the more sparks fly. Turns out Nolan may have some lessons to teach Hayden, but only if she’s willing to learn.

• ISBN13: 9781328977076
• Publish Date: 6 July 2020 (first published 2 June 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 21 December 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
• Imprint: HMH Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Nolan's life had been going smoothly, and largely, drama free. He was doing a good job being the man of the house following his father's death. All was going well with his best friend, girlfriend, and sister, until his sister embarked on a friendship with Hayden. Her presence in their world upset the balance, but it seemed their presence in her world was also turning things upside down, and maybe they were changing each other's lives for the better.

I rather enjoyed this book. I felt like I learned enough about Hayden to understand why she did the things she did. I liked that these people came into her life, and gave her a sense of security she was only able to find with a pad-lock and deadbolt. Overall, this book was entertaining, but there were quite a few loose ends, which left me wanting. The ending was nice, the sunshine and rainbows type stuff I adore, but so abrupt. There was a pretty awful event that occurred right near the end of the book, that seemed to major to leave unresolved. It didn't destroy my overall enjoyment of the book, but it's something that kept me from rating it higher.

That said, I was a fan of the romances and the characters.

Hayden was known as the bad girl, the promiscuous girl, but this reputation seemed to be based on few facts. All the rumors didn't make any difference to Hayden, because she was in the habit of avoiding attachments. Abandoned by her father, and also, more or less by her mother, she had learned to rely on no one other than herself. She was fine with this until Emma, Nolan, and the rest of them invaded her life. They made her rethink her stance on friendships and relationships. They gave her that taste of having someone there, by your side, and she wanted more.

Nolan was just going with the flow. He was staying in unsatisfying relationships, and playing the role of the overprotective brother. He never imagined he would meet someone, who would challenge him to take a hard look at himself, but he liked it, or at least parts of it.

I found myself wanting these two to connect immediately. There was undeniable chemistry, but also something else that simmered below the surface, and made me root for their union. I think it was the movie watching scene, which solidified this ship for me. It was a fun scene, but also showed them engaging in a non-sexual way.

Overall: An enjoyable story about taking the time to look beyond the labels and letting people in.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[Leigha]

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Hayden Vargas agrees to teach seduction lessons to some underclassman in this surprisingly serious young adult romance.

I’m disappointed – I expected more rom-com in this title. The cover and synopsis make it seem like a fun and flirty romance, not a drama. It’s also told from four narrators. The narrative felt disjointed and slow as it moved from one character to the next. Scenes are told from multiple perspectives, bogging it down in too many details to make an impactful story.

The characters and romances could have saved the story for me. Alas, I found all of them tedious and boring. Hayden, in particular, didn’t get nearly enough character-development. I couldn’t tell you her sexual experience beyond kissing Beau in the 8th Grade. Perhaps she is experienced, perhaps not, but it should have been more apparent to the reader if not the other main characters. The entire premise is built on her supposed sexuality, it seems off for the book not to go into those details.

tl;dr Too little rom-com and one-dimensional characters kept me from enjoying this fun premise.