Molly James

Skip to the End by Molly James
Contemporary romance. Magical realism. London, England location and vibe.
Amy, Gareth, Jay, May, and Charlotte have been friends since their school days.

Amy finds out she has a special power that is passed down from mother to daughter. Or maybe it’s a curse. When she first kisses a man, if she gets a premonition, or vision, it will tell her how her relationship or romance will end with that person. In the opening scene, she’s flirting with someone she may be interested in, kisses him, and finds out he has a pregnant girlfriend. She’s out of there.

Charlotte has found her one true love and is getting married to Marcus. The friends celebrate as you do at weddings, and Amy has more than a few drinks. She’s having a blast dancing and flirting her way around the dance floor. When she wakes up the next morning, Amy has three visions rapidly flash in her mind. She sees two relationship fails, and surprisingly a happily-ever-after. The problem is that she doesn’t know who she kissed! The friends try to piece together the night, and think they’ve figured out two of the men so while waiting for photos, Amy begins her search to find her future.

Often amusing, Amy dates and the friends try to help while living their lives. It’s a “Friends” (tv show) feeling story where you learn pieces of all their lives and how they intersect with Amy while she’s on a mission to find love.
Lots of 80’s and 90’s tv shows and characters mentioned as well as local language and idioms of the London area.
I really enjoyed the friendships and support the group gave each other. The journey was a lot of everyday life including some sadness from Amy’s mother with dementia. Amy does find her third kiss which had me crying in happiness.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.
4.5… (mehr)

The heroine has this special power: when she kissed someone, she knows how their relationship will end. This power is what kept the heroine single in life, making her give up on her love life. At her best friend's wedding, the inebriated heroine kissed three men, and her power shows that one of them will give her a happy ending. Thus begins the journey to find the one man who'll make the heroine happy.

The premise of this Molly James book sounds interesting. I liked how the heroine goes through the journey of finding that one man who will give her that happy ending. There were times that the journey dragged a bit, so maybe adding more details could have helped with the story. It would also be nice to have more details on the hero to give him a better impression in his relationship with the heroine. The book does have a nice set of secondary characters, especially the heroine's mother. Overall, it was a nice book with an interesting premise.

** Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own. **… (mehr)

What would you do if you knew, with a single kiss, how a relationship would end? On the one hand I suppose it would avoid wasting time on a bad union but on the other hand, it takes away any mystery. This is what Amy Daniels has had to deal with, the family legacy passed down through the females. At her friend's wedding she drunkenly kisses three men, one of whom is her Happy Ever After, but which one was it?

Skip to the End is an absolutely brilliant read. It's light and funny but isn't without its serious side too. I loved Amy's escapades as she tries to work out who she kissed and then which one of them might be the one for her. She has a fabulous group of friends and I adored the way they looked out for each other and had each other's backs without exception.

I saw who Mr Right was a mile off and I'm pretty sure that's what the author intended. The reader is there to watch Amy come to the realisation that this was the man she wanted to be with, and what a joy it was when that happened. But before that she has some amazing (ok, maybe not always) dates with the other guys.

Molly James sets up a wonderful world for Amy and her pals, particularly Gareth with his flower shop and his hopes of running a café alongside it. I loved that strand! There's also sadness for Molly but even that was written in an uplifting way and provided me with the opportunity for a little tear near the end.

I couldn't have loved this book more. It has a warm-hearted feel to it and a strong sense of place, coupled with a touch of magic and some delicious sounding food and drink. It's absolutely perfect in every way. More of the same please!… (mehr)

A lovely, light read: definitely perfect for an airplane or side of the pool. It's fun and charming, but not overly drama filled. The emotional moments are handled and well, and it addresses the impact Dementia can have on loved ones well.

Amy, the FMC, really made me laugh. Her humour was great, and you definitely root for her throughout the story. She has the gift of being able to see how a relationship will end when she kisses someone for the first time, this slight magical element was great, especially as I lean towards fantasy often. It still had a RomCom feel to it and I had an inkling pretty early on about her happily ever after.
It's VERY slow burn for Amy and her "hero".
Despite this, the romance in the book is great; I was nervous when I had a feeling she dates all the wrong people, as I was worried it would ruin the book waiting for her to figure it out. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the situations and found myself laughing out loud.

The supporting characters were great too, seeing their storylines unfurl added a lovely theme to the book.
My 3 star rating was based on the following:
Ease of Reading: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 4/5 Stars
Plot: 4/5 Stars
Impactfulness: 3/5 Stars
Romance: 3/5 Stars
Spice/Smut: 1/5 Stars

I definitely feel if the book had been expanded a little more and there was some more romance between the FMC and who she inevitably ends up with, specifically tying up so loose ends with their interactions with other characters, the score may have been higher.
However, all in all it's definitely a book that can appeal to anyone and doesn't target a completely specific audience!… (mehr)