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triciah6226's review
4.0
The witty banter and hilarity make this book so very entertaining and worth reading. The only reason I couldn't bring myself to give it five stars was because there was little to no real plot and not a whole lot of character development.
Cyn is an up-and-coming music producer who is best friends with her Muse, Jucee. I love how supportive Cyn's family, in particular her dad, always is.
Jucee is a bisexual exotic dancer who's not at all ashamed of what she does she's quite proud of herself (which was quite refreshing to read) who loves art, her son and her friends.
One of the things I loved most about this book was actually the relationship between Jucee and her ex, their ability to maintain friendship and co-parent their son in a healthy and supportive way.
Overall if you are looking for a fun, hilarious, Sapphic Romance that traverses the world of friends to lovers you'll enjoy this book.
Cyn is an up-and-coming music producer who is best friends with her Muse, Jucee. I love how supportive Cyn's family, in particular her dad, always is.
Jucee is a bisexual exotic dancer who's not at all ashamed of what she does she's quite proud of herself (which was quite refreshing to read) who loves art, her son and her friends.
One of the things I loved most about this book was actually the relationship between Jucee and her ex, their ability to maintain friendship and co-parent their son in a healthy and supportive way.
Overall if you are looking for a fun, hilarious, Sapphic Romance that traverses the world of friends to lovers you'll enjoy this book.
wizaurus_sarah's review
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
bethany6788's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So excited to be a part of the galley blitz for A Little Kissing Between Friends! I read this one in just a couple of hours. Y’all, I was so invested in this story between Jucee and Cyn and how they came to terms with looking at each other as more than friends. And it’s spicy!! 🔥😮💨👀😏 BUT it’s not just that. This book is about found family, friendship, confidence in yourself and your sexuality, and going after what you really, really want.
readthesparrow's review
I got this as an ARC via Netgalley.
When the narrative is doing anything but the romance, I enjoyed it. I loved Juleesa--she's cool, confidant, and I always love found family--and her relationships with her son, Amani, Nana Cherry, and her coworkers was so sweet.
I also love how normal queerness is, and how much the book abashedly romantacizes and lavishes praise on the bodies of its main characters. Also, as a southern food-lover, I loooove the food in this book. Higgins has a way with words when it comes to making me crave BBQ. I'd kill for the potato truck food mentioned in chapter eleven.
But the second the "romance" part of the book starts happening, the narrative just gets so goddamn boring. It's friends to lovers, but all the plot so far has just been miscommunication that happens because Cyn keeps getting hit with the romanceification ray that turns her from a fully fleshed out human adult to a complete mess who can't understand her own feelings (for some reason). All the side characters just stand around making knowing comments implying that they know Cyn and Juleesa are totally In Love and that they're just too stupid to see it. Which, like. Come on! Y'all are friends! Have a conversation!!
Maybe I'm just the wrong audience (I don't usually read contemporary romance) but I don't want to read 300+ pages of actually interesting character moments sandwiched between contrived miscommunication bullshit that doesn't make for an interesting romance.
Also, during the "spicy" scenes of the book, the writing would be fine until some random weird phrase would make me double-take and go wait, what? Like, sorry, but what the fuck ||do "flowers picked from a PUSSY GARDEN"????? smell like???????? Hello?? That phrase literally made me stand up and walk away because I. W H A T.||
Anyway. Yeah. I really wanted to push through for the sake of my Netgalley score but I'm DNFing. I can't take this any more.
When the narrative is doing anything but the romance, I enjoyed it. I loved Juleesa--she's cool, confidant, and I always love found family--and her relationships with her son, Amani, Nana Cherry, and her coworkers was so sweet.
I also love how normal queerness is, and how much the book abashedly romantacizes and lavishes praise on the bodies of its main characters. Also, as a southern food-lover, I loooove the food in this book. Higgins has a way with words when it comes to making me crave BBQ. I'd kill for the potato truck food mentioned in chapter eleven.
