26 Kisses by Anna Michels

26 Kisses

by Anna Michels

304 pages

Published by Simon Pulse

Plot: Getting dumped by her boyfriend is not how Veda planned on starting her summer. When Mark makes it clear that it’s over between them, Veda is heartbroken and humiliated—but, more importantly, she’s inspired. So she sets out on the love quest of a lifetime: use the summer to forget about Mark, to move on, and move up. All she has to do is kiss twenty-six boys with twenty-six different names—one for each letter of the alphabet.

From the top of the Ferris wheel at her hometown carnival to the sandy dunes of Lake Michigan, Veda takes every opportunity she can to add kisses (and boys) to her list, and soon the break-up doesn’t sting quite as much. But just when Veda thinks she has the whole kissing thing figured out, she meets someone who turns her world upside down. (2018, goodreads.com)

Review: Veda (Vee) is heartbroken after her boyfriend Mark breaks up with her before leaving to college.  Her best friend Mel thinks the best way for her to get over him is to spend the summer kissing boys.  26 boys to be exact- one for each letter of the alphabet.  The point is for Vee to just start thinking about other boys and to stop obsessing over how much she misses Mark.  Vee is reluctant to take on this challenge, but eventually gives in because she knows she needs to move on and maybe this will help her. During the summer, Vee also starts working for Mel’s dad at his business and meets Killian.  It’s obvious from the beginning that Mel wants Killian and Vee to hit it off, but Vee is not wanting to jump into a relationship anytime soon.

After getting started with the kissing challenge, Vee decides to take it more seriously.  And thus the shenanigans begins...  At first, I thought this challenge was a little too much, but luckily Vee doesn’t have to kiss every boy on the lips and most of her kisses end up on other places like hands and cheeks.  The romance between Vee and Killian was sweet, and it took Vee a while to start thinking of Killian as more than just a friend.  It almost made me wonder if they would actually start a real relationship by the end.  But, Killian was very patient with Vee even after he finds out about the challenge.  I think it made a lot of sense for Vee to not want to jump into a new relationship right away.  It was realistic that she didn't develop feelings for Killian until later on.  It shows that she is not so fickle with her feelings. Which is a good thing. Vee has to figure out if there is 'life after love' and if her heart is willing to start over.

Overall, it was a cute story about getting over your first love, trying something out of your comfort zone, self-reflection, and finding love again.  For ages 15 and up! 

*Received a DRC for an honest review.

Rating: 4 Hearts!

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