Kissing Shakespeare

by Pamela Mingle

Miranda has Shakespeare in her 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.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance, Time Travel, Fantasy, Historical, Shakespeare

352 pages, Hardcover

First published August 14, 2012

About the author

Pamela Mingle is a former teacher and librarian who was fortunate enough to choose writing as a third career. Or maybe it chose her. :) She loves to create romantic tales that play out against historical events and always includes some humor in her books.

Pam and her husband enjoy walking in the UK--even though she's done her share of whining on the longer days. The walking trips have been an ideal way to discover new settings for her books.

Pam's newest book, MISTRESS SPY, released in August 2018 with Entangled Publishing. Previous books with Entangled include A LADY'S DECEPTION (2017) and A FALSE PROPOSAL (2016), Readers can find earlier books listed here on Goodreads.

Pam loves to hear from readers. Go to her website, http://www.pammingle.com/ to sign up for her newsletter.

You can find her on Facebook at Pamela Mingle Author and on Twitter @PamMingle

Reviews

[Kat Kennedy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I jumped at the thought of this ARC. A girl time trav­el­ing back to seduce Shake­speare? That’s awe­some! Shake­speare! *Swoon*



I had full on Joseph Fiennes from Shake­speare in Love flash­backs because, of course, I was 12 when the movie came out. Of course, as an adult I know a lot more about who Shake­speare seemed to be like from what doc­u­ments we have.

But still, I thought, how fas­ci­nat­ing? How is this going to go down? But this empha­sis on Stephen Lang­ford in the syn­op­sis? After all, the book is called Kiss­ing Shake­speare. So… she’ll just be kiss­ing Shake­speare, right?!

There will be peo­ple who will enjoy this book, undoubt­edly. But before you buy this book, allow me to give you this spoiler in case it’s impor­tant. Shake­speare is noth­ing more than a shadow of a char­ac­ter in this book.

Miranda, teenage actress from Mass­a­chu­setts, gets phys­i­cally abducted by Stephen and dragged back to Eliz­a­bethan Eng­land for the express pur­pose of hav­ing to seduce Shake­speare so that he doesn’t turn to the Priest­hood. So the romance, up until I read, seemed to be between Stephen and Miranda… the man who forcibly abducted a ter­ri­fied girl, took her to a place where she’d be friend­less and alone, and threat­ened her unless she seduces his friend.

Please allow me a moment to react.



No! NOOOOO! NOOOOOO! Why?! WHY!? Why does our male pro­tag­o­nist have to be some­one who abducted her and is lit­er­ally forc­ing her into a form of pros­ti­tu­tion because he thinks it doesn’t mat­ter since women in the future are all sluts any­way. WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

If that were the only prob­lem with the novel, I MAY have been able to shud­der and at least fin­ished the novel. Maybe.

Unfor­tu­nately, his other rea­sons for abduct­ing this one par­tic­u­lar girl are that she is: a) an actress, b) very famil­iar with Shakespeare’s works and world and c) sup­posed to be able to pull this stu­pid, stu­pid, ridicu­lously dumb scheme off.

The first prob­lem is that if she is an actress then I am Imelda Mar­cos – and since I can’t seem to find my impres­sive col­lec­tion of designer shoes (I looked) then this first part is rub­bish. All three of these foun­da­tions have a basis in her sup­posed intel­lect which was unfor­tu­nately out for din­ner through­out any of the book I read. For some­one whose main asset was being steeped in Shake­spearean plays and cul­ture – she just plain SUCKED. She was mind­less. She couldn’t even CURTSY! I know she was sup­posed to be an audi­ence sur­ro­gate, but there’s a bal­ance that needs to be main­tained. That bal­ance repeat­edly had its feel­ings hurt and it even­tu­ally left to find some­one who would treat it properly.

Then we get to the writ­ing which was just juve­nile, which matched the plot and the char­ac­ters so at least I can’t say it was inconsistent.

One of the worst things about review­ing a book is to be care­ful not to mix up what you wanted and expected with the actual story. Some­times that’s just impos­si­ble to do. But I don’t think it’s unre­al­is­tic to expect a book titled Kiss­ing Shake­speare about a girl sup­posed to be seduc­ing Shake­speare would actu­ally… be about Shakespeare.

And I guess it’s not unfair to expect that one of the most bril­liant play­wrights of all time would be a lit­tle more com­plex and inter­est­ing. Look, I know he wrote to make money and he wrote pop­ulist mate­r­ial for the time but his beau­ti­ful, beau­ti­ful prose! His son­nets! It is tech­ni­cally pos­si­ble that he could have just been a dumb, shal­low use­less sev­en­teen year old. But c’mon!



It is also entirely pos­si­ble that he was a com­pli­cated, thought­ful and insight­ful human being.

And if we take a quick poll of peo­ple to ask about which Shake­speare they’d rather read about, I’m pretty sure I know which option would come out on top. I cer­tainly know which one I would have rather have read.

[Tracey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear. I have this feeling I should have run screaming from this book. But the premise both repelled and interested me. I do love a good time travel story. (A good time travel story.) I love the idea of going back and meeting, say, Shakespeare. Unfortunately, that's not really what this book is about.

What the book is about is a self-centered and not very intelligent girl put into a ridiculous circumstance, and an utterly predictable doomed love story. Shakespeare is barely a secondary character, a cardboard cutout, almost uninvolved in the plot.

Yeah, this is gonna be long. I'll spare Goodreads and confine most of it to my blog: http://agoldoffish.wordpress.com/2012...

Suffice to say that the writing was poor, the story had holes bigger than Henry VIII at his goutiest, and I found the the whole thing a predictable, objectionable mess.

This absolutely earns the Penguin of Disapproval (stolen from Popcorn Dialogues):

[Mollee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely devoured ​Kissing Shakespeare​ by Pamela Mingle. Miranda is a modern day teen who grew up on the stage, in the shadow of her Shakespeare-performing parents. When a strange classmate, Stephen Langsford, sweeps her back to the 16th century and explains her mission to seduce a teenaged Shakespeare in order to keep him on course to become the Bard, she can hardly believe what's happening - let alone grasp what he's asking for her. It's mysterious and romantic, well-written and engaging.

While I respect Shakespeare and recognize all the many sayings we use today thanks to his witty writing, I've never really enjoyed reading the plays (this coming from a girl with a degree in comparative literature!). I think it's "just not for" some folks. Anyways, Kissing Shakespeare made him a likeable person (albeit, fictional) and I'm far more interested in trying to better understand his work now. Mingle is a librarian by trade (yay for librarians!) and this is her first novel, which she executed it beautifully - you can tell how she pays careful attention to realistic dialogue (including the language of the 16th century compared to Miranda's modern slang), captures the roller coaster of emotions between characters and keeps you interested throughout the novel.

I felt that there would be a resolution that would make this a stand-alone novel, but the last sentence now has me hoping for a sequel!

If you're looking for a suspenseful, romantic and unique read, DEFINITELY pick up Kissing Shakespeare and hopefully you'll enjoy every page!

[Sarahdactyl ♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

♥ Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah

- - -

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.

- - -

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

[Mira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reviewed for Kindle and Me.

