Review by Alex- The ABCs of Kissing Boys

Parker Stanhope has played soccer practically since she could walk. And now that she’s a high school junior, everything she’s worked for is finally coming together. She’s paid her dues on the field, and as an upperclassman, she’s a shoo-in for the varsity team. But that’s not what happens.

This year, Coach Hartley moved up every JV player but two—and one of those two was Parker. Now, she’s stuck with the freshmen, her friends are cutting her loose, and her love of the game is seriously beginning to fail. But Parker is determined to get her life back. She has to get on the varsity team, and she has the perfect plan. All she needs now is the right kind of coach.

First Impressions: Seems a little weird, but fun and cute and light, which was in the mood for when I read it. And at only a little over 200 pages, it would be nice and fast.

So The ABC's of Kissing Boys has a really confusing premise. Lauren explained it here, in her review, although there's still perhaps a lack of clarity.

Parker loses all her friends when she doesn't get moved up to varsity. Awesome friends right? So to get her friends back and to get on the varsity team, instead of staying on the JV with -gasp- freshman, she hatches this plan. This involves kissing a graduated hottie from the school to impress her soccer coach. Somehow, Parker enlists the help of her younger neighbor, Tristan, who's dad is in some big dramatic fight with Parker's dad. Tristan is going to teach her how to kiss.

Parker plans for this to just be learning and nothing more. No feelings or strings attached. But somehow... this doesn't go exactly like she thought.

I have to say, Tristan is adorable, and oddly mature for his age. He's definitely years ahead of Parker, although to be fair, Parker does grow up in the end. She learns a lot about friendship, about leadership, about hurting and healing others, and of course, how to kiss.

People find out about Parker and Tristan's agreement though, and as an attempt to smooth things over, they decide to pretend they're dating and in love. And so Parker and Tristan are perceived as a pair of star-crossed lovers, like Romeo and Juliet. a) their dads hate each others guts and b) that huge significant age difference; a freshman is a huge no-no, even if he is pretty good-looking. I thought this was a fun angle to it. And everyone knows star-crossed lovers are the best kind of lovers. (We all know what a huge hit Twilight is.)

Final Impressions: Pretty much the same as my first impressions. The ABCs of Kissing Boys isn't a groundbreaking novel in any means, but it's perfect for a light predictable read to make you feel good and happy no matter what.

Add To Shelf: If you have the extra bucks, then why not. I wouldn't say rush out and buy this one, but it's worth it. And it's softcover! :)

Note This!* Each chapter starts with a kissing tip for each letter of the alphabet. So the second chapter has "Butterfly Kisses" for B, and the third chapter has "Caterpillar Kisses" for C, etc. I didn't actually notice this until the very end, but it's really neat. And must have been difficult to think of words/phrases for those little used letters like Q and X!

*Note This! is a new addition to the review system. It won't be there for every review, but if there's some interesting little fact that we think is worth mentioning, it will be in there. :)