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First things first: Do rate/review Only A Kiss on Goodreads, or give a shout-out to the author on Twitter and Facebook.
When she was nine-years-old, Katie knew she wanted Chris to give her her first kiss. It wasn’t because she was in love with him (no way, he was her best friend! Besides, she was in love with his fourteen-year-old big brother), it was because she could make him do anything she wanted.
Besides, it didn’t really mean anything. It was only a kiss after all.
But then things started to change. They grew up. They parted ways and went to different high schools. And other girls and boys—well, just one particular boy—came into the picture, throwing their lives upside down.
Told from the alternating points of view of Katie and Chris, this love story between two best friends will tug at your heartstrings and leave you thinking how the simplest things can mean so much.
I went back in time, that’s what happened when I read Only A Kiss. I went back to re-live a childhood that wasn’t mine, filled with cotton candy, rainbows, and firsts I never had. From the very beginning, it was wonderful and fluffy and just… see that gifscale up there? Totally accurate.
I read it a while back, but when I went back to it again for this not-review, all the fluffy feelings were renewed!
She knew that if there was anyone who was going to give her that first kiss, it was going to be him.
The book progresses from the time when the protagonist, Katie, is still nine years old, to when she’s already a grown up and doing adult things. Like having a career… and unintentionally breaking hearts oops. And from start to end feels like a journey. Like you’re also starting out as a kid and growing up with them.
It’s fascinating to feel the tone of the book change as you go along. You’ll see Katie and Chris go from trying to one-up each other in games of Speed, to discovering on their own exactly what it means to TAKE TOO DAMN LONG!
…Sorry. Feelings.
The "if you had waited for a few more seconds" schtick. OMG #ONLYAKISS HOW DARE YOU 😢😢😢@Inesbyao
— chi 🏳️🌈 #BiExists (@chiyurodriguez) November 29, 2015
There are a lot of familiar elements in Only A Kiss – things that you might have encountered before in similar tropes. But it never takes away from the magic because Ines Bautista Yao writes like… I can only describe it as comforting.
Comforting in a way that it feels like you’re being told a bed time story by a parent or guardian you love dearly. Or rediscovering something you used to love as a kid, as an adult. Or exchanging anecdotes with someone you look up to.
The relationships are also very easy to relate to. They bring back memories, or remind you of someone you know now. It all feels very personal, somehow.
Like the book (yes the actual book, okay) is a really great friend you haven’t seen in a long time, and you’re hanging out again for the first time in years, so everything is absolutely heartwarming no matter what you say or do.
In short, this book is like a nice, warm, hug. ♥
With a side of emotional frustration.
About the Author
She is the former editor-in-chief of Candy and K-Zone magazines, and a former high school and college ENglish and Literature teacher. She is also a wife and mom and blogs about the challenges and joys of motherhood at theeverydayprojectblog.com.