Kissing Shakespeare is about a girl named Miranda Graham who is suddenly transported to the sixteenth century by Stephen Langford - one of the cast members of the play that took place that night and in which she believes she performed terribly - in order to 'seduce' William Shakespeare so he would not give up his love for writing and acting because if he did, the future would forever lose its greatest literary figure.

I had heard rather good things about this book so I was looking forward to reading it and I admit, the plot was intriguing. I wondered how the author managed to blend in the characters of the past with those with the future. But, to be honest, when Stephen converses with Miranda using words like 'God's breath!' and 'wench' while she retaliates with 'I wanna' and 'Oh, sure', it was strange and even kind of funny. If the humour was intentional, it worked. If not, it took a bit of getting used to.

I am not very familiar with all of William Shakespeare's work; I've studied a couple of his plays as part of my English course and like anyone else, I deeply respect him. And judging from his plays, it looked to me like Shakespeare was a rather cynical young man. In the story, he's about seventeen and even though he's only a teenager, I could not help but feel that even at that age, Shakespeare would have been cynical. So I would have appreciated it a lot more if the author had given him a bigger role, made his character more defined and brought in more of the cynicism, witticism and intelligence. Instead, most of the time, we see him torn between choosing God and his passion. I guess my characterization of Shakespeare clashed with that of the author's and that made the story a little less interesting to me. But I did like that he was a flirt.

The relationship between Miranda and Stephen was, again, a little vague. When they talk, it's mostly about the seduction plan, which is understandable. Stephen's late fiancee has at most, five lines dedicated to her. He seems to have no difficulty in falling in love with Miranda since it is later revealed that he fell in love with her the moment he saw her. If the author had given more importance to perhaps, say, an internal conflict in him concerning his late fiancee and Miranda, it would have been a better read.

In the end, everything falls into place all of a sudden. As for Miranda and Stephen, well, there couldn't have been any other way to end the book.

Kissing Shakespeare has a promising plot but the blurb is a little misleading. There isn't much of seduction - something I was REALLY looking forward to - only a lot of spying and making assumptions. Mystery in a romance novel isn't unwelcome but if mystery's what's in most of the book, then there's no point in calling it a romance novel, is there?

[Elia · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I can say is, there BETTER be a sequel to this book, or Pamela Mingle is going to get a sternly worded letter from me! (HA!) I am now madly in love with Stephen Langford. Almost as in love with him as I have always been with Will Shakespeare, who despite the title of the book, is really only a minor character in this excellently crafted historical fantasy.
I admit, "Kissing Shakespeare" was not one of those books that captured me right away. I thought "ok, here is another silly teen love triangle book with cheezy time travel." I was 100% wrong and I truly apologize to Ms. Mingle and her publishers! The fact that our heronie Miranda travels back in time to the Elizabethan era is really secondrary to the story. What we get instead is the story of a man and woman from different worlds falling in love depite knowing they can't ever really be together. Stephen is a man who was born with a sacred durty - to ensure that history keeps moving along towards our present day reality. He is born into a family legacy of time travelers and seers, who are sworn to protect England's future by any means necessary. When he enlists Miranda to help him keep young William Shakespeare from becoming a priest, what he wants is to prevent the erasing of the greatest writing in the history of the English language. All Miranda wants is to go home. Back to her own time, her own clothes, and most of all - indoor plumbing. And maybe a bowl of corn flakes.
To achieve that goal, Miranda is supposed to get Will Shakespeare to sleep with her. And who wouldn't want to be able to say they lost their virginity to one of the most famous men in all of history - even if no one would ever believe her. Even though young Will, (at this time in his life a local school teacher) is handsome, funny, and of course brilliant, Miranda finds herself falling for Stephen, who is now posing as her brother.
Can she sleep with Shakespeare for the good of history, literature, and England? Can she even get home again? Or will she confess her attraction to Stephen, and maybe even give everything she has even known up to stay in jolly old England (emphasis on OLD)? Read, find out, fall in love with the bard, the book, and Stephen.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read the synopsis for Kissing Shakespeare, I really wanted to read the book. I was also a little nervous. I don't usually read books with a lot of romance in them. Therefore I wasn't sure if I would like it. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. I loved Kissing Shakespeare. The plot was very intricate. The author definitely did her research. The book was historically accurate while throwing in some fun fiction. It was a lot of fun trying to guess who the spy was before "Olivia" and Stephen found out. I liked how Miranda was able to transfer so easily into her role as Olivia. At first I didn't like Stephen because of the way he treated Miranda. Shortly afterwards he became a kind gentle loving person. I like that even though they were trying to help Shakespeare, Stephen didn't let his feelings stop. He tried, but then he realized that his love was too strong. Pamela Mingle wrote a fascinating debut. When the book ended I felt this horrible pang of loneliness like I had lost a close friend. Based on Kissing Shakespeare, I will read anything the author writes in the future.

[Janet Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this YA novel and think it a good introduction to the life and times as well as religious and political issues in Elizabethan England. It was easy to relate to the modern girl, Miranda, who travels back in time to ensure that Shakespeare doesn't get sidetracked from his destiny and her modern language and responses to Elizabethan norms was fun and funny.

I'm a big fan of time travel books and it's always interesting to see how authors get their characters from one century to the next, and I enjoyed how Pam Mingle moved her time travelers around.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romantic time traveling novel... An interesting idea and much better than I thought it would be! Very sad and a twist ending though.

[Kah Cherub · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://notjustnonsense.blogspot.com/2...

Miranda is a young actress, but lately she has been thinking of herself as more of a 'failure'. After she blew her part in the school play of The Taming of the Shrew, she decides to let everyone know (including her super perfect actress mom) that she's giving up on acting. That is, she intended to do that, until Stephen Langford, a weird crew member who never hangs around much, tells her he needs her help and drags her to the school's roof, spouting some nonsense about Shakespeare all the way up..



Miranda soon discovers that Stephen may be eccentric and all, but he was not that crazy. He actually meant everything he said to her, and he proves that by somehow traveling back in time, to when Shakespeare was still a teen, and bringing her along for the ride. He explains to her (in incredibly vague terms), that it is his responsability to make sure things in the past happen as they should. And that includes making young Will become a poet as he should, and NOT become a Jesuit, which would ruin our future as we know it. For that (and we still don't know why) he needs Miranda, who is posing as his sister, to seduce him.



Miranda now needs to deal with strange things from the past, such as too many clothes, little privacy, no drinking water, balls and religious conflicts. Oh, and she needs to bed William Shakespeare before it's too late.



As you may probably have noticed, I wasn't very satisfied with this book, for many reasons.



I expected something else, after reading the synopsis. Especially after this bit:



"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."



The last thing Stephen did was ask something. He kidnapped Miranda, and the dim-witted thing let him. >.>'



I expected a fun encounter with a young version of a great idol, some fun moments trying to adjust to the time period... things like that. But there wasn't much of that in there, I'm afraid.



Miranda was pretty boring and obtuse at times. She kept going on and on about the same things, kept asking the same stupid questions (when she had already had the answers to them) and just following Stephen's plans too blindly, in my opinion. Plans that were quite ridiculous, if you ask me.



