Kisses and Croissants | ARC Review

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Mia, an American girl at an elite summer ballet program, has six weeks to achieve her dreams: to snag an audition with one of the world’s best ballet companies. But there’s more to Paris than ballet—especially when a charming French boy, Louis, wants to be her tour guide—and the pair discover the city has a few mysteries up its sleeve.

In the vein of romances like Love and Gelato, this is the perfect summer adventure for anyone looking to get swept away in the City of Love.

Review

I loved experiencing the firsts of Paris and falling in love in this story! There were so many times when I wished I could just jump through the pages to be in romantic Paris with our lovely ballerina.

As if I didn’t already want to be in Paris on a regular basis, this book romanticized the city and made me want it even more! Along those lines, I was so happy the book didn’t just take place inside of a ballet studio. There were loads of opportunities to tour Paris with our main character, Mia, and handsome Louis as they went on a bit of an artifact hunt. I loved the adventures this book took me on all throughout the city and as it explored new relationships and old ones.

Speaking of relationships, there are lots to comment on here! There is the obvious romantic one, which wasn’t my favorite, but had its cute moments. Then there were the nemesis-to-friend, misunderstood child-to-parent, and really tough ballet mentor ones. All of these relationships were showcased really well throughout the book and I’m so happy the author chose to explore them. This book could have easily just focused on finding romance in the city of love, but I’m happy that was only part of it.

But onto the romantic side of this book…At first, I was scared Louis was going to corrupt our dear Mia and “lead her astray” and away from her dreams, but that wasn’t the case (thank goodness!). Louis is actually a really good guy and had so many really cute moments. There were a few moments when I wished I was the one in his (totally muscular) arms looking out at the Eiffel tower at night while firecrackers lit up the sky. However, the ending was kinda wishy-washy with their relationship. I expected things to go in a different direction for them and was a bit disappointed to see how things actually went. It wasn’t all bad; I had just hoped for more.

Really, the ending in general felt a bit off. It was sudden and unexpected and felt like the author just needed some way to redirect the characters down new paths. I wasn’t a fan of that.

Overall, however, I really liked this book. It was adventurous and romantic and a great place to learn more about ballet!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed a gifted and advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating

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