Reseña de ARC: Kissing Lessons

Kissing Lessons 

by 

Stefanie London

 

312 pages

Published November 9th 2020 by Entangled Publishing LLC (Amara)

ASIN: B08LC64T26

Edition Language: English

My rating: 3.5 stars de 5

Good start, get a bit draggy in the middle.

Kissing Creek is a small town with thematic shops about romance, where Audrey Miller works at the Café near the college and in another shop; she is 26 years old, dropped the school at 15 to take charge of her 4 younger siblings. Her mother died and her father has been unemployed ever since. So she is determined to get her siblings out there regardless of the cost.

Ronan Walsh is a professor who has just arrived from Harvard to teach a course at the local university, being the closest place to Boston and his sick grandmother who brought him back. He is 34 years old and has lived fleeing from any relationship or attachment, always independent.

It made him think of himself and Keira and their grandmother, how tough they all were and yet how separate. They each had their own lives, and they held survival and achievement in the highest regard—higher, even, than being together as a group.

They both have bad experiences with their families, but the way to deal with it is quite different.

When Audrey and Ronan meet, chemistry emerges and then they meet in the course he does, where she is a free student (his only 'selfish extravaganza') and they still get along. And although Audrey tells herself that this has no future because she is someone without a future tied to the town and her family; and he is a man who is used to always moving forward, without looking back, towards his academic excellence, with nothing to lose. Deep down they are both afraid of abandonment.

The author does well to get into the inner motivations of the couple. Although when it comes to highlighting how intelligent they are both, she gets a little over the top and gets a bit tiresome.

And, although I understand that Audrey's character continues to cover her dad, the resolution is very rushed in just one sentence. And she never faces the fact that she is not doing her siblings any good by tolerating the mental abuse from her father and even when he bruises her and Audrey keeps saying "She is fine." No, it's not fine.

“I’m fine,” she said, placing a reassuring hand on Nicole’s arm. “It was a one-off incident, and I provoked him. I know he’s not perfect, but he doesn’t get physical with us.”
Usually.

Another thing that bothers me is that Audrey talks like an older person while she is in her 20s, but Deanna who is 14 years old seems much younger because how she behaves, like she is 9 years old. And why can't her 17-year-old siblings work to help her?

Well, it's a good book (Although a little over emotional). I like the style of writing. So I'll see if there is another book by this author later.


+Digital ARC genly provided by Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review+ 

 {Ahora en Castellano:}

Buen comienzo, ponte un poco lento en el medio.

Kissing Creek es una pequeña ciudad con tiendas temáticas de besos y romance, donde Audrey Miller trabaja en el Café cerca de la universidad y además en otra tienda; tiene 26 años, dejó la escuela a los 15 para hacerse cargo de sus 4 hermanos menores. Su madre murió y su padre está desempleado desde entonces. Así que está decidida a sacar a sus hermanos sin importar el costo.

Ronan Walsh es un profesor que acaba de llegar de Harvard para impartir un curso en la universidad local, siendo el lugar más cercano a Boston y su abuela enferma que lo trajo de regreso. Tiene 34 años y ha vivido huyendo de cualquier relación o apego, siempre independiente.

Ambos tienen malas experiencias con sus familias, pero la forma de lidiar con ellas es bastante diferente.

Cuando Audrey y Ronan se encuentran, surge la química y luego se encuentran en el curso que él hace, donde ella es una estudiante libre (su única 'extravagancia egoísta') y todavía se llevan bien. Y aunque Audrey se dice a sí misma que esto no tiene futuro porque es alguien sin futuro atada al pueblo y su familia; y él es un hombre acostumbrado a avanzar siempre, sin mirar atrás, hacia su excelencia académica, sin nada que perder. En el fondo, ambos tienen miedo al abandono.

El autor hace bien en adentrarse en las motivaciones internas de la pareja. Aunque cuando se trata de resaltar lo inteligentes que son ambos, ella se excede un poco y cansa un poco.

Y, aunque entiendo que el personaje de Audrey sigue cubriendo a su papá, la resolución es muy apresurada en apenas una frase. Y nunca enfrenta el hecho de que no les está haciendo ningún bien a sus hermanos al tolerar el abuso mental de su padre e incluso cuando él la deja moretones por un apreton y Audrey sigue diciendo "Está bien". No, no está bien.

Otra cosa que me irrita es que Audrey habla como una persona mayor aun cuando tiene 20 años, pero Deanna, que tiene 14 años, parece mucho más joven porque se comporta como si tuviera 9 años. ¿Y por qué no pueden trabajar sus hermanos de 17 años para ayudarla?

Bueno, es un buen libro (aunque un poco sobre emocional). Me gusta el estilo de escritura. Asi que veré si hay otro libro de este autor más adelante.