I simply cannot understand why it is that Shakespeare would ever become a Jesuit, if obviously he never did in our present time. And even if he almost did, and Stephen really had to interfere before that happened, couldn't he have just chosen someone from that time to seduce him? A practiced, mature mistress or something? Did he really HAVE to go all the way to the future to choose one silly, plain, nobody of a teenager? I understand that's why YA books are supposed to be so much fun, but in this case this was not a very good idea at all.



And, to top it all off, the constant religious babble was a huge turn-off. I understand that during the Elizabethan times all Catholics were forced to become Protestants, and the whole thing was pretty violent... but was that really important to the story?



This book felt sooooooooo long. I just took a look and it's supposed to have 352 pages, but they really felt like 1072. O.o It was very, VERY tempting to just give it up and label it as DNF, but I kept going... and I'm afraid to say it didn't get much better.



What I liked the most about the whole book were the final author's notes, about Shakespeare's life and curiosities. About the book itself I enjoyed Shakespeare's quotes and the hardships Miranda had to got through to fit in that time period. I always like to imagine how I'd act if I had the chance to time travel and see how things were back then. I know, I'm silly like that.



If you like time travel stories and would like to imagine a young, flirty William Shakespeare, you might want to give this book a try.



* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really having a difficult time deciding how to rate this one. One and a half stars for the beginning of the book, three stars for the last half, for an average of two and a half stars overall? The premise was intriguing: a young William Shakespeare is being recruited to the (forbidden) Jesuit priesthood and away from his destiny as the great playwright, so a time-traveler enlists the aid of a modern teenager from a theatrical family to seduce Will and restore history. The author seems to have done a good job researching that era, both the history of Shakespeare & Catholicism as well as the habits of daily life, but the set-up of the story is rushed and full of holes.

The book begins with Miranda upset at her terrible performance as Katharine in her high school's production of The Taming of the Shrew. A cast member she barely knows kidnaps her, taking her first to the roof and then to Elizabethan England. Stephen tells her she is to pretend to be his sister while they stay at his uncle's house, and her mission is to seduce Shakespeare so he will decide not to be a priest after all. She thinks he's crazy and is insulted that he believes she's sexually experienced. But Catholicism has been outlawed in England, and after Miranda--now called Olivia--witnesses a priest being burned at the stake, she stops resisting the plan and becomes an active participant, intent on saving Will's life.

I am glad I kept reading. I almost quit after the fourth or fifth time "smirk" appeared in the text. (Oh, how I wish YA authors were forbidden from using that word!) Mercifully, she invested in a thesaurus about a third of the way into the novel, although that did not stop the incessant eye rolling--both mine and the characters'. However, I was reading an ebook galley copy from NetGalley, so perhaps Ms. Mingle's editors were able to take another run at the manuscript before it went to print.

Word choice aside, I struggled to get past the implausibility of Stephen choosing Miranda for this task. Why choose an American? Why not choose a British girl? How is it possible that her accent, vocabulary, and patterns of speech didn't give her away moments after their arrival at Hoghton Tower? Miranda is supposedly chosen for her acting ability and knowledge of Shakespeare's plays, yet she continues to speak like an American teenager, not like an actress immersing herself in a life-or-death role. It just felt...off. Fiction requires a willing suspension of disbelief, but this needed too big of a leap.

Still, I enjoyed the fast pace by the end. The spying and sneaking around held my attention, and I wanted to know how the story would unfold.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character and setting are secondary. No actual sex occurs, but it's a near thing.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kissing Shakespeare is a fun, cute and quick read that I really enjoyed. The main character, Miranda, loves all things Shakespeare. She knows all of his plays, sonnets and poems. On the night of her HS production of The Taming of the Shrew, student Stephen Langford tells her that he needs her help right away. Turns out Stephen is from the year 1581 and needs Miranda to save William Shakespeare from joining the priesthood or else all of his classics will be gone forever. Miranda, of course, thinks that Stephen is crazy until she is transported to 1581 and meets Will.

I think what I loved most about Kissing Shakespeare was the relationship between Stephen and Miranda (who is now pretending to be Olivia, Stephen's younger sister). They were so cute and sweet together and I could not get enough of them. I really enjoyed Miranda's character. She was part of something that she would never believe was possible and I think she handles it very well. She was so real and funny. While I did love Stephen and Miranda together, I still thought that that Stephen was a stupid boy. He had no idea how to deal with girls! I also loved young Will. Before he was a famous writer, he was just a boy trying to figure out what his path in life should be.

I also enjoyed the historical aspects of Kissing Shakespeare, specially how much religion was apart of life back then, and you could be persecuted for believing in something different. The Jesuits were a real thing and I think Pamela Mingle did a good job incorporating them into the story.

What first drew me to Kissing Shakespeare was the cover. I love the pink and even though I don't think the cover fits with the story, it still holds your attention to want to read the synopsis. The story is filled with mystery, romance and history and I was very pleased. The ending was bittersweet but I think it had to happen that way. I just hope it means that there will be a book two eventually!

Overall, I think Kissing Shakespeare is worth reading. I enjoyed it very much. Sometimes you need a light, fun read and Kissing Shakespeare is perfect for that!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a stunning turn of events, I believe I've just found my new favourite book. Yes - "Kissing Shakespeare", which I got for a bargain of $5.00 ages ago not really thinking anything of it, has even surpassed "Ella Enchanted". Move over, Gail Carson Levine; Pamela Mingle is definitely giving you a run for your money.

When I first bought the book, it was purely out of curiosity. I thought to myself, "It's probably going to be cheesy and difficult to read. Why else would it have been so cheap?"

I was incredibly wrong. The book itself is beautifully written, combining the dialect of Elizabethan times with quotes from some of Shakespeare's finest works. The characters were enchanting and came to life as if you were standing right in the room with them, and the setting - oh my, the setting! Houghton Tower couldn't have been described more beautifully. It's clear that the author has a deep set love for the place, because her descriptions of it paint a truly beautiful picture in the reader's mind. I'm walking away from this book with a completely new knowledge not only of the Elizabethan time period's customs, but of its architecture as well. Certainly not what I expected from a $5.00 book.

But now let's get to the truly juicy part. The story. "Kissing Shakespeare" tells the tale of a young girl who is whisked away by a time traveling Elizabethan man - very "Doctor Who" - on the opening night of her theatre company's production of "The Taming of the Shrew". It turns out that a young William Shakespeare's life is in danger, and the only way his works will come to exist is if Miranda, the novel's protagonist, seduces him.

Filled with laughs, intrigue, and unexpected love right up until its tearful conclusion, "Kissing Shakespeare" took my love of the Bard's work and made it into something completely new. Mingle has me desperate for more! Could a sequel be in our future? I can only hope, or I may need to enlist Stephen to help me change a few things...

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

*A copy was provided by Delacorte Press for review purposes*

This book was a huge surprise for me. I’m not a huge fan of time travel or historical fiction, and having the two combined had me a little nervous. But I could tell from page on that I was going to enjoy this book. First off, Mingle got right into the story, not messing around at all. From then on, it was amazing. I loved that it was different. It was exciting throughout and funny at times. Mingle did a great job of staging the events throughout the book, and it was fun to read because I was able to figure out who the bad guy was. I loved the ending, although it was really sad. The speech was really eloquent and the writing was superb. Also, I really want a second book, because I seriously need to find out what happens with Stephen and Miranda.

