Review: Kiss To Belong

Kiss To Belong by Anna B. Doe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via the author, all opinion are my own.

This is the long awaited story of best friends Alyssa and Maddox.  If you haven't been keeping up with the Blairwood series so far, I think you can get away with reading this as as standalone.  If you want to know more about the other couples mentioned in the book and Maddox and Aly's friends you will want to read those books as well but I don't really think they are necessary to get to the heart of this story.  Anna gives you the information you need to connect with the characters without having their full backstories.  I do recommend them though, they were all great reads!

Alyssa and Maddox have been best friends for as long as they can remember.  Their parents are wealthy and their social circles are elite.  Maddox has been in love with Aly since they were kids, but she is oblivious to his feelings.  She is kind of oblivious in general.  Like many college students approaching graduation, she has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.  Throw in an unexpected pregnancy with an absentee father and unsupportive parents, and she really has no idea what to do with herself.  Fortunately, she has supportive friends who are willing to take her in and help her get on her feet during this crazy time in her life.  We do see her character grow up quite a bit in this book.   

I'm not a big fan of pregnancy tropes in general, but if you like them this is a good one to check out.  I do like friends to lovers and I think that trope is really done well in this book.  Maddox is a great friend.  While this focuses on his relationship with Aly, he is a great friend to all of the characters in the book.  He is the epitome of kindness and generosity.   Aly and Maddox suffer from a lack of communication throughout the book.  Lack of communication is always a trope I dislike a book, especially when dealing with more mature topics.  Maddox and Aly don't want to jeopardize their friendship, but their unconventional living arrangement leads to growing feelings.  This causes them to not talk to each other about their feelings or hide things from each other.  I did have a hard time connecting with Aly and Maddox, but after some reflection I think that is a me problem not a problem with the book.  I think I'm getting too old for new adult/college romances and YA.  I am finding it harder and harder to enjoy younger characters.  I do think Anna wrote them well, and their actions and conversations were realistic given where they were in college/life.

Overall, this is a great addition to the series.

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