That Time I Kissed My Brother’s Best Friend

About the Book:

Title: That Time I Kissed My Brother’s Best Friend
Series: The Time of Your life #1
Author: Julie Christianson
Release Date: November 28h, 2022
Genre: Romantic Comedy

ireworks plus mistletoe equal one explosive kiss …

Beau Slater sure brings the fireworks. Too bad they’re not the good kind. My brother’s best friend was so smoking hot, he blew up our small-town graduation night with one humiliating almost-kiss. It took me five years, one potential dream job, and three thousand miles to diffuse that horrifying memory.

So when my worst enemy and I are forced together by our meddling mothers for a first-ever Christmas in July, I can’t risk Beau reigniting my heart. Which means I’m probably supremely stupid to enlist him in my plot to teach our manipulative families a lesson.

Still. Beau’s future is a world away from mine, and neither one of us will give up on our dreams. So how hard could it be to fake-date the off-limits man I’m secretly pining for?

The answer is EASY, Kasey.

Just as long as I don’t let this old flame and his sugarplum lips burn me again …

Book Review:

A rewrite of her novella is now the first in a new series, That Time I Kissed my Brother’s Best Friend is a fun holiday themed rom-com. I was so excited to read another book in the world of the Apple Valley Romances. This expanded story follows Kasey who has returned home in July to celebrate Christmas with her family for her grandmother’s sake, only to find more

What a fun story! It is overall a lighthearted story with fun characters. Kasey loves her family, but they are a lot. From her mom who can feel smothering in her exuberant love, her brother who has reminded in their hometown and their longtime family friends, the Slaters. Her brother’s best friend Beau is also home from his work as a celebrated photographer. After years of torment from the two as children up to high school graduation. She is determined to appease her family, avoid Beau, and return to her journalist career that is finally taking off. Being constantly thrown together by her family is draining on her, as she finds that there may be more to the story than she realized. I enjoyed seeing Kasey’s interactions with her family. They were so funny! It was especially enjoyable knowing the characters from the previous books. Kasey was very passionate, about her work, her feelings for her family, and her feelings for Beau. She was a fun main character though I sometimes felt like she was holding onto the past pranks a bit too much. Beau was sweet. It was nice to also have his POV too, I feel like it really rounded out the story. 

The plot moved along pretty quickly, but I think it fit for the genre and the story. There was already a lot of history between the two and they already knew each other in a lot of ways. I enjoyed the family interactions and their role in Kasey and Beau’s relationship. Overall, this was a cute book that made me look forward to the continuation of the series. 

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, I was not required to write a positive review.