A Kiss in Time - Alex Flinn

Summary: Talia fell under a spell....Jack broke the curse.

I was told to beware the accursed spindle, but it was so enchanting, so hypnotic...

I was looking for a little adventure the day I ditched my tour group. But finding a comatose town, with a hot-looking chick asleep in it, was so not what I had in mind.

I awakened in the same place but in another time--to a stranger's soft kiss.

I couldn't help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn't know this would happen.

Now I am in dire trouble because my father, the king, says I have brought ruin upon our country. I have no choice but to run away with this commoner!

Now I'm stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels....The good news: My parents will freak!

Think you have dating issues? Try locking lips with a snoozing stunner who turns out to be 316 years old. Can a kiss transcend all--even time? (image from harpercollins.com - summary from bookjacket)

My review: I couldn't help but love the above summary when I read it. It's so nice when the two romantic characters obviously loathe each other (hello, can you say Pride and Prejudice!). Okay, admittedly, this book is about as deep as one of those infant kiddie pools, but it was fun to read.

Jake is a sarcastic, hormonally driven teenage boy who is coming to terms with his own familial dysfunctions and Talia is a perfectly snobby princess (as anyone that spoiled is undoubtedly destined to be) and yet humorously so. Talia, of course, has no idea how spoiled she is and her expectations upon waking up 300 years in the future are hysterically unrealistic. Jake isn't about to put up with her royal attitude no matter how stunning she is and doesn't cater to her one bit....okay, maybe a little bit. She's hot, after all.

As in Beastly, a novel we reviewed by the same author that retells Beauty and the Beast from the male perspective, I loved the collision of a well-known fairytale with the modern world. It allowed for Talia to be confused and shocked by present day American customs and for Jake to be exasperated with Talia's royal expectations and naivete.

The first half of this book was amusing with all Jack and Talia's bickering and her observations of modern behavior. When Talia meets Jack's family, she begins to work her diplomatic magic on the family with positive results. Soon Jack is seeing his family in a whole new light and wondering if he really can have all that he wants out of life.

As for what I didn't like. I realize it's a bit bizarre to say that parts of this book weren't believable. I mean, its' about a 300 year old princess who wakes up after being kissed by a no-so-princely young man and is, subsequently, haunted by the witch who cursed her in the first place. So why, with all that "reality" coursing through the book, do I have a problem with Jack's father's unbelievably sudden change of character?. I don't know why. It just didn't work for me at all.

The ending for me was a bit off with Jack having to pass various dream-state game show questions in his "quest" to rescue the princess once again. Everything just seemed to tie up too nicely and sweetly to be a proper fairytale. Someone needed to get the ax. Anyway, I just felt like the ending got boring (for an adult), but I can still see this book being a big hit with the 13 to 14 year old crowd.

My rating: 3.5 Stars. I probably won't read it again, but enjoyed many aspects of the book. While Jake is your average teenage boy, his internal musings on all things female usually land on the side of funny more often than on the side of perverted.

Sum it up: A modern, male twist on a classic fairytale.