But the second the "romance" part of the book starts happening, the narrative just gets so goddamn boring. It's friends to lovers, but all the plot so far has just been miscommunication that happens because Cyn keeps getting hit with the romanceification ray that turns her from a fully fleshed out human adult to a complete mess who can't understand her own feelings (for some reason). All the side characters just stand around making knowing comments implying that they know Cyn and Juleesa are totally In Love and that they're just too stupid to see it. Which, like. Come on! Y'all are friends! Have a conversation!!
Maybe I'm just the wrong audience (I don't usually read contemporary romance) but I don't want to read 300+ pages of actually interesting character moments sandwiched between contrived miscommunication bullshit that doesn't make for an interesting romance.
Also, during the "spicy" scenes of the book, the writing would be fine until some random weird phrase would make me double-take and go wait, what? Like, sorry, but what the fuck ||do "flowers picked from a PUSSY GARDEN"????? smell like???????? Hello?? That phrase literally made me stand up and walk away because I. W H A T.||
Anyway. Yeah. I really wanted to push through for the sake of my Netgalley score but I'm DNFing. I can't take this any more.
meghannreads's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a fast paced, character driven, friends to lovers sapphic romance that was steamy (🤭) and feel good yet frustrating at times. The main conflict was miscommunication and basically one character (I WONT NAME NAMES YET) kept putting her foot in her mouth and saying all the wrong shit but not correcting her mistakes. The other character was a sunshine Angel who I loved so much. I really enjoyed the found family aspect, and the role their family played in getting Poppa and Jucee to talk to one another. Jucee was definitely my favorite. I just loved her confidence and the way she stands up for herself in every aspect of her life!!!
npetit01's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Harlequin - Romance, Carina Adores and NetGalley provided an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.
When the “Friends to Lovers” trope is done the right way, it is one of my all time favorite tropes. This author knocked the story of Cyn and Jucee out of the park. I think strong character development is why this story works so well; we really get to know the main characters through their inner dialogues, conversations, and interactions with loved ones. There were times when I wanted to shake sense into both main characters, but I never stopped rooting for them.
I can’t wait to re-read this with my friends.
When the “Friends to Lovers” trope is done the right way, it is one of my all time favorite tropes. This author knocked the story of Cyn and Jucee out of the park. I think strong character development is why this story works so well; we really get to know the main characters through their inner dialogues, conversations, and interactions with loved ones. There were times when I wanted to shake sense into both main characters, but I never stopped rooting for them.
I can’t wait to re-read this with my friends.
maggie_the_ferocious_reader's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
remibooks's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
_bookish_lauren's review
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Overall: 4/5
Spice level: 3/5
Tropes: best friends to lovers, found family
Representation: Sapphic story, Black romance, fat FMCs, bisexual FMC
This was a fun and sexy sapphic story between besties Cyn and Jucee. I absolutely loved the ease and closeness of their friendship and how it evolved. It felt natural.
Cyn's game playing and indecisiveness about her romantic interest in Jucee put me off of her character some, along her internalized biphobia. But her grand gesture in the end redeemed her.
Jucee was my favorite. She had a heart of gold and was an amazing mother to her kiddo.
Found family was an important aspect of this story, which I absolutely loved, and it's always a fun time to read stories set in my city.
Spice level: 3/5
Tropes: best friends to lovers, found family
Representation: Sapphic story, Black romance, fat FMCs, bisexual FMC
This was a fun and sexy sapphic story between besties Cyn and Jucee. I absolutely loved the ease and closeness of their friendship and how it evolved. It felt natural.
Cyn's game playing and indecisiveness about her romantic interest in Jucee put me off of her character some, along her internalized biphobia. But her grand gesture in the end redeemed her.
Jucee was my favorite. She had a heart of gold and was an amazing mother to her kiddo.
Found family was an important aspect of this story, which I absolutely loved, and it's always a fun time to read stories set in my city.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia
qace90's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia and Biphobia
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