Catriona Corby's Reviews > The Third Kiss

I was very kindly sent an ARC of The Third Kiss. This novel was a relative forage into the unknown, not being romantically inclined myself, but what I found within its (digital) pages more than satisfied my taste for a good book. There’s something for everyone in The Third Kiss, with the budding romance between the two protagonists linking mythology, adventure, and morality. Part coming-of-age, and part romance, the novel plays out in two distinct planes, whose boundaries increasingly blur as the storyline progresses. On the one hand, characters go about their ordinary lives, and how relationships develop between one another; those same characters are later thrust into a supernatural world, of which they have little understanding. The two concepts are expertly tied together (the climax and following scenes are the masterpieces of The Third Kiss) to create a unique premise and present more than your average romance novel.

Colmer writes with a strong voice, which creates memorable characters and a collection of witty one-liners and jabs at one another, enough to entertain even the dourest of readers. They’re a refreshingly real bunch of teens. She mostly takes the content matter lightly, but does inject a needed sombreness at times. She masterfully brings the rising action up to a truly magnificent climax.

The one aspect I would have liked to see more exploration of was further development of the premise. The magical and biblical aspects of the novel, which grow stronger as the chapters progress, is clever and compelling. I found myself caught up in the concept, which left me wanting more exploration, and perhaps more complexity to the workings of the curse. Hopefully more detail will come out in Book 2 of "Love’s Mortal Coil".

Readers looking for a light-hearted romance novel with a unique premise and a hint of intrigue will enjoy The Third Kiss. I certainly did.