A review by lizanneyoung
The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton

4.0

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES

🌼 Fake Dating

🌼 One Bed

Amerie is an event planner who just got fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend because she was focused on her mother, who has sickle-cell anemia. When she stumbles into Vincent, a NASA astronaut in a coffee shop, things seem to change for the better, but only if she agrees to be his date to a New Year's Eve party. 

This was one of my most anticipated reads for the year, and it delivered. Vincent is just trying to get his family off his back as he prepares for a mission to the moon, Amerie needs to refind her ground, and now they can both help the other out. It’s clear there’s an instant attraction between them, and it is so fun to watch them try to fight that. 

Vincent’s love language is clearly like gifts and/or acts of service. He takes note of Amerie’s preferences and his little somethings add to both the confusion of just how fake their relationship is. It sells how quickly a fake relationship can turn into something more and is arguably the most believable fake dating book I’ve read in the last several months. 

I can’t help but feel for Amerie. She doesn’t want her parents to struggle because of how her childhood was, but in turn, she takes on that burden until it detrimentally impacts her life. While she can’t necessarily open up to them about her struggles, she has a great best friend in Gina, and eventually Vincent, and it’s wonderful to see her realize she doesn’t have to take it all on alone.