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Synopsis (from Goodreads): Miranda has Shakespeare in her blood: she hopes one day to become a Shakespearean actor like her famous parents. At least, she does until her disastrous performance in her school's staging of The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide.

Fellow cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meet Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England—the world Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda to use her acting talents and modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help, Stephen claims, the world will lose its greatest playwright.

Miranda isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only chance of getting back to the present and her “real” life. What Miranda doesn't bargain for is finding true love...with no acting required.

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Unfortunately, this book didn't please me.

Dislikes:

* Shakespeare wasn't present enough in the novel. From the title and synopsis, I expected him to play a much bigger role in the story than he actually did. Then there's the fact that when he was around, he was a little too peppy. He just didn't seem like who I'd expect a young Shakespeare to be. If he wasn't pawing at Miranda, he was naïvely following the prattling of Thomas Cook.

* Miranda was a little too dense for my tastes. I mean, how many times did Stephen have to explain his intentions to her? I think he reiterated it to the girl at least twenty times throughout the novel. Then there was the fact that she was so back and forth about whether or not she wanted to cooperate. Would you cooperate with a guy who kidnapped you & wants to, in a sense, prostitute you? Hmm, let me think... probably not. Miranda was flighty, shallow, and much too trusting considering the situation. I didn't like her much at all.

* The pace wasn't to my liking. There were several lulls and I even began to doze off while reading the book. I wanted to mark it DNF, to be frank. I didn't only because it was a review book.

* There was too much religious babble. I understand that it plays a part in the plot, but for me, it was too much. It could've been toned down a notch. This is a YA novel after all. It just seemed too heavy a subject for a book that, in the next chapter, has the protagonist battling with herself on whether or not to let Shakespeare get to third base just so she can one-up her snobby mother.

Likes:

* I appreciated very much that the author didn't take the most obvious route and make Shakespeare the real love interest of the tale. I think that would have been a disaster. Not that I think Stephen was a great love interest, but he was the better choice for the story.

* The plot is original. I think it could've been done so much better, but it's original none the less.

Overall:

Kissing Shakespeare is not my cup of tea. I think it has potential to be loved, but not by those who are nit-picky like myself. The pace was slow. The protagonist wasn't likable. The romance was off due to the fact that the guy kidnapped her and forced her to do things she shouldn't have to. There's a whole lot of Protestant vs. Catholic chatter mixed in with the story. It could potentially put you to sleep! This story was definitely an original idea and had great potential. For me, it just fell short.

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Book source: NetGalley
Publisher: Random House Children's Books