Jessica's Christmas Kiss (Choc Lit)

I always love the books from ChocLit and this was no exception. During a troubled time Jessica finds herself dreaming about her first kiss under the mistletoe with the mystery boy at a party. When they meet again they both have life experiences that have shaped their lives and will that ever bring happy times over the festive season in the future? You are rooting for them to have that happy ever after to make the difficult times just a distant memory. A lovely quick read – ideal for taking a quick break from the whirl of Christmas parties and wrapping pressies to recharge the energy levels with a warm read.
With many thanks to Choclit and NetGalley for the chance to read this one in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. The story begins with Jessica, age fourteen, on Christmas Eve in the kitchen at a party given by a friend of her mom. Alan, aka Lucas, gives her the perfect kiss and then disappears from her life.

Fourteen years later, she accidentally meets up with Lucas again, but she doesn't recognize him as the boy who she shared the perfect first kiss with. So much has happened to them during those fourteen years but they are drawn to one another. Jessica's marriage of only one year is disintegrating because of her cheating husband, Patrick. And, Lucas's father was seriously injured in a car accident on the night of their perfect kiss all those years ago and has a severe brain injury, from which he will never fully recover.

I will let you read to see if Jessica and Lucas get their happy ending and can they be completely honest with each other so they can begin to trust someone again.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jessica Loves Christmas, it’s such a romantic time of year. Her first kiss was at Christmas and she married at Christmas. But this Christmas her dreams are shattered when she finds out her husband is cheating on her. Will Christmas ever be a happy time for Jessica again?

Jessica’s Christmas Kiss is book 3 in the Christmas Wishes Series but is also perfect as a standalone read.
A delightful Christmas story with a perfect balance of angst and happiness. Even though this is novella length the characters are developed enough to enable the reader to connect with them. I loved that characters from the previous stories, Holly’s Christmas Kiss and Cora’s Christmas Kiss, have minor roles in this novella. It’s like a family of characters that you just want to keep reading about.
I wonder what they will be doing next Christmas?

I'm in love with this story, I read it very quickly, I couldn't put it down. So wonderfully executed, so addictive. I'm having a hard time explaining how it's Christmasy, without screaming Christmas. It's perfect.

This is such a lovely novella! I've enjoyed all the books in the series, but I think this one is my favourite.

Lucas and Jessica meet in the kitchen of a party on Christmas Eve when they are 16 and 15 and Jessica receives her first ever kiss. The description of the scene, the awkwardness and the kiss were wonderful - I think it will take everyone to their first kiss!

The rest of the book is taken up with them meeting years later and how they both cope with each other's baggage - by which time there is plenty!

A happy ending or course, but now without a couple of false starts in the meantime! Loved it - and Lucas!

Overall a very cute Christmas story. Poor Jessica...all she wants is a good man who loves her and thought she found that in her husband...but alas...he was another in a short list of men who lied to her.
Fake Alan/Lucas is a man who seems kinda lost and it's obvious he would benefit from a supportive loving woman by his side. I thought the book dragged a bit in the beginning and was a bit rushed at the end (and the reason they didn't talk for a year...*rolling eyes*). BUT with that said, I enjoyed this story. It was cute and had a nice romantic ending, which I require in the books I read. I can forgive an author a lot if there is an emotionally satisfying ending. Read this for Christmas, it'll warm your heart.

This post is for Jessica's Christmas Kiss by Alison May.

ChocLit, I appreciate you. Thank you for this cutesy read. Thank you, NetGalley, too, for this free copy! And all I had to do is my favorite thing.

READ!
Format: Electronic Tissue warning: no HEA: Yep Triggers: None My reviewer rating: 3.5 Recommend to others: Surely, for a quick one-sit type of read.

We start this story off with Lucas/Alan and Jessica at a Christmas party. Both Lucas/Alan and Jessica are teens, bored with the holiday gathering. Lucas/Alan approaches Jess and they start talking—normal, teenage-y type conversation ensues. Sweet and innocent turns into Jess mauling Lucas/Alan.

Why the name slashing "Lucas/Alan?" Well, Lucas is a child actor in denial. He doesn't want to be recognized. So he introduces himself to Jessica as Alan.

