Title: Kissing Games by Tara Eglington
Aurora Skye Series Book Two
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance
Length: 352 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
After a perfect first kiss, Aurora’s second kiss lands her boyfriend in the hospital, and her matchmaking strategies start to backfire in this sequel to Tara Eglington’s How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You.
For a girl who shares her name with a princess (aka Sleeping Beauty), Aurora Skye’s romantic life seems fathoms away from a fairy tale. Sure, she’s landed her prince charming, Hayden Paris. And she got her wish—one first kiss with all the knee-trembling, butterfly-inducing gloriousness she’d hoped for. But instead of happily ever after, their second kiss landed Hayden in the emergency room. If that’s not mortifying enough, the whole school is now referring to her as “Lethal Lips.”
When Aurora’s best friend decides to run for class president and offers up Aurora’s matchmaking service as one of her campaign initiatives, the kissing games begin. Aurora has to convince everyone that her program works—but that might be hard to do when it seems like her own love life might be falling apart.
Review:
Kissing Games by Tara Eglington is a charming, laugh out loud young adult contemporary novel. Although this latest release is the second installment in the delightful Aurora Skye series, it can be read as a standalone. However, I highly recommend book one, How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You, which is also an outstanding read.
Picking up where book one leaves off, Aurora Skye is preparing for a very romantic evening with her prince, Hayden Paris. To say things do not go as planned is a major understatement since Hayden ends up in the emergency room. Their new relationship is further challenged by parental punishment for misdeeds, Aurora’s involvement in a friend’s campaign for class president, her matchmaking endeavors and a few misunderstandings. Throw in challenges that arise as Aurora deals with unexpected changes in her family and the fate of their fledgling romance is far from certain.
Aurora is quite surprised when her friend, Jelena Cantrill, announces she is running for class president. With her latest predicament involving Hayden, she is uneasy about Jelena’s insistence in making Aurora’s matchmaking project a major part of her campaign. Tasked with finding matches for three of their classmates, Aurora has her work cut out for her when three very difficult people are selected for the project.
On the home front, Aurora’s dad (hilariously dubbed “the NAD”), seems to have fully recovered from his break-up with Ms. Deforest. His latest foray into new age enlightenment is rather unconventional but Aurora is happy he is moving past his current heartbreak. On the other hand, her relationship with her mother is still complicated and Aurora is concerned about how her mother’s stunning announcement will affect the NAD.
In between Aurora’s highly entertaining hijinks with her friends, there are a few serious story arcs. Aurora’s friend Lindsay is still trying to make a go of her renewed relationship with Tyler, but they hit a few bumps along the way. Jelena’s campaign leads to an unexpected bullying situation that she must figure out how to handle. Aurora’s relationship with her mother remains stressful and Aurora is also dealing with unexpected changes at home with the NAD. Aurora’s fears of abandonment affect her budding romance and her kneejerk response to an unexpected situation with her mom endangers her future with Hayden.
Kissing Games is an absolutely marvelous young adult contemporary novel that is quite funny and surprisingly thought-provoking. The cast of charactersare quite colorful and they continue to mature and grow throughout the two book series. This latest addition to Tara Eglington’s enchanting and entertaining Aurora Skye series will resonate with readers of all ages.
