After the Kiss
(Sex, Love & Stiletto #1)
By Lauren Layne
Average Rating: 3.95
Julie Greene loves flings. Loves steamy first dates, sizzling first kisses, and every now and then, that first sexy romp between the sheets. Comfy pants, sleepy Sundays, movie nights on the couch? Shudder. But when Julie gets assigned the hardest story of her career—a first-person account of that magical shift between dating and “I do”—she’ll need a man brave enough to give a total commitment-phobe a chance at more.
Normally, Mitchell Forbes would be exactly that man. A devastatingly hot workaholic who tends to stay in relationships for far too long, he should be the perfect subject for Julie’s “research.” But what Julie doesn’t know is that Mitchell is looking to cut loose for once in his life. And the leggy journalist notorious for avoiding love is exactly the type of no-strings fling he’s looking for. In other words, Mitchell is the polar opposite of what Julie needs right now. And, at the same time, he’s exactly what she wants.
Lauren Layne, you are a wonderful writer and I seriously love this series. I pretty much devoured all four books in 3 days. I did do something weird though…I kinda started on Book 3, then Book 1, 2 then 4…I don’t know why I did that but I definitely won’t be writing the reviews in that order. XD
Reading After the Kiss brought flashbacks to one of my favourite movies, “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. Both are definitely similar and I would say After the Kiss is the book version of “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” but SO MUCH BETTER.
Julie Greene writes for Stiletto, the top women’s magazine and is widely known as one of the trio of Stiletto’s top 3 columns: Dating, Love and Sex or what Mitchell and Colin calls them, “Kiss, Cuddle and Fuck”, respectively. Julie is the Dating girl. She is someone I’m going to call a “serial-dater”. She isn’t really the commitment kind of girl and absolutely hates the idea of settling down. This makes her the best Dating journalist when writing everything from the first kiss to “how-to-get-the-second-date” but she adds personal touches to her stories as well. And Julie’s next story goes against everything about how she lives her life; it’s about going from the second date to walking down the aisle. This is her hardest subject yet because to keep up her signature Julie needs a man who wants a wife to make her article personal…and Mitchell is that guy. That sounds so easy right? Reel the guy in, make him want to marry you, then break it off in a month. Julie gets her material for her article and Stiletto keeps it fresh. Wrong.
Mitchell is definitely a man that wants a wife. After breaking it off with his longtime girlfriend, Mitchell’s friend, Colin, decides that Mitchell “can’t start seeing a women without getting halfway to the alter.” So, Colin bets Mitchell to show him that he can have a nice, easy, sexy fling. Who isn’t the perfect women for Mitchell to win this bet other than Julie Greene? Too bad she needs to write an article about being perfect wife material. Mitchell and Julie both have secrets and their whole relationship began with the wrong reasons, Julie with an article and Mitchell with a BET. (Does sounds like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days huh?)
Yup, my fellow book nerds, it’s a wonderful (but cliché) storyline that I just embraced 100% from the get-go. Trust me, it’s so freaking good.
This novel oozes girl power with the strong friendships of Julie, Grace and Riley (Kiss, Cuddle and Fuck, remember? 😉 ) Julie’s relationships with these girls keep the novel from getting stale, which I mean, it couldn’t anyway from Julie and Mitchell circling each other like fighters in a ring. With Mitchell trying not to see Julie as more than a casual thing, and Julie trying to see Mitchell as just the means to her next story, it calls for one heck of a romance novel. Not only that, their sarcastic banter deserves a five star rating all on it’s own! Bets and hearts are on the line and it’s entertaining as hell!
AND. ANNND these two characters don’t even expect what they will do to each other because their first impressions on each other are completely opposite from what their “types” are. What I’m trying to get at is After the Kiss is an opposites attract novel as well. *sigh* Yes, this is the typical romantic Chick Lit novel but it’s SO GOOD.
“Being attracted to Mitchell was not part of the plan, yet here she was, quivering and wanting to rub against him. Mayday, mayday! I want to hump my story subject!“
As character personality goes, I absolutely LOVE Julie’s internal quips! She’s such a quirky, comedic character that reels you in from the start! Mitchell is blunt as hell and sees right through Julie which makes their relationship even better. (It also makes him attractive as hell to me.) Both characters develop and learn about the meaning of relationships, love and just being with someone you care about.
As for the series, Sex, Love & Stiletto, each novel is based on each writer from Julie’s friend group, Grace, Riley, then later Emma. Each novel coincidentally focuses on their column subject as well with Grace dealing with love, Riley dealing with sex and Emma dealing with break ups. Each novel can be read as a standalone, so if anyone is more interest in a certain storyline than the other, by all means, go for it! I did the same thing! It just made me want to read the rest of the series from Book 1. BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE.
These books are romantic and are guaranteed to have a happily ever after. So, anyone looking for a feel-good, fluffy, comedic novel, Sex, Love & Stiletto is a quick series for you!
After the Kiss is the perfect read with a HEA, strong feminine friendships, quirky characters and a swoonworthy love story. I promise you will fall in love with the Stiletto girls and their men.
Keep calm and read on,
Addictively Turning Pages 