Spoiler [After reading the summery, I thought that Miranda was going to fall in love with Shakespeare. However, I’m glad it was Stephen instead]. Stephen was so nice and caring and cute and just perfect. I hated how he kept on pushing Miranda away though. I can kind of understand why he would, but it still kind of irritated me.
And, to complete it, I really liked Miranda. She was funny, spunky, annoying at times (in a good way) and just a perfect main character. I loved how she stood up for herself and it was really funny to see her talking in the modern way compared to how Stephen talked in the old-fashioned way.

If all books from this genre are like this one, I will love all of them. This book was a breath of fresh air for me, seeing as how I usually read paranormal books. But this one will stand out more for its uniqueness and amazingness. :P

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

No, no, no, no, no! I wasn't ready for this book to end!

The title had caught my eye, and I thought the summary was really intriguing, but at the same time, I was worried because it sounded similar (though maybe more of the opposite) of The Juliet Spell, which was one that really ended up disappointing me. I am happy to announce this book didn't do that to me.

Some may be disappointed that this book wasn't really Shakespearean and wasn't littered with more references to his work. Some may be angry about Mingle's fictionalization of history. Some may even say this book was cheesy or cliche. I don't care, because I really liked it. Yes, the book is predictable because I already guessed how it was going to end pretty much as soon as it started.

I've always been a sucker for romantic comedies, and I admit, this book made me feel really girly because I didn't care for the mystery as much as the romance, but the relationship had me sucked in, and I did find myself gasping a few times and even shed a tear or two when it broke my heart.

And about the end... I just KNOW that the book could not have ended any other way, but I'm just so sad! And I really wished that they had done it. LOL. Sigh, such a bittersweet end.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy and sweet time-travel romance, with an aim to seduce Shakespeare.

"We're in Lancashire, England," Stephen said. "The year is 1581. The time of the danger to Shakespeare."
I threw my arms out in exasperation. "Stephen, you're delusional. But let's say I actually believe you. What does this have to do with me?"
"You're going to seduce William Shakespeare," Stephen said with a perfectly straight face.

It was a breezy read, but I wouldn't recommend hardcore romance fans to read this, because it would only bring disappointment. The romance could be best described as halfhearted. The plot was interesting, and I really liked the details the author had put in to create the Elizabethan Era.

Though the synopsis boasts much about Shakespeare, I felt like the whole book seemed to only brush over his story very briefly. Most of the facts you could learn from a simply 2-min Wikipedia search, and his style of works and plays weren't elaborated in details as I had hoped.

Kissing Shakespeare would be a perfect afternoon-read, though the ending might leave you baffled with dissatisfaction.

[Rebecca May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really quite enjoyed this book. It wasn’t the deepest or the most meaningful book that I’ve ever read, and it didn’t take me all that long to read, but I did enjoy it immensely.

I know some people have complained that the premise of Kissing Shakespeare is a bit silly – why did Stephen need to come forward in time to find someone to seduce Shakespeare? Mingle does explain this, but I agree that her explanation is a bit shaky. However, I refuse to be picky when reading books – if it’s a good story, then I can make allowances. The only problem I have with the premise is why anyone needed to seduce him at all, considering soon afterwards he married Anne Hathaway. But more of that point later.

I actually love how this book starts. There is no tip-toeing and messing around with excessive amounts of detail or setting the scene. Pamela Mingle hits you with it straight away. Fact: Miranda is an actress, with high-flying parents, and she believes she screwed up the performance. Fact: Stephen Langford is from the 16th century. Fact: He’s taking/taken Miranda back to 16th century England to seduce Shakespeare, to stop him becoming a Jesuit, and therefore depriving the world of its best poet and playwright. You can almost hear Mingle saying; ”Right, have you guys got that? OK, moving onto the actual story.” And to be honest, I found that really refreshing.

So yes, within ten pages (pretty much) we’re in Elizabethan England, and Miranda is extremely funny in taking her own sweet time about realizing that Stephen was telling the truth. However, soon she becomes Olivia Langford, and I just have to say that from the start of the book I thought the name Olivia suited her much better. I have to say, I really enjoyed the historical setting of this book. I liked reading the descriptions of the dresses, and even just about normal family life in Shakespeare’s time. The political and religious scene of Kissing Shakespeare was also fascinating.

Speaking of fascinating – Stephen. I found it incredibly amusing how he assumed that every girl in the modern world – over the age of, say, sixteen – was sleeping around. And then when Miranda tells him she’s never actually slept with anyone he’s like: “Nah… you’re joking right? Hold on… you mean you’re a virgin? Whoops, sorry, I just assumed that you were the type of girl who’d have slept around a lot. Meh, my bad, you’ve still got to seduce Shakespeare. Even if you don’t need to because he’s going to *cough**cough* marry Anne Hathaway… *cough**cough* but I don’t need to mention that, right?” In any case, despite those rather large flaws in Stephen’s genius, he really is an intriguing character. Stephen is very sweet in his own way, funny at times, and also quite intelligent, if not in how to deal with girls. He remains a mysterious character throughout the book to some extent, which I found quite enjoyable, even if I didn’t agree with him as the main love interest. :P

Will, Will, Will. Dear Will Shakespeare, one of the greatest playwrights of all time. I actually really loved how this book portrayed him – young and enthusiastic and handsome, full of fun and passion and enthusiasm … even if he did seem to be a bit of a lady-killer. But I also loved how Kissing Shakespeare not only showed young Will as the genius playwright, but as a bright young man struggling with the choice between religion and writing, trying to find his place in the world. I really would have preferred if Shakespeare had actually featured a bit more – as of course you would expect from the title – but unfortunately no. I have two problems in how the book dealt with Shakespeare though – one mentioned in the spoiler below. The other one is this; Why,why, why was Will Shakespeare not the main love interest? I understand that considering the title Will being the main love interest may have been a little too obvious, and that Pamela Mingle had to stay true to history and have him marry Anne Hathaway. But had I been writing the book, I would have had Will as the main love interest, deeply in love with Miranda/Olivia, and then have the couple forced apart by the fact that Anne was pregnant with Will’s child, and Miranda/Olivia’s need to return home.

I found Miranda’s character very intriguing. She seemed to me an intelligent girl, though she was slow on the uptake at times. I was impressed with the courage and fortitude with which she insinuated herself into the world of Shakespeare, despite the few slip ups with modern language. But still, who could blame her. Miranda was a sweet girl, feisty, and enjoyable to read about. The only thing that annoyed me about her was that she seemed a bit shallow and drifty – at times I was just going; Oh, for goodness sake, Olivia (Miranda), just decide what you want to do, and then do it! It isn’t that hard! As previously mentioned, I did find that the name Olivia sounded much more suitable for her. It’s a prettier name than Miranda, and just…suited her.

