Review: A sweet and cute romance but I needed more
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 25, 2013
Kissing Kendal is a sweet and cute romance that you will finish in no time and you will be left with a huge grin afterwards. Yes it is that sweet.Kissing Kendall is the story of Kendall, a young widow who after losing her parents and husband is afraid to fall in love and live again and Brad, her best friend's brother who is in love with her since he can remember himself but has never acted upon those feelings in fear of ruining their friendship.Jennifer Shirk has done a really good job with both the character development in this story and the pace of the romance. Not an incredible work, but good nonetheless. For the first half of the book I was reading nonstop and loving every minute of it. The second half of this book though, is a whole other matter.Unfortunately, even if in the end of the day I found Kissing Kendall enjoyable and sweet, still I had some problems with it, problems, that are reflecting in my rating of this book, I'm afraid.For starters, the pace of the book was a bit uneven. You see the first part is moving forward and in a fast pace making it a very enjoyable read until the moment Brad finally reveals his emotions to Kendall. From that point on, the whole story is slowly starting losing its appeal. Because from that moment on starts the non stop back and forth in their relationship, a back and forth that I have to blame solely on Kendall. And she is my second problem with this novel. Because Brad, is an amazing character. Sweet and protective and to be honest, it has been a long time since I read about an undeniably alpha male who was portrayed in such a sweet way. He didn't have to scream alpha. He just was, without being possessive or any other thing. So Brad's character, is maybe the best thing in Kissing Kendall.Kendall on the other hand, not so much. At least for me. I got that she was wounded, that she couldn't move forward and forget and deal with that many misfortunes, but still, her behavior at times was difficult to put up with. She came of as rather self centered. I'm pretty certain that through her reluctance to fall in love again and the general way she chose to deal with her wounded past, the author's intention was to make the reader feel sympathetic towards her. But in my case, all that had the exact opposite effect I'm afraid. I know Kendall isn't self centered. But she certainly appeared that way. And the way she almost "played" with Brad, tired me after a point. I mean one moment she wanted him, the next she pushed him away and that pattern was repeated over and over again.So, even though I pretty much enjoyed Kissing Kendall, I can't say that it's among the best contemporary romances out there. I had a good time reading it but I don't think I will remember much of it, except for the way Kendall couldn't make up her mind and get what she wanted. Oh, and how I much loved Brad :)