The Kiss That Launched a 1,000 GIFs
My Rating: five-stars
Published by: Wicked Sassy on July 6, 2015
Genres: ROM/COM, Adult, Contemporary, Romance, New Adult, HEA
Pages: 183
Each weekday from 2:00-4:00 p.m., Grace and Ashton cohost Battle of the Sexes, a radio program arguing the he-said/she-said issues of the day. Their fiery debates often have listeners wondering if there’s more to their relationship than just talk, even though Grace has been dating Phillip, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Perfect, since long before she ever met Ashton Miller.
Yet when news comes that Battle of the Sexes is on the bubble for cancellation, Grace and Ashton need to step up their efforts to engage their audience to keep the show alive. When a charity organization approaches them and proposes that the two of them kiss for a fund raiser, Grace and Ash agree to kiss for a good cause. A kiss is just a kiss, right?
♥ 
♥ 
♥ 
♥ 
A Kiss that Launched a 1000 gifs was a short, cute read. It’s a contemporary romance, and the first book by Sheralyn Pratt I’ve read, although I doubt it will be the last. The story follows Ashton and Grace, two television and radio personalities, who are cohosts on a local radio show, and secretly in love with each other… and that’s all I’m sayin’. If you’ve read my blog you know, I don’t do plot summaries. It takes away from the readers’ experience, and it isn’t fair to the author. But, trust me, this is a cute story, as this excerpt shows…
“Good afternoon, and welcome to the newest edition of Battle of the Sexes,” Grace said, starting off the show. “With me today is the man who has just proven that the Instagram app is truly foolproof—my no-longer-technically challenged cohost, Ashton Miller.”
Ash leaned forward into the mic. “And with me is the woman I’ve recently learned feels compelled to alert the world via photograph every time she finds a pair of shoes she likes—the woman who takes the ‘anonymous’ out of Shopaholics Anonymous—my lovely cohost, Grace Vasquez.”
Grace was unapologetic. “A good pair of shoes is worth sharing.”
“Oh? Does that mean I should post pictures of my shoes?” Ash asked, picking up his phone and pressing the camera icon.
“You’re wearing hiking boots.”
“That’s right,” Ash said, putting his shoes up on the table and snapping a picture. “These are Salomon Quest 4D GTXes. I wear them any time I go on a shoot that requires some hiking. They’re light, durable, and provide great stability. Is that the sort of thing you share on Instagram?”
“Not really,” Grace said. “But I’m sure Salomon doesn’t mind the free advertising you just handed them.”
“Well, I’m totally posting a picture,” Ash said, in his best valley girl tone. “It’s not every day a man finds comfort, function, and fashion all in one shoe.”
“Indeed,” Grace replied. “I’m still waiting for that day to happen for you.”
Ash smiled against his will and set his phone to the side. He’d post the photo later. Grace was clearly in a mood that required his full attention. “So what are we talking about today? And, please, don’t let it be shoes!”
Grace glanced at her computer screen, giving Ash a view of her stunning profile. Seriously, how was her skin so smooth? “Today the most up-voted topic is…” She blinked, looking confused. “Huh.”
“Huh?” Ash echoed, intrigued by the look of confusion on Grace’s face.
“Cupcakes,” she said.
“Cupcakes?”
Grace nodded and frowned at her monitor. “Why do men hate cupcakes? is the trending topic at the moment.” Grace looked Ash’s way, visibly confused. “Do men hate cupcakes?”
I think it was smart how the author incorporated real social media outlets that most of her reading audience will know and understand. I loved waiting for Ashton and Grace’s next Instagram showdown.The characters were well developed. Although, I had trouble connecting with Grace’s perfect, type-A personality for the first half of the book, once her {deleted for spoiler} happened, I saw a different side of her.
Ashton is swoon-worthy, for sure. He has good looks, and a fun, flirty personality. But what will really get female readers swooning, is his love for his teenaged niece.
All in all, this was a great, clean, story. There were some grammatical and punctuation errors, and while the two main characters were developed well, I thought some others could have been round out more. That being said, I highly recommend this for your next beach read. One caveat, however: make sure you’ve put on enough sunscreen, because you won’t want to stop reading to reapply!
Leave a Reply