Anyway, back to Jess and, for now, Alan.

Alan has to leave the party due to a phone call from his car service, leaving Jess reeling from her first ever kiss at the party to wonder if she will ever see Alan again.

Time hop! Scoot ahead 10 years. Jessica is in a crap marriage of one year, and Lucas/Not-Alan is half-miserable, looking after his disabled father and still hiding from his true identity.

So how do Jess and Lucas/Not-Alan end up meeting agian? Well, due to the small world we live in, Jess shows up at his place, not recognizing him, but he definitely recognizes her.

I'll let you read the rest. It's such a quick read, that if i go into anymore detail, I'm going to give the whole story away, and it's worth reading yourself.

What I love about this story is the cutesy-ness of it. The party at the beginning is believable. How Lucas/Not-Alan and Jess both remember and recall the Christmas party where they first met and shared that kiss is believable.

What I didn't love was how easy Jess pushes Lucas/Not-Alan away when she finds out who he really is. I thought that was just petty. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt since she was still rebounding from her crap marriage to Douchebag, but still. It was eye-roll worthy.

Redemption is made, though! Have no fear.

So, go and read this little gem. It's perfect for flights and layovers and car trips (where you're not driving, of course), and when the husband won't turn off Sportscenter.

We all remember our very first kiss. For most of us, it was a hurried, sloppy affair, but not for Jessica. She remembers the kiss she shared with a mystery boy at a party when she was 15 like it was yesterday, and no other kiss has measured up since. The boy may have disappeared as quickly as he appeared, but Jessica has never forgotten him or that amazing kiss. Now, a decade and a half later, Jessica is having a crappy Christmas having discovered her sleazy husband is having an affair. If only that boy could somehow materialize…….. Sweet aand fanciful Christmas fun

What a lovely, heart-warming festive read! Alison May knows how to pack in the feel-good feels and the heart-string tugs all in one beautiful package.

The third in the 'Christmas Kisses' series (akthough can be read as a standalone) we are invited into Jessica's world of pain, insecurity and rejection as she strives to make Christmas special with her husband after discovering earlier in the year that he'd been having an affair. We see Jessica as a fifteen year old romantic, who shares her first kiss with an enigmatic stranger at a Christmas party, become a worn-down wife to a different man. Alison May brilliantly highlighted the changes that life had made of Jessica, and from the get-go, I really wanted her to get her happy ending.
Lucas was the perfect hero. With a secret past, and many painful memories and regret which hold him back from living his life to the full, he is a true gentleman who made me smile. His relationship with his housemates was so great to read, and I laughed at their scenes together. And when Jessica is going through the worst time in her life, Lucas is there for her, and together they begin to live their life the way they feel they deserve.
I adored this little story that takes place over three different time-zones. The character development was brilliant and there was some heart-melting moments, as well as some tearful ones.

5 Stars!

Sometimes a first ever kiss is a cringe worthy memory best buried deep within the psyche. And other very first kisses are so amazing that they stay with you long past the moment until they are a fiber of your life, revisited often throughout the years. That was 15 year old Jessica’s first kiss, a Christmas kiss – one that was as perfect as a first kiss can get and one that stayed in her memories.

Years later Jessica’s life hasn’t turned out as she imagined it would. The man she married, the one one who promised to love and cherish her and keep himself only unto her… didn’t. The cheating scumbag had not only one mistress, but had moved on to another one in record time. Hurt and her dreams in pieces it’s perfectly natural that she would think back to when life was young and a kiss was perfect with promise and hope – even if she never saw that special boy again.

Jessica is about to get a surprise. That young boy grew up into quite a handsome man. One with secrets and mysteries surrounding him. Alan, when she first kissed him. Lucas when she runs into him again at the second mistress’ home. With questions, regrets and perhaps a touch of hope these two will reconnect – but will their story have a happier ending.

