Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

While high school senior Claire Jenkins and her beautiful best friend, Megan, have a long history of supporting each other when it comes to family, they tend to compete over guys. After a handsome soccer player named Luke moves to their small town, Megan gets him first, much to Claire-s dismay and anger. But Luke keeps paying attention to Claire, and soon he-s breaking up with Megan, and Claire is risking their friendship to keep her romance with Luke a secret. Between chapters, debut author Allen includes flashbacks to Claire-s past kisses (dating back to second grade), though these sections are really about revealing the evolution of Claire and Megan-s friendship and a past family tragedy. While the flashbacks are informative and entertaining, they can frustrate the forward momentum of the novel; additionally, Allen sometimes skips over weeks- worth of events with a few lines, making the story occasionally feel disjointed. As Claire struggles to understand if and when a boy might be worth risking a friendship, readers should find it easy to relate. Ages 13-up. Agent: Susan Hawk, the Bent Agency. (June)

School Library Journal (Thu May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Gr 9 Up-High school senior Claire has kissed many frogs in search of her prince. Starting in kindergarten, her kissing partners have run the gamut from band nerds to star football players. All the while, her best friend Megan has been by her side. Megan's good looks and magnetism sometimes leave Claire playing second fiddle. When a new boy moves into town, he seems to be the perfect boyfriend for Claire, but her best friend is interested in him, too. The teens devise rules for how they are to handle the situation and remain friendsbut both girls find themselves bending these tenets. Told in a series of flashbacks, Claire's story has humor and optimism and breaks through the high school love triangle formula. The backstory involving her family is detailed and adds depth to the novel. The protagonist is placed in several compromising but realistic situations involving underage drinking and sexual pressure. She makes strong decisions and deals with the consequences of her actions. Recommend to teens looking for a beach read. Morgan Brickey, Marion County Public Library System, FL

Voice of Youth Advocates

After a nasty breakup, Claire swore off boys for over a year to change her bad reputation at her high school. Now a senior, she makes a pact with her best friend and the most popular girl in school, Megan McQueen, to end her good behavior and kiss a boy before the year is over. Unfortunately, she and Megan have eyes on the same boy. Luke is new to town and unlike all the boys there; besides that, he is better at soccer than Claire is. Those two things are enough to make Claire play along when he flirts with her in plain sight of Megan at the Friday night football game. Megan and Claire had agreed to leave him alone, but how can Claire blow him off when he so clearly likes her?Through a series of flashbacks of each kiss she has ever had, Claire takes the reader through her friendship with Megan from its very beginning through its many endings. Readers will enjoy getting to know Claire as she slowly reveals the many difficulties that have made her so strong and made Megan her best friend.Elisabeth W. Rauch.