Review: One Perfect Kiss by Jaci Burton

One Perfect Kiss
(Hope #8)
by Jaci Burton
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: Sept. 4, 2018
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Josie Barnes has always craved a sense of home. She’s found that in Hope, Oklahoma–she bought a house, has a new job as an English teacher at Hope High, she’s made wonderful friends, and she’s taking in stray animals that no one else wants. Now she’s flirting with fellow teacher and hot high school football coach Zach Powers. But he’s almost too good to be true, and Josie learned long ago not to trust in the too-good-to-be-true, because it has always let her down.

A former pro football player, Zach had to pull back when a career-ending knee injury forced him to rethink his future. Now he’s happy calling plays as Coach. If he could just get Josie Barnes to stop benching his players for their poor grades, life would be perfect. Instead, she drives him crazy as the stern teacher at school and the sexy woman of his dreams outside of the classroom. He knows she’s been hurt in the past, but he wants to be that guy she can trust.

The one thing Josie has never been able to count on is the people closest to her. But Zach intends to show her that what they have between them is a textbook case of love.

 

 

 

I can’t quite put my finger one why this story didn’t really work for me. I have really enjoyed Burton’s previous work, but this one left me wanting more. One thing that stuck out for me was the fact that I felt a lack of connection with the characters. Both of them are teachers, not to mention the fact that Zach is the high school’s football coach. However, you don’t really get too much time with them on the job. You get a few snippets, but it would have been nice to really be there experiencing the game/practice through Zach’s eyes, or getting more interaction between Josie and her students as they read poetry or go over literature. Heck, Zach is a history teacher, and I kind of completely forgot about that until just now because you never really saw him teaching. I felt like the only times the book covered these two at work was just to cover their brief interactions with each other while at the school.

I also felt like a lot of the story was sort of glossed over and barely brushed up on. It seemed like we were just going through the motions without there being any real depth or feeling behind it all. There was a surprise wedding in the story and I found myself just sort of shrugging at it all as it popped up and then moved on to the next scene. Or the fact that Josie randomly gets a blind bunny and it’s just there. No real information. No rhyme or reason to having the rabbit. It’s just, “Oh, I got a rabbit the other day. Let’s go out to dinner now!” Considering she wants to own all these neglected and forgotten animals, I guess I would have liked to have been in her POV when she got the rabbit. Maybe her experience with owning said rabbit and how the cat handled the new addition. Because I tell you what, my cat would be ALL OVER a rabbit… and not in a good way.

In the end, One Perfect Kiss just didn’t do it for me. There was no spark, no character depth, nothing that made me feel connected to the main characters. I wish we could have seen them more in their element. I wish I could have seen Josie adopt more animals in need. I would have liked it if the author took a little more time to build up the characters and not make it so dependent on having read the previous books. I felt like the entire book was one massive reunion of friends and if you hadn’t read and fallen in love with the previous characters, then you were out of luck.

 

 

Previous reviews from Hope
Hope Ignites
Make Me Stay
Love Me Again

 

 

5 Thoughts on “Review: One Perfect Kiss by Jaci Burton

  1. Oh, man. It’s too bad this book didn’t live up to your expectations, but with your examples, I can totally understand why. Hopefully your next read was better. I have to say – when I was younger, I had a cat and my roommate had a rabbit, and they used to have so much fun playing together! They chased each other all around the apartment. It was a hoot! And my friends rabbit would dance/hop like crazy when we played Miami by Will Smith. LOL

    Great review! 🙂

  2. Oh wow – it seems like you don’t really get to see them in action as people. Just told what they do. Bummer because I’ve always liked Burton.

    Karen @ For What It’s Worth

  3. bookwormbrandee on 27 August, 2018 at 2:57 pm said:

    I’ve not read Burton yet but I’ll make a note that I might want to skip this one. Lack of character development makes for a lack of connection with the characters and if you don’t connect, why do you care about their story? It’s a shame though…

  4. Oh no…that cover looks so cute. Sorry it didn’t do it for you. Wishing you luck on the next book.
    sherry @ fundinmental

  5. Lauren Becker on 30 August, 2018 at 5:46 am said:

    I’ve never read anything by this author, but this definitely sounds like one to avoid. I’m a big character person, so that’s upsetting the author doesn’t really delve into them too much. It would have been nice to have more of them in their jobs and with the animals, like you said. All that really helps you invest in a character.

    -Lauren
    http://www.shootingstarsmag.net

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