I adored Jessica’s Christmas Kiss. Full of a bit of hope, some whimsy,, a cheating ex and a long lost first crush. Life moves in mysterious ways and as Jessica discovers life might not always be smooth running, but some risks are worth taking. Because of the length of novella, it’s a quick fast paced read and not wanting to give away spoilers – let me say that this story will bring a smile to your face, perhaps a tear to the eye and do your heart good. I enjoyed it very much, just like the other stories in this series. Love Christmas romance and a feel good story – then you’ll want to pick this one up – now.

*I received an e-ARC of Jessica’s Christmas Kiss from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

Jessica's Christmas Kiss is a fabulous festive read. It is a good old love story, with the classic will they, won't they scenario. At just under 150 pages it is perfect for snuggling down and escaping from the real world for a little while.

Jessica was a teenage girl when she shared her first kiss with a boy at a Christmas party, he then disappears and is never heard of again. Fast forward through the years and Jessica is a married woman who occasionally reminisces about the kiss but is in love with her husband.

Jessica has suspected an affair for a while but her fears are finally confirmed when she hears him on the phone on Christmas Day. This starts a chain of events which sees the marriage break down and Jessica having to cope with adjusting to her husband leaving her for another woman. But what she wasn't expecting was to be reunited with the boy she kissed all those years ago.

Will things turn out differently now? Ahh I can't possibly say and give away the rest of the story. You will just have to read and find out for yourself!

Ok, so the storyline might sound a bit far fetched, but indulge in allowing your mind to wander into fantasy and I really enjoyed it. Let's be honest, how many of us occasionally cast our minds back and wonder 'what if?'

Jessica is a lovely character and my heart went out to her when she found out about the affair. However Jessica isn't one to roll over and hide, she is feisty and I really enjoyed reading her story. She doesn't know for quite some time that she has stumbled across the boy from her teenage years and I really wanted to jump in and intervene.

If you like to indulge in lighthearted, enjoyable reads with some romance and suspense this could well be one to add to your reading list.

Thank you to Choc Lit who kindly provided a copy in return for an honest review.

Jessica’s Christmas Kiss is the third book in the Christmas kisses series by Alison May, but as I did, can be read alone.

This was a wonderful festive short Christmassy novel about falling in love during the magical and romantic Christmas season and ultimately about living in the now. It was the first book I’ve read by this author, but it certainly won’t be the last. Says it’s the third book in a series, but it can be read as a stand alone story.

‘‘But that’s my point. You can’t choose when you fall in love. Love is just love. There’s no right time or right way of finding it.’

5 stars for this fun festive Christmas story

This was really cute and was a nice, quick read for the holidays.

My Rating 4.5.
Jessica, aged fifteen, shared her first lovely kiss with a mysterious boy at a Christmas party. The moment helped Jessica believe in Christmas magic and years later she was married at Christmas. Unfortunately, within the first year of marriage she discovers that her long time beau, now husband, Patrick, has been unfaithful. He has promised the affair is over and they are about to celebrate Christmas with family when Jessica overhears her husband sweet talking to someone else on the phone. Stunned she bundles up, grabs a bottle of Bailey’s and heads out walking the city. Eventually she ends up at the flat of Cora, the young woman with whom Patrick had the summer affair.

Jessica is met at the door by a man who looks vaguely familiar. He tries to comfort her as Cora proclaims her innocence as she has witnesses that she wasn’t on the phone at the time of the conversation. Lucas, known to his friends and flat mates as Alan, is shocked to recognize the girl he kissed years before --- before his life crashed around him. Lucas has never forgotten the bright, sweet young girl he kissed on Christmas. He never really expected to get to see her again. His life has been wrapped up with hiding his true identity as he stays busy with his volunteer work and taking care of his injured, alcoholic father. Is it possible that he can become reacquainted with Jessica and broaden his isolated life?

The story is told in alternating views from Jessica to Lucas which helps keep it interesting and moving well. Their emotions are engaging, sweet and charming and I was rooting for them all through the book, even with the set-backs. The writing flows well making this an easy, quick read. I note that there are other “Christmas Kiss” stories by Ms. May involving some of the other characters in this book. I am guessing that they would each be as charming. I recommend this to romance readers who will enjoy the addition of Christmas magic in the story.

Adorable. My Christmas felt complete