Book Review: The Kiss Principle by Gregory Ashe

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Purchase Link: Books2Read (list of all available retailers)

If someone had told me two years ago that Fer's story would not only be a contemporary romance but one of the sweetest and most wholesome I'd ever read, I would have probably laughed. But here we are!

For anyone unfamiliar, Fer was originally introduced as Auggie's big brother in Greg's series The First Quarto. Foul-mouthed, loud, and overprotective, he quickly captured the hearts of readers. As the series went on, it became more and more apparent just how much Fer had sacrificed for his family and how lonely he was. I don't think it's necessary to have read The First Quarto to enjoy The Kiss Principle, because Greg does a good job of weaving in backstory and highlighting on page just what Fer is dealing with. But, as one of my favorite series, I would highly recommend you check it out after you're done with this one. ;)

If you've read GA before... well, you may be surprised to find out that this is truly just a romance. No murders in sight! And as what I believe was GA's first ever foray into the contemporary romance genre, it was amazing and sweet. There were moments I wanted to shake Fer, but it is a Gregory Ashe book, so of course that was bound to happen at least once.

Zé was... well, perfect might be a little stretching it because nobody is perfect. But maybe perfect for Fer? Guess you'll have to read it to find out!

This book was first serialized on GA's patron site, Advanced Ashochism, from May until October, so I read it during that period. Having to wait a week for every chapter was sometimes torture but it made Sunday not quite so rough! If you aren't already a member, I highly recommend checking it out because you'll get some fun bonus stuff like art from this story and others, as well as a whole bunch of other bonus content/flash fiction from all of GA's books.

Suggested reading order: best read after The First Quarto (starts with They Told Me I Was Everything. The short story “I Wanted to Tell You Something" (Fer visits Auggie and Theo) in Tangents: Volume 1 chronologically takes place after but can be read anytime.