Book Review: Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle

Release Date: August 14, 2012
Author: Pamela Mingle
Publisher: Delacourte Books (a Random House Imprint)
Length: 352 pages

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

"Miranda has Shakespeare in her blood: she hopes one day to become a Shakespearean actor like her famous parents. At least, she does until her disastrous performance in her school's staging of The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide.

Fellow cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meetShakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England—the world Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda to use her acting talents and modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help, Stephen claims, the world will lose its greatest playwright.

Miranda isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only chance of getting back to the present and her "real" life. What Miranda doesn't bargain for is finding true love . . . with no acting required"

Review:

Characters: Miranda has always lived in the shadow of her famous mother. Due to this fact, she is often compared and contrasted to her mother and is even given the part of Katherine in her school's production of The Taming of the Shrew. Because of the large amount of pressure placed upon her, she produces a disastrous performance and decides to quit acting, in hopes of no longer being weighed down by the expectations of others. That is, until she is whisked off the Elizabethan England to use her feminine ways to charm William Shakespeare away from life as a Jesuit priest so he can go on and become the world's greatest writer. Throughout her journey, Miranda learns much more than she originally thought. What will Miranda learn 400 years in the past?

Romance: Miranda does her best to woo and charm a young Will Shakespeare, who in turn finds her beguiling and mysterious. They begin courting and it seems as if she may even be falling for the young bard. However, another begins to draw her attention and her heart seems to be beating harder for him than Shakespeare. I enjoyed this little love triangle. Though it wasn't much of one, it was interesting to see Miranda briefly torn between two men, especially since one is William Shakespeare.

Predictability: I'd have to say that this book could be really predictable or not predictable at all. There were many theories of what could happen floating through my head and sometimes I might have been right, while other times, not so much. I loved the versatility the author adds to the story, in every mystery there are multiple suspects and no one seems more responsible than the other.

Ending: The ending of this book was somber. I was expecting a great happy ending, however that's when I thought for sure that this would be a stand-alone book. Now, I'm not so sure. The ending seems to tease at the possibility of a series or at the least a sequel. 

Overall, this book deserves 4.5 out of 5 stars it was a great crossover of historical fiction and time travel which compliment each other greatly. Pre-Order your copy here: Amazon

Be sure to check out my other reviews, see Book Review Index tab for easier browsing, and if you don't already know, I'm having my first ARC contest for Tiger's Destiny the epic fourth installment in the best-selling Tiger Saga! Head on over to the review for your chance to win. Also, No Post on Sunday is coming back this week and Most Wanted: Books of September will be on Wednesday of next week instead of Thursday, since I will be doing 3 reviews next week.

Up Next: Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff