Kiss Me by Jillian Dodd

Title: Kiss Me
Author: Jillian Dodd
Blurb:
I've always written scripts for my perfect life.
But no way could I have ever scripted this.
My life is so far from perfect, it’s not even funny.
All because of a stalker.

I’m at a boarding school where I have to lie about who I am.
I can’t see my family.
I’m tutoring a Hottie God that tortures me with his smile.
The most popular girl already hates me.
But there’s this boy.
This hot, sweet, sexy boy.
So I’m going to stop trying to script my life and just live it.
Because who knows how long I have left.
 
Links:
Kiss Me on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:


I wasn't planning to read this because the first book made me so mad, but I decided what the hell and gave it a shot.  I didn't hate the first book because of the writing and I still liked That Boy (though I wasn't a fan of the sequel).  I was hoping and praying this one would redeem Stalk Me for me.  And it kind of did and kind of didn't?  It's hard to explain.

If Keatyn had started off at boarding school and I hadn't spent 300+ pages in Stalk Me getting to know a bunch of other characters, only to have them ripped away and have her tossed in with a bunch of new ones, I would have liked this book a LOT better.  Probably not more than 3-stars better, but still better. 

Unfortunately, that's not what happened.  What happened is that I read Stalk Me.  I got attached to the characters Keatyn spent the first 300+ pages of the book with, especially Cush.  If you read my Stalk Me review, you'll see how much I liked Cush.  Cush was THE ONLY male love interest that jumped off the pages and just made you fall for him.  He was lively and real and SO perfect for Keatyn's personality.  Brooklyn came across as a dick for the entire book, and even more so in Kiss Me.  Sander was alright, but hello, GAY.  The other boys Keatyn made out with were all introduced in the last few pages of Stalk Me and I was so pissed off at that point that I just hated them all instantly.  After reading Kiss Me, I still pretty much hate them all (except Dawson).

The way Cush was handled in Kiss Me infuriates me even more.  First of all, we get this near the beginning:

And I know I told Cush that I loved him at my party. But he bought me boots! The. Perfect. Boots. And I maybe got a little caught up in the moment.

This right here showcases all of the big issues with Keatyn in a few short sentences.  She constantly is telling boys she loves them, or internally saying she loves them.  She told a boy she loved him because he BOUGHT HER SOMETHING.  Never mind that the boy has been in love with her for years, treated her like a freaking goddess, has similar interests to her, and loves her for who she is (unlike Brooklyn who only loves her when she acts the way he wants her to act).

But whatever.  That was pretty bad.  But the worst is yet to come.  About 5-6 times Keatyn internally mentions that she misses Cush, but she then instantly forgets about him when she starts making out with one of the three boys she kisses during Kiss Me.  Then at around 70%, the bombshell that is the reason why this book is getting 2 stars instead of 3. 

SPOILERS!!

At around 70%, Keatyn for some reason is able to access her Facebook account that she's been denied access too because of the stalker.  On there is a letter from Cush where he tells her that his mom bought those boots, not him.  He also says that he moved to Oregon and before he gave her the boots he got a girlfriend.  He got caught up in the moment at Keatyn's party and that whole love confession thing that happened right before the stalker tried to kidnap Keatyn was a sham.  He's now happily dating this girl in Oregon.

And that's the end of Cush.

Seriously?

I don't even know what to say.  It's depressing that Dodd would take THE best character and have it turn out like this.

UGH!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways.  This book mostly focuses on a love triangle between Keatyn and Aiden and Dawson.  Keatyn makes out with both a bunch.  She thinks she's in love with Aiden, but he acts like a weirdo douchebag most of the time so she starts dating Dawson (who is the only other decent character in this entire series).  I can't help it.  I don't hate Dawson.  He's not as fun and interesting as Cush, but he's not unbearable.  I just can't help but be so emo about Cush that I can't really get in to the Dawson/Keatyn relationship that much.  It appears, from reading other reviews, that I'm the only one, but I can't help what I feel.

I don't know if I'll continue the series.  I probably will, because I have this weird complex about finishing series (it took me slogging through five terrible awful books to finally give up on the Celestra series).  I'm really disappointed in how this is going though. :(

2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/469114558