Once Upon a Kiss

by Jayne Fresina

[Amanda]

I've been hit or miss with historical romances lately -- a natural side effect of randomly selecting books off the library shelves -- and I really wanted a hit after the last miss, so I chose Once Upon a Kiss. This isn't my first Jayne Fresina, and I felt reasonably certain she'd deliver.

And she did. Oh, how she did! And better yet, I knew it by the first paragraph of the second chapter.

You see, characters and tension drive the plot of any book, and Jayne Fresina does such a good job of introducing Darius and Justina that I knew, even before they met, sparks would fly. I wasn't disappointed. Darius is quiet, regimented, and likes structure. Justina is, quite naturally, the exact opposite.

Once Upon a Kiss has more than a few laugh out loud moments, for Justina attracts trouble without even trying, and you can't help liking her. Darius is, well, he's Mr. Darcy, but still very much his own character.

Justina and her friends from their book club (which I'm glad, by the way, that this is the beginning of a series that will feature them) are reading Pride and Prejudice. Once Upon a Kiss is a cheeky Pride and Prejudice retelling (at least, that's how I'd consider it; I've not seen anything anywhere that says it actually is), using the book itself to highlight what's going on with the characters.

This book pokes fun at romance novels and characters in them in a way that's quite hilarious and meta. And yet, Once Upon a Kiss is a sweet and lighthearted romance that was fun and adorable and I already want to read the rest of the series, even though the next book isn't even out yet.