Now, remember how I said that Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, therefore making the whole premise of Kissing Shakespeare just a little shaky? (Dammit, I went to write “shaky” and starting typing “Shakespeare” instead… go figure). Yeah, well, this is what annoyed me about one of the main events of the book. Well, Miss Olivia Langford (a.k.a. Miranda) finally gets young Will Shakespeare into an *eh hem* intimate situation. You can almost hear the readers (or certainly I was) holding their breath. And then, what happens? Yes, Shakespeare goes and calls Olivia “Anne”. And then you can pretty much hear the universal *facepalm* of every reader who has ever read Kissing Shakespeare. Way to spoil the mood, you idiot; *slaps Shakespeare around the head*. Just. Not. Cool. So anyway, as bad as it sounds, and as much as I hate to say it, what annoyed me was the absence of a sex scene in a book primarily based on the main character seducing someone. And it wasn’t just anyone, it was William Shakespeare. I mean, come on, wouldn’t anyone want to know what the young Will Shakespeare was like in bed? ;)

The ending; well, it kind of annoyed me to be honest. Well, I knew it had to happen, so it wasn’t so bad because I knew it was coming. Of course, Olivia Langford has to go back to her own time, her own world, and say goodbye to Stephen, again becoming Miranda. It was a bittersweet ending, and really quite sad, though of course it did have to happen. As previously mentioned, I think the ending would have been far more heart-wrenching if it had been Will and Olivia saying goodbye to each other. But what really pissed me off was the last few words of the book. Miranda says; Goodbye, Stephen. I will see you again. Or words to that effect, in any case. I was like; WHAT? Evidently those words were meant to set up a sequel, but it still seems like a random, ridiculously hopeful, naïve thing for Miranda say. I mean, really. From what I’ve seen on Pamela Mingle’s blog as of last October she wanted to write a sequel for the book, but as yet does not have the go-ahead from her publisher. Still, the way she set up that possibly-sequel was just infuriating. In any case, I’ll be watching for a sequel, it would be intriguing. Off the top of my head, personally I’m hoping for Leonardo da Vinci next time… ;)

Overall, Kissing Shakespeare was a quick and pleasant read, with a nice start, a beautiful setting, a nice plot (despite its annoyances), wonderful historical and religious background, and a bitter-sweet ending.

[Anne-Marie Burgess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my second time reading this book. The first time I read it was five years ago when I was in a huge Shakespeare kick and a very deep hopeless romantic.

My memory of the book had been good. But upon reread I couldn’t but notice a lot of problems, a lot of plot conveniences and a couple of plot holes.

So where do we begin?


Kissing Shakespeare is about a girl named Miranda whom is brought back in 1581 to help Stephen Langford stop William Shakespeare from choosing the life of a Jesuit Priest during a time in England with Catholicism is illegal. If he were to choose this path not only would his life be in danger but all his work would cease to exist.

That is a cool, solid concept. Especially when you are instantly told that her parents are stage actors, mainly for Shakespearean plays.

So her life is on the line. Right? We’ll get to that.


So the book opens with Miranda upset because she believes she has tanked opening night of her school’s performance of The Taming of the Shrew in which she played the role of Katherine, the Shrew.

It is the exact same chapter that she had a brief conversation with her best friend, Macy and then another brief conversation with her parents.

Enter Stephen Langford whom has been watching her for weeks, he approaches her and asks if she would like to “meet William Shakespeare”.

She tells him she is not interested only to be forcibly grabbed by him and brought to the roof of her school. He then proceeds to abduct her.

And here is where multiple problems start.

1) I don’t care what historical catastrophe is about to be unleashed, a twenty year old man pretending to be a teenager in order to kidnap a seventeen year old girl is not okay.

2) He then explains this ridiculous plan for her to seduce Shakespeare. Because the opposite of Priesthood is getting laid.

3) If this is such a problem of historical literary proportions, why is nothing happening in the present day? We later find out that in 1581, Will Shakespeare is writing the first draft to The Taming of the Shrew. So, correct me if I’m wrong, if the existence of his plays depended on this choice that is about to be made wouldn’t the present day begin to be altered? Starting with the very script for the play Miranda was just in?!?! Example: The script slowly starts disappearing and only Miranda sees it happening!

4) Who is Miranda? She’s 17. A girl. Has dark hair. Is moderately pretty but doesn’t think she is. Is a virgin which makes her “not like other girls”. She has 1 friend. A sort of boyfriend. Her parents are actors. She lives in Boston with her grandparents. She likes acting. And she has mommy issues halfway through the book.

5) One of the biggest rules of writing is show don’t tell. We are told by Miranda that her and her mother have a bad relationship. With no evidence. Just her word for it and the brief conversation in chapter one. So the entire time I was reading the book, I had a hard time believing her mother hated her or was unfair to her. Because I had no evidence. And at the end there is no resolve either, her mom saying she did well in the play and then offering a few pointers. Is that suppose tell me that she just had a brand of hard love towards her daughter’s acting career?

6) Slut-shaming. First Stephen slut-shames Miranda because she’s from the modern era and all girls from the 21st century are sluts and whores. Then Miranda proceeds to slut-shame as well by saying that it’s true, girls in the modern era are sluts and whore. Just not her. She’s not like those girls because she’s a virgin and Stephen has to stop treating like a slut because she isn’t one. There is nothing wrong with Miranda being protective or even proud of being a virgin. But she’s not special for it. Plenty of girls are virgins, not just Miranda.

7) Stephen is the love interest. First, he kidnapped her, so I wasn’t invested. And second, he lives in the past and her in the present, it was doomed from the start. You know if he look past him kidnapping her.

8) At first I thought maybe I am not the target audience for this book, maybe I’m being too hard on it? It’s YA which is mainly what I read. But maybe on the low spectrum of YA, like just got middle grade and wanna dip your toes in the YA pool. But does mean the readers are stupid? This book sure things you are. For nearly ten chapters Miranda and Stephen are wandering around wondering who the Priest is when a man, Thomas Cook is literally introduced as a scholar from Oxford. He later tells Miranda that he studies religion at Oxford. Now maybe it would go over Miranda’s head. But Stephen should know that Oxford is a religious college.

9) A couple of nit-picks.

- While playing that part of Stephen’s sister, Olivia, is she faking a British accent?
- How does Stephen speak with a posh accent when that accent is regulated to the London area and would probably be considering the Queen’s English at the time? Don’t quote me on that second part though.
- Just because Miranda had been vaccinated doesn’t me she can’t still catch the bubonic plague. There is not vaccination for the plague.

10) Last minute tropes.

- Stephen cannot answer any questions about his abilities or role as a time traveler because he doesn’t know anything either.
- Miranda has known Stephen for at least a month and is in love with him.
- Why do YA books insist on making a character first kiss a French kiss? Like if a girl has limited to no experience kissing, why would she want some guy’s tongue in her mouth? Honestly she has every right to bite your tongue dude.

All in all it could’ve been a good book. It had a good premise but not a good execution. And the ending was too simple. Shakespeare just kind of comes to the decision to not go with the Priest after pondering it over for nearly a month.

A thing I did like was writing of the historical setting, the author obviously did her research and knew a lot about 16th century England to make it interesting. But this presents a double-edged sword because the author is so busy flexing her knowledge of the time period, that a lot of other things like character motivations and plot didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

[Sierra Abrams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle
Pages: 352
Release Date: August 14th, 2012
Date Read: 2012, July 5th-6th
Received: ARC from Publisher
Rating: 3/5 stars
Recommended to: 15+


SUMMARY -
Miranda has never felt accepted by her mom, a theater actress and a good one at that. Miranda is stuck in her school play, acting a role she doesn't want, while her mom and dad are performing professionally in Rome. When Stephan, the quite new kid, tells her he needs her help, she thinks he's pulling her leg. But it's hard to doubt when she's whisked off to Italy and given a very important task - make sure young Will Shakespeare doesn't join the Jesuits, or else all his work in the future might be lost. How must Miranda prevent this catastrophe? By seducing him, of course.

