It Started With A Kiss by Miranda Dickinson
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: 10th November 2011
Rating: 5/5
Source: Received from the publisher for review
Buy: Amazon UK | Amazon US | BookDepository
Amazon Summary:

From the author that gave you the Sunday Times top 10 selling title, Fairytale of New York, join our heroine Romilly as she discovers how far she will go to find the man of her dreams. As the singer in a wedding band, Romily Parker has seen her fair share of happy endings, even though her own love life isn’t quite as simple. On the last Saturday before Christmas, (shortly after disastrously declaring her love for best friend Charlie), Romily has a brief encounter with a handsome stranger whose heart-stopping kiss changes everything. Determined to find him again, Romily embarks on a yearlong quest, helped (and sometimes hindered) by enthusiastic Uncle Dudley, cake-making Auntie Mags and flamboyant Wren. Will she find the man of her dreams? Or could true love be closer than she thinks? The ONLY book that you’ll want to curl up with this winter – perfect for fans of Jill Mansell and Sophie Kinsella.

I adore Miranda Dickinson, not only is she one of the brightest new talents in Chick Lit, but she’s also a really, really lovely person. She has a video blog each week about her new novel – the one I’m reviewing, in fact – and she’s such a personable author, someone it’s easy to ask questions to and chat to, she’s awesome. I absolutely loved both of her previous two novels, Fairytale of New York and Welcome To My World so when I received a proof copy of It Started With A Kiss, it’s quite a surprise I didn’t explode with the excitement of it all. Obviously, because I’d loved her first two books I was a bit dubious – can she make it three out of three? Really? Well, the simple answer is yes. Yes, she can.

It Started With A Kiss was a brilliant read. I mean, seriously. Amazing. It’s like an amazing chick-flick wrapped up in a book, if that even makes sense. It’s the type of book you imagine Richard Curtis making into a film (it would be an awesome film and I’m not just being hyperbolic because I love Miranda). Who doesn’t dream of meeting the man of their dreams one day? Who doesn’t like the idea of being so sure of a man – despite just seeing him for all of a couple of minutes – that you’d spend the next year of your life determined to find him? It’s so magical and romantic and heart-warming and if anyone else can make a plot like that work (because it is a bit more ‘out there’ than your usual Chick Lit novels) then Miranda Dickinson can because she’s just a natural storyteller. Romily’s quest is one you can get behind; her unwavering belief that this year will be the year her life changes is unshakeable and easy to get on board with.

The novel isn’t just about Romily’s search for the mystery man who kissed her at a Christmas stall, it also focuses a lot on Romily’s hobbie as a singer in a wedding band. Miranda Dickinson is part of a band herself – a wedding band, if I’m not mistaken – so she’s rather aptly placed to write about a wedding singer/band and I thoroughly enjoyed that part of the novel. I loved hearing about the different weddings Romily and her band attended. From straight-forward weddings to weddings featuring bunny ears to weddings with medieval costumes… There are plenty of different weddings featured throughout the book and they’re all very different and all very enjoyable. It’s such a fun aspect to the book and Miranda has put her own experiences to brilliant use.

The characters in It Started With A Kiss are excellent. From Romily herself, to her bandmates, to her quirky Aunt and Uncle… it’s such a well-rounded, heart-warming cast of people. Romily was a wonderful lead character and I loved her immediately. Her vulnerability on those first few pages as she spills her soul to her best friend Charlie about loving him to kissing a random man a few pages later… It’s an exhilarating start to the book and Romily quickly and easily becomes a favourite character. Her band mates are all wonderful, too: Jack and Sophie, Tom, Charlie, and Wren. But my absolute two favourite characters were Auntie Mags and Uncle Dudley. Lots of Chick Lit novels have wonderful and supportive family members, but Auntie Mags and Uncle Dudley are the best. I mean… They’re so supportive, always being there for Romily no matter what, helping her on her quest to find the man who kissed her. I loved that Auntie Mags baked cakes and knew exactly which cakes suited the mood.

As It Started With A Kiss progressed, I truly believed I had the ending sorted, figured out. And just at that moment where I was doing a triumphant “I knew it” dance, Miranda pulled off quite a surprising twist. It was a totally tricky surprise, it was so unexpected but in the best possible way. I like when authors manage to pull a surprise on me and Miranda Dickinson did it perfectly. I absolutely loved the ending of the book. I loved every single page of the book. I adored Miranda’s previous two novels, but this is her best yet. The story is amazing, the characters are so warm and so witty and loveable and Miranda’s writing just flows so naturally. I’m always wary of synopses that proclaim the book to be the “perfect book to curl up with” but It Started With A Kiss is the perfect book to curl up with. Miranda Dickinson just gets better with every book and I can’t wait for book number four. She’s rocketed up my favourite authors list and I don’t see her moving from there any time soon. It Started With A Kiss was a triumph in every sense of the word.