Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris–until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming,beautiful, Étienne has it all…including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Let me begin by saying that this is almost as close to the perfect romance as you can get. I absolutely loved the book, and it was one of those books I did not want to put down. I was completely enchanted by the storyline, the romance, and the delicious humor. I would never call this cheesy nor sappy, but if it is, it is the kind I love!
Anna was a wonderful character, but it gets no better than Etienne St. Clair! Having had an English friend in the past, I was intrigued to see how much St. Clair was like this friend of mine. I loved the British mannerisms, terminology, and more. And yes, I know that St. Clair was not truly British, but in so many ways he was! I was enchanted by the humor. So often the books that I read miss the element of humor, but this book had me laughing out loud many times, but there were times that the tears threatened to come as well. Stephanie Perkins is a master at writing emotion–period.
There was only one thing I didn’t like. Profanity in the book did not show up until much later into the book, and although the profanity was not prolific, I did not feel it was necessary. Thankfully there were no bedroom scenes. Yes, there were some sexual terms that were dropped here and there, but I was not overly offended. I am glad that Anna was a virgin–always appreciate this in books!
I would love to read a sequel to this book, and maybe one day, Stephanie will do that for us. I doubt I am alone in wishing to see the saga of Anna and St. Clair continue. This was a nice romance, and at the end, I actually experienced chills it was so good! If you have not read this book, and you like romances of any kind, this is the book for you!
Hi, there! I’m Stephanie Perkins, and I’m a New York Times and international bestselling author of books for teenagers and for adults with teenage hearts. I was born in South Carolina, raised in Arizona, and I attended universities in California and Georgia. Since 2004, I’ve lived in the mountains of North Carolina.
I’ve always worked with books—first as a bookseller, then as a librarian, now as a novelist and editor. My best friend is my husband Jarrod. Every room of our house is painted a different color of the rainbow, and we share it with a feisty cat named Mr. Tumnus.
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