MY THOUGHTS -
Kissing Shakespeare started out as an extraordinary debut. It had every element I could ask for: time travel, great lit-men, fascinating time period, history, romance, mystery, intrigue, etc.... The first half was definitely 5-star quality, even though I didn't love Miranda... Ok, I thought she was a dunce. But whatever.

I'm sad to say that this mad love for this book did not last. It still gets 3 stars for all the great stuff, and the massive potential, but the other stuff was enough to make me lose respect for many of the characters...and the story on a whole.

One thing I did really enjoy was Pamela's writing. She really knows how to work her words and create vivid images. So for that I say "Keep it up!"

CHARACTER NOTES -
MIranda was just... UGH. She made the most retarded decisions. She thinks she knows everything and was either confused or...confused. People were NOT sending her mixed signals - if she just listened to sense she would understand there's a REASON for Stephan restraining himself from falling in love with her. The reasons were OBVIOUS. And then she tries to seduce HIM instead. When that doesn't work she runs off like a crying baby and almost sleeps with Shakespeare!

Like Relient K always says, "Someone get that girl a mood ring!"

Besides Miranda, I really loved Stephen and wanted something good to come of his character...make up for what Miranda lacked. But he didn't. At the beginning he just assumes, based on billboards and magazines and movies that all girls in our time are sluts; but when Miranda reassures him they aren't, I thought the topic of Miranda sleeping with Shakespeare was over. (Miranda totally eats her words and gets naked with Shakespeare anyways!) But I was wrong. Even when Stephen falls for her, he still pressures her to sleep with Will. And then is happy when she doesn't. Ok...?

Will himself was okay, but not in the story nearly as much as I'd expected. I liked him, and of course, wanted him to not become a Jesuit but a playwright instead. But, like I said, his presence was lacking.

The other characters aren't worth mention. Well, Thomas was interesting, but his story was obvious and predictable.

STORY NOTES -
I absolutely LOVED the intrigue. All the mystery, the secrets, the eavesdropping, the push and pull of religious groups. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I also loved the first half of Miranda/Stephan's romance, but then they both ruined things in very stupid ways.

Everything was laid in place. A capture wold ensue...lives could be lost... And.....what was that? Oh, right. The Quick Fix Ending. Mmmmhmmmm. Everything happened too fast, too easy. I was satisfied with how things wrapped up, but not the execution. And I suppose it was good for Stephen and Miranda what happened, but I felt that, too, was a quick fix, and something to stretch out the story. Now I'm unsatisfied and will probably read the second book, because the story's not over yet. It's not a bad thing, but it's not good either.

SUMMING IT UP -
Not the best. It wasn't terrible, 'cause I've definitely read worse, but I didn't love it. I'm not even sure if I'd call it a "good read". The 3 stars are for personal enjoyment alone.

For the Parents -
A few minor cuss words. Some passionate kissing with a little detail. When Miranda seduces Will Shakespeare, they go almost all the way - fully naked -but they break it off. A few details, like Will talking about the "swell of her breasts". It's just an overall AWKWARD scene. Some violence but nothing gory. Recommended 15+

Read more reviews at Yearning to Read!

[Pixie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m not attaching a rating to this one. There’s not really any stars to be found here. It was a DNF.

I really dislike writing negative reviews. More so when I can’t even finish a book entirely. I did not enjoy writing this review at all, but I have to be honest. All of my reviews are.

As a Shakespeare fanatic, I was fascinated and excited to read this one. I was drawn in by the cover and the premise. I’d hoped I could enjoy it. But the worst-case scenario happened and in the end, I put it down a little over halfway through with a cringe. Luckily, I haven’t had too many DNF reads yet this year because I try really hard to finish all the books I start. Sadly, this is on the short list of them.

The thing is, I’d read a contemporary last year that had a premise somewhat similar. It involved time travel and Shakespeare and a character who loved acting in theater. I actually sat through that one. It wasn’t bad, and even found it a read that I’d recommend to contemporary fans perhaps. The characters were even likeable.

Kissing Shakespeare had nothing in it to redeem itself though. It starts right from the beginning with the action and absolute no backstory on the main character so I instantly felt detached. There were numerous plot holes that left me with questions or frowning in confusion. If Stephen talked that way all the time (like Miranda oh so casually mentioned as if it were no big deal), why did no one notice his strangeness in classes before and not have any suspicions? Especially when he was the new kid? What even prompted him to travel to this year in the first place? Little things that just irked me. I’m just someone who really thrives on characterization and backstory. I didn’t get any development at all in these areas from the chunk I read from anything here. Shakespeare didn’t even come across as a main character--and the title is KISSING SHAKESPEARE . Tell me how this works?! Pixie is confused.

What especially bothered me was the forceful tactic that was taken in trying to get her to seduce Shakespeare. And she goes right along with it, allowing herself to get bullied. Oh yes, that’s soooo romantic. And speaking of romance, I’d been led to believe from the blurb that it would be about Shakespeare--but instead the main focus is a budding romance between Miranda and Stephen, which I found ridiculous because of the way she’d been treated through out. Head, meet Desk.

The dialogue became cheesy and predictable. This wasn’t working out at all the way I’d hoped. I’d love to travel back in time to meet the great and amazing Shakespeare. When I saw that premise, I thought it sounded fantastic, but by page two hundred, I had to put it down and forget it.


DNF

Please note: My reviews are never meant to keep anyone from reading something they might be interested in reading. They’re just my own opinions. I was kindly provided a digital e-ARC from Delacorte through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

<3
Pixie

[Emily D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Random House Children’s Books and Netgalley for allowing me to review an advanced readers copy of this novel.

Kissing Shakespeare follows the story of Miranda who is basically kidnapped by a time traveler, Stephen, from the 1500’s and is transported back to his time to seduce Shakespeare in order to make sure that he doesn’t join the church and give up his dream of writing. Yes, this is a little bit far fetched but I regularly read about the paranormal so who am I to judge?

Miranda or Olivia as she is called for most of the novel adjusts rather quickly to life in medieval Europe and accepts the role of seducer of Shakespeare which Stephen has thrust upon her without much protest. This seemed a little far-fetched for me and I think this detracted a little from the story as I really had to work to make myself see why Miranda made the decisions she did.

I also wanted to like Stephen but I never got the vibe that he really truly cared for Miranda. Stephen was hot one second and cold the next and then the ending left me saying WTF?! I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but trust me when I say its not the happy ending I was expecting and the author leaves it open for a sequel.

I was actually disappointed with the character of Shakespeare. Miranda was meant to seduce him but what he really needed was a friend and confident and Miranda should have told Stephen that right from the get-go rather then forcing herself on Shakespeare. I actually think that Shakespeare could have done without the coercion of Miranda and Stephen and still chosen the writing route. Decisions like what to do with your life shouldn’t be made or swayed by others friends. At times I was just rolling my eyes and wishing they would let Shakespeare be to think hard on what he really wanted out of his life.

