(Giveaway+book review): The Kiss Off by Sarah Billington

Hey guys! Welcome to the first stop in The Kiss Off book tour with your host for the day- Chicklitgaaaallllll. (aka Chicklitgirl).

Without further ado, the review you all have (kinda/hopefully) been waiting for!

The Kiss Off

by Sarah Billington

Rating: 3/5 stars

Romance Swoon Scale: 2.3/5 stars, Adorable, Sweet

Bonus Bits: LOLgasms, Smiling in anticipation, Rooting for heroine. 

Warning?: Yes. Sexual References, occasional course language.

Action: Running from the paparazzi.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Published:  May 15th 2012 by Billington Media 

Series: No.

When sixteen year old Poppy Douglas writes a song about her ex-boyfriend Cam and ex-friend Nikki, she has no idea that her heartbreak is about to go global. 

A local band picks up her song from Youtube and soon she’s along for the ride with her own fanbase as they blow up on the local club scene and hit the international charts. Though it turns out leaving Cam behind isn’t as easy as she had hoped. 

Tangled in a web of unfinished homework, sexting and a new lead-singer boyfriend, Poppy has a choice to make between the ex that inspired it all and the rock God whose poster lines the inside of half the lockers at school. But as she struggles to keep her emotional dirty laundry private, she learns that the truth can be hard to find when your life is in the headlines. 

The Kiss Off was a book that made me laugh, smile and cringe several times. 

I loved its whole plot and concept of the story- and the how unpredictable it was!

The sort-of love triangle kept me guessing till the last freakin' page and the musical-teen-angst angle was refreshing and a lot of fun. Throw in all the lol bits, and I was sold.

Poppy Douglas, our protagonist for the day was a very relatable teenage girl who made mistakes like all teenagers do, and was a solid, believable character.

I also really liked Poppy's relationship with her best friends. They were there for her when they could be and Mads, specially, was so much fun! I loved her quirky outfits and just her general personality.

Ty was super duper adorable and so hot. Sigh.

The Kiss Off wasn't very fast paced because it was so detailed, all of Poppy's thoughts and actions explained, but the writing was clear and straightforward, which made The Kiss Off an easy read. 

I loved the whole music scene, a look into the modern crazy celeb world and personally, Academy of Lies is such a cool name for a band. Official yet not official- (...if you know what I mean.)

There were so many creative funny bits and awkward teenager moments, and those were what really made The Kiss Off pop and pack a more fun punch.

The language wasn't very clean, but I liked that, since it made the whole thing more authentic and teenage-y because really, we all use bad words at one point or another in our vocabulary.

It also showed Poppy making some mistakes which probably all teenagers could learn from although- seriously, WHEN is sexting EVER a good idea?

The ending though I think, could have been done better, and I don't want to spoil it, it WAS a good ending but it felt a bit unfulfilling somehow. It had potential to be better.

And dude, the story started with Poppy's songs, and her songs were a big part of the book- so Ms Sarah Billington I WANTED TO READ THE LYRICS TO THEM! I mean you go on and on about the song but we only get snippets of the lyrics. I really wanted to know what everyone loved so much and you left it out. Just like that. And that sucked.

The cover also left me unimpressed. I mean, yeah okay, its related to the book, and it is a bit cute, but it could have been better. The freakin' FONT could have been way better! It doesn't look very professional and in my opinion screams self published- and a lot of people are wary about sp books not being very good.

BUT aside from all that I really liked The Kiss Off.

I love books that can make me laugh and smile and feel for the protag. 

Books with protags who don't have dysfunctional families, have good bffs, and books with proper heroines who write kick ass songs and then get famous for them rock. And I specially love books with sweet romances.

So yes, The Kiss Off was a pretty good book, well worth the time and you should def give it a go.

The Giveaway.

So now that you know its a really great book you're all set to enter the giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive an ebook of The Kiss Off and three super lucky winners will win the entire Sarah Billington back catalogue of ebooks (2 novel + 3 short stories)!

Rules:

-There will be a total of four winners. 
-You MUST be a follower of this blog to enter.

-You can gain one entry by commenting on this review with your name and email address.

-There is an extra entry for people who tweet about this giveaway, and provide a link in the comments.

-You can enter the giveaway more than once by commenting on all the other posts that will be published for the length of this book tour!

-This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL.

-Giveaway ends on 15th May 2012. 

-All the comments from all the various blog tour stops will be gathered and 4 winners will be chosen randomly.

Tour ScheduleMonday, April 23 - Review @ ChickLitGirl
Tuesday, April 24 - Interview & Review @ Readinista
Wednesday, April 25 - Review @ The Writer's Republic
Thursday, April 26 - Review @ Simplistik
Friday, April 27 - Guest Post & Review @ A Word's Worth
Saturday, April 28 - Review @ Shweta's Book Journal
Sunday, April 29 - Guest Post @ Chocolate Coffee Books
Monday, April 30 - Review @ The Secret Life of An Avid Reader
Tuesday, May 1 - Interview & Review @ Dead Trees and Silver Screens
Wednesday, May 2 - Guest Post & Review @ I Love YA Fiction
Thursday, May 3 - Guest Post & Review @ The Reader's Antidote
Friday, May 4 - Review @ The Life of Fiction
Saturday, May 5 - Guest Post & Review @ Crazed Bookie
Sunday, May 6 - Interview @ Review @ Maji Bookshelf
Monday, May 7 - Guest Post @ The Magic Attic
Tuesday, May 8 - Feature @ The Australian Bookshelf
Wednesday, May 9 - Review @ Book Briefs
& Feature @ Candice W. Coghill's Blog
Thursday, May 10 - Interview @ 1001 First Lines
Saturday, May 12 - Guest Post @ The Bookshelf Muse
Monday, May 14 - Interview & Review @ Pages of Forbidden Love
Tuesday, May 15 - Guest Post & Review @ The (EPIC) Rat
& Review @ The Magic Attic
& Official Release of THE KISS OFF

Good luck and happy reading!

xx

Chicklitgirl