Review: Kiss Me Like This (#1, The Morrisons) by Bella Andre

My Thoughts

Sweet, sexy and romantic, this is a spellbinding New Adult
story told in Bella Andre’s heartwarming, signature style.

• Kiss Me Like This: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Synopsis

Sean Morrison, one of six siblings and the top college baseball player in the country, is reeling from a heartbreakingly painful loss. Nothing seems to matter anymore…until the night Serena Britten unexpectedly ends up in his arms. 

Serena is a world-famous model who has only ever wanted to be normal, even though her mother has always pushed her to become a superstar. Though it isn’t easy to try to leave everyone and everything she knows behind, Serena is determined to enroll in college. More than anything, she wants to turn her love for books into a new career that she actually loves. Only, she never expected to meet someone like Sean on campus—or to be instantly consumed by their incredible chemistry and connection. 

But when the pressures of her high-profile modeling career only get bigger and more demanding, will it make living a normal life as a college student—and falling in love with the hottest guy on campus—impossible?

My Review

We all know Bella Andre can write the kind of romances that sweep us off our feet, leaving us feeling replete with warmth and happiness. Hers are the kind of escapist stories that feel timeless. The ones of which we never quite get enough. Now, Bella is taking her successful storytelling into New Adult. Expect the same heartfelt, uplifting romance, certainly sizzling sexiness, but this time, the story felt a little sweeter, softer as she explores this unique coming-of-age time for her two protagonists. This story is one of a girl who has grown up under constant flash of a camera, the continuous scrutiny of a fame-obsessed mother and the hidden desire to devour books as many and as quickly as she can.

“Books, not fashion shows. Libraries, not movies. Quiet nights devouring a story by one of her favorite authors, not splashy Hollywood parties. Serena wanted, more than anything, to live a life that she was passionately excited about.”

Serena is a supermodel whose fame continues to grow as her mother pushes her to take more jobs and expand her resume. She’s a “momager” who’s drive to keep Serena at the top of her game knows no end. Serena, however, isn’t in love with what she does. What she loves is books. Reading. Writing. Everything that hast to do with them. She finally decides to pursue her heart’s desire and secretly applies to Stanford. To her surprise, she gets in… but she must face her mother before she can even start on the future she really wants.

“Serena’s dreams had become bigger than her terror, so big that she was finally willing to risk everything to take a chance on them.”

Her mother is angry, filling her head with negative thoughts. Pushing notions that Serena will fail and come back running. Serena musters the courage to attend, but she must have exemplary grades to stay in school. Being in college represents not only her dreams, but her unrelenting desire to be a normal girl. A normal girl with friends. A normal girl with typical college experiences. She didn’t have any friends. She had never even been kissed. She sold the art of seduction, yet she had never known lust, or love for that matter. Despite her desire to experience everything, her grades had to be priority. The last thing she needed was a distraction.

Unfortunately, her first college party brings her face-to-face with a gorgeous boy who disarms her, unsettles her in a way she’s not known before. We meet Sean Morrison. We learn he’s been lost, reeling from the recent loss of his mother. He was sucked into a numbing existence of drinking and women… anything to forget the acute pain he felt inside. When he meets Serena — the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen — she seems to see something in him immediately and he stirs to life, pulling her into his arms unexpectedly.

But her hopes are quickly shattered when this boy turns out to be everything her mom warned all boys to be. Or was he? When they meet up again, misunderstandings are cleared and they become friends. Friends who over time deeply desire the other. Serena is torn between confiding in, relying on, spending time with Sean and staying away to focus on her studies. The vigilant eyes of the paparazzi surround her, the hurtful words of her mother constantly replaying in her head. But together, they seem to come alive.

“They were both simply taking and giving to each other exactly what they needed. A break from the cold. A reminder of what it was to feel alive, completely alive. And a chance to forget what they each needed to forget. For herself, all she wanted was to forget that her life had never been hers, not until she’d set food on this campus. And for him? Well, it was obvious that whatever it was that he needed to forget had wounded him deeply. Very deeply.”

Their time together is incredibly sweet and heartwarming, honest and exploratory. Serena finds hope that she could find her own happily ever after with Sean, with her studies… with her dreams within reach.

“Maybe she didn’t need to hide anymore. Maybe she could finally become the person she was meant to be. Someone who loved books and learning. Someone who loved new experiences and trying new things. Someone who loved an amazing guy… and was loved right back.”

Sean is quickly falling in love with Serena. She’s bright, kind and beautiful inside and out. In a short time he discovered that he couldn’t let her go. She was different and he couldn’t help but feel that she was his.

“… he was in love with her. So in love that he could hardly think straight anymore.”

Serena must learn to trust Sean… trust her instincts. Sean comes from a large family that loves each other deeply. Serena hasn’t known that kind of love. Sean must learn to open up to Serena, no matter how painful the emotions are. What’s true for sure, is that every time they’re together, the desire they feel sizzles. They can’t get enough of each other.

“I want to kiss you for hours and hours, nowhere but that sweet mouth of yours, until you’re begging me for more. Pleading me to kiss you anywhere I want. Everywhere you want.”

This is a lovely story. An unadulterated romance that is sweet, sexy and heartwarming. I can’t wait to read more of The Morrisons… I can already tell that each of these family members have a unique story to tell that will surely draw me in!

“Do you know what I love most of all?… I love it when you kiss me like this.”

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