While living in the past Miranda is masquerading as Stephen’s sister, Olivia, so for most of the book she is called Olivia. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a character switches names (i.e. Four/Tobias). It wasn’t too bad in Kissing Shakespeare because I never got to know the character as Miranda before she was suddenly Olivia. What did bother me is that as the relationship between Stephen and Miranda progresses while he is kissing her, even saying goodbye to her, Stephan calls her Olivia. I guess it just kind of creeped me out that he was kissing Miranda and calling her his sister’s name. Please let me know if this weirded anyone else out.

The saving grace of this novel is that it is well written and the descriptions of the castles, landscape, and general time period were very lush and engaging. The history and political intrigue were also well researched and played well into the storyline. Overall, I enjoyed Kissing Shakespeare and would recommend it to people who enjoyed Grave Mercy by R.L. LaFevers, or individuals who just love Shakespeare and period pieces

[Amy Lignor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one YA that will be on the ‘Top’ list when it comes to the best YA reads of 2012. Fun, entertaining, historical, exciting, romantic - this author has brought it all to the table!

Ah…Shakespeare. What would life be like without the bard who gave the world some of the best words ever written? Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing - the man created some of the most amazing characters in popular culture that have most definitely survived after all these centuries.

In this story we meet Miranda. The daughter of two famous actors with the New England Shakespeare Company, she finds herself beginning to despise acting. Even though her mother is the ‘best of the best’ and the school teachers remember her as the ‘star of all stars’ and want her daughter to take over the position, Miranda is starting to feel like she’s being pushed in a direction she doesn’t want to go - even though she loves being on the stage.

After opening night of Taming of the Shrew, where she basically performs the lead role as a statue, a boy who’s a senor year transfer student from England that no one has really spoken to, comes up to her and tells Miranda she has to come with him. Apparently this Stephen Langford is from 1581 and he’s there to tell her that THE William Shakespeare is in danger. He may never become the master that the world loves because he’s being pulled into the Jesuit priesthood.

Of course, Miranda thinks he’s insane. But when she’s pulled up on he roof of the high school and is transported to a world where the 911 definitely doesn’t work on her cell, no cars are around, and the first people she meets up with are two men carrying a body dead from the plague in their cart, Miranda soon sees that this is completely and utterly real.

What does Stephen Langford want her to do? He wants Miranda to seduce Shakespeare so that the future bard will forget all about becoming a priest. Trouble is, not only does Stephen fall for her instead, but Miranda is also met with a whole screwed up world of religious upheaval and the fight between Queen Elizabeth’s Protestant ways versus Mary Queen of Scots Catholicism.

This is a particularly awesome story. From Miranda’s comic trouble with the 1500’s fashion and her mistakes with the free-flowing ale at mealtimes, not to mention trying to adjust her accent to fit in with the crowd, each and every scene offers sheer entertainment. But the author goes further when she offers the truth about the time period and how hard things were for the people.

From a priest being roasted on a pyre to dealing with a romance that may take over her heart and keep her in the 1500’s - leaving everyone she loves in another time - Miranda is a very cool character, and the pages are filled with a truly unforgettable plot.

Fun, romantic, historical - one of the best YA’s of 2012!

[Anna Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miranda's parents are famous Shakespearean actors and she has always aspired to be an actor someday as well. But she has always felt like she is inferior and talent-less compared to them. After what she thinks is a disastrous performance as Kate in 'Taming of the Shrew', Miranda is hiding backstage. Then her fellow castmate Stephen Langford finds her and all Hell breaks loose. It turns out that Stephen is not from this century and he takes Miranda back to the 16th century with him - so she can save Shakespeare. Or so Stephen says. It turns out that to save him Stephen seems to think that Miranda needs to seduce him. Apparently Shakespeare is considering joining the Jesuit priesthood, a dangerous occupation during Elizabeth I's reign. It is a possible death sentence, which would deprive the world of Shakespeare's genius. Therefore it's Miranda's job to tempt him out of that choice. Can she manage to save Shakespeare, even if it means sacrificing herself? Also, Miranda's heart is in danger of being captured, but not by the famous playwright... This book has two of the things that I love the most - Shakespeare and time travel! I loved smarmy time traveler, Stephen Langford who confuses Miranda as a girl of loose morals after watching too much 'Gossip Girl.' Which leads him to think she's perfect for seducing Shakespeare. It is interesting to see Elizabethan life portrayed including the Jesuit plight, because it's something I've personally never encountered and never expected to in a YA novel! The description of the book makes it sound lighthearted and at times it is. But there is a lot of underlying depth, including Stephen's tragic romantic past. My main complaint would be Miranda's lack of individual thought. She went along with Stephen's plans for her, even if it was with quite a fight. Not to mention, she was a majorly spoiled brat. If your biggest problem in life as a rich teenager is not being a great Shakespearean actor like Mommy and Daddy...well boo freaking hoo! Also, her blase attitude about losing her virginity was truly annoying. But by the end of the novel Miranda really showed some major character development and the conclusion to her romance with Stephen left me crying. It was an enjoyable read, I love any book with time travel that is fairly well done and this one fits the bill. I recommend to Shakespeare, romance and time travel fans who like a little humor mixed into their books.

VERDICT: 3.75/5 Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is August 14th, 2012.*

[Cee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book when I was in the mood for a quick, light romance. Something that makes you warm and fuzzy inside. Judging from the cover I was at the right place for that with Kissing Shakespeare.

Young want-to-be actress Miranda gets whipped away to Tudor times by a fellow player, Stephen Langford. Here she gets the mission to seduce Shakespeare, who is in his teens. If she doesn't succeed, all of his work might be lost.

The cover of Kissing Shakespeare is very misleading. It's very sweet, with the pink and delicate title and flower in the girl's hair. It's absolutely nothing like the story. During the late 16th century, Queen Elizabeth had started war against everyone from the "old faith". Protestantism was the state religion now, and Catholics were prosecuted. Especially Jesuits were wanted.

Kissing Shakespeare suffered from this background. It's so dark and angst-filled. At one point a man is burned alive. Not in much detail, but it happens. This was not what I was expecting in this book. The whole mission of seducing Shakespeare isn't romantic or swoony at all. It's a duty, and one Miranda is reluctant to fulfil. There is very little seducing going on, it's just a few stolen moments, but nothing that makes it feel special.

Shakespeare himself was a rather bland character. This was one of my major disappointments. He is one of the most popular people in human history, but he could have just been a boy next door. He is an actor - shouldn't he at least be a bit eccentric? I felt there was a lot more effort put in other characters like Stephen, and it felt just wrong that Shakespeare takes a secondary role in a story like this.

But I could have lived with all these faults. There is just one problem that I could not get around while reading this book: it has one of the biggest plot holes I have ever seen. There is absolutely no reason at all why history would go on a different course. Why is there a problem? What happened that history all of a sudden changes? It's not that there are different dimensions. No mention of a time traveller that messed up. This whole story is built on absolutely nothing. There were a few explanations that tried to cover up this problem, but nothing satisfactory. The whole time travel is shamelessly under explained. And the worst thing is that main character Miranda doesn't even question it.

The story itself isn't that bad. There is a lot of spying around, making assumptions, and romance. Only in my opinion it was with the wrong person. Read with caution.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so good!! I was so close to giving it five stars, but there were just a couple of things that knocked it down a bit. But first with the fantastically amazing good parts of this book!

I love historical romances, and Kissing Shakespeare was practically a historical romance for young adults (I say practically because it still is about a girl form the present time). The time period a majority of the book was spent in is so interesting and I absolutely loved it! Miranda is brought back into Shakespeare's time by a mysterious fellow student and is told to seduce Shakespeare or else he may never write the masterpieces he is so famously known for today. Miranda replaces her jeans for elegant gowns and loses her iPod for cross-stitch (one thing she really isn't a big fan of about that time).

Miranda adjusts to playing the role of a girl named Olivia, who is the sister of Stephen, the guy who brought her back to that time. And seducing the very man she has basically centered her theater life around? Miranda cannot believe this has happened to her. Instead of facing the old, unattractive Shakespeare we're all used to seeing in pictures, Miranda meets a young, very attractive teenage version of the master himself. Maybe seducing her hero won't be so terrible after all!

The whole storyline was great, with Shakespeare contemplating joining the Jesuits in the predominantly Protestant country and Miranda having to persuade him to keep his life as a schoolmaster and continue his writing. But when Miranda realizes how attractive and caring Stephen is, the storyline gets juicer by the page! The only problem, though, is that some things progressed too fast while others seemed to drag by. The relationship between Stephen and Miranda and Shakespeare and Miranda kind of progressed too fast without the necessary getting-to-know-you phase most relationships have. Then, once I got to about the last 60 pages, things seemed to take forever to happen and all they did was talk to each other. I wish the end was more exciting and the beginning of the book took more time to develop relationships.

Other than those few things, Kissing Shakespeare was definitely a great read for Young Adult and Shakespeare fans. And I love the cover! If you want a nice, romantic story to spend reading on a warm, lazy summer day, then Kissing Shakespeare is the book for you!

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good effort for the author's first book. Some scenarios fell flat but overall a decent read. I'd probably give this somewhere between 3 and 4 stars; it's better than a 3 but it's really not close to a 4.

Side note: I was at the library grabbing a book by another "M" author and a book nearby about Mary Bennet by this "M" author caught my eye. I read the synopsis of that book and decided to get it as well but while reading the author bio on my way to check out, this was mentioned and I took a detour to the YA section to pick it up. A time-travel book with Shakespeare sounded great! I read KS first but am hoping the MB one is better. Giving benefit to the author for this being her first and also hoping the YA factor got in her way. We shall see!

Update: I just looked at other reviews and a major complaint about this book is that Shakespeare is relegated to a minor character. Totally correct. There are few scenes where Shakespeare is front and center. And actually, thinking about it more, those seem to be where the author started to flourish but interestingly, they also involve the more literal "seduce Shakespeare" part of the plot and they end abruptly and awkwardly so maybe this is due to being YA. In a nutshell, maybe the author does better with adult characters and situations? This just got weird because I really don't mean sex... I just wonder if the author had trouble grasping the mindset and being in a teenager's head. Again, it was a fine read but fell flat. Hoping adults are better for her. Anyway, back to the lack of Shakepeare - - yes, there is, he's not a main character. But this was a beach read and it didn't really occur to me nor did I care.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who doesn’t love Shakespeare? In Kissing Shakespeare this question becomes a reality as Miranda, a modern girl who loves Shakespeare’s plays, must go back in time to save Shakespeare from a dangerous choice. Stephen, the time-traveler, drags Miranda back to the sixteenth century where she plays at being Olivia, Stephen’s sister, as she tries to seduce Shakespeare into forgetting about pursuing a religious path rather than his oh-so-amazing secular one. The question is can Miranda get Shakespeare to fall in love with her before it is revealed that he is helping to hide a Jesuit priest?

My Thoughts: I was really interested in this interesting twist on a typical time-traveling storyline. However, the storyline was not as fun as my first impression. I learned a lot about Queen Elizabeth’s pursuit and conviction of Jesuit priests as she tried to enforce the Crown’s religious choice. There is one terrible scene of a priest being burned at the stake right at the beginning of the story. Needless to say, this is no light-hearted romp through the English countryside. It is a story of intrigue and deceit as Miranda tries to figure out who is telling the sheriff the details about the hidden priest. While I enjoyed the idea of the storyline, I struggled to get through it. I did finish it because I wanted to make sure I was right about what was going on, but the action was often slow and the details redundant. I would have liked more editing—more isn’t always better.

[Jennifer Whitehead · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Fan of Shakespear? Check.
Fan of time travel books? Check.
Fan of kissing? Haha - Check.

I had to hit the request button on this book immediately, only because it seemed to have all the requirements of a delightful read!

As for the book itself - somewhat disappointing. But that is mainly because I have such high expectations for the time-travel genre. (I really enjoy anything by Diana Gabaldon - but that is very NOT YA.)

Some things that bothered me about this book: Miranda/Olivia seems very blase about losing her virginity. She is more amenable to sleeping with Shakespeare, mainly because it would out-do her mother. I don't like that Miranda/Olivia seems to shrug off the drastic differences between these two centuries - she doesn't mention a lack of indoor plumbing once!

Some things I liked about the book: I enjoyed the Catholic vs Protestant historical aspect. That was finely done for a light-hearted little YA romance, Ms Mingle. Congrats! I also enjoyed the fact that ol' Will Shakespeare is NOT the main love interest in this story. That was a relief (and quite funny when he calls out Anne Hathaway's name in a moment of passion)!

Overall - a good piece of fluff.

[C.P. Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miranda is the teenage daughter of a pair of Shakespearean actors. She loves the stage, but how can she ever hope to live up her mother, let alone excel? Does she even want to? When her first performance as Katherina, in The Taming of the Shrew, doesn't go well, Miranda can hardly bear to attend the cast party. She has let her parents down—and herself. So when a fellow cast member calls on her to join him in a strange and mysterious quest to save Shakespeare and his works, Miranda plays along, only to find herself transported to the 16th century, where views of women are only some of the challenges she faces.

Mingle's touch is deft, the cultural clashes alternately humorous and dramatic, and the characters both believable and appealing. Definitely one for the keeper shelf.

Note that this book is marketed as YA. Also that I interviewed the author regarding a later book, which I did not rate or review as a result even though I loved it. But this review reflects my honest opinion, and I did purchase the book.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time travel in books is an interesting issue. There are always the obvious questions which the reader needs to ignore. But if you can get your head around the fact that our heroine is brought back in time, to ensure The Bard chooses a literary life and not one of the cloth, without pondering, "But if she's reading Hamlet in modern day Boston, surely he chooses the pen and everything's OK?", then Mingle's love triangle tale might be readable. For me, the historical aspects here fulfilled my reading appetite; religious spy networking, role of men and women, and the lengths people went to to hide their faith. What holds this story back is the frustrating scenes dominated by whether one person will make a pass at the other. But if you pick up a book called "Kissing Shakespeare" you can only blame yourself for too much romance!