Kissing Frogs [Mass Market Paperback]

KISSING FROGS is probably the worst romance I've ever read. The plotline sounded interesting - a biologist finds a new species of frog, only to discover he's really a 1,000-year old cursed Welsh prince - but the story is so horribly written, I could barely stomach it. Characters from the medieval times use modern jargon like "Okay." Phrases like "his booming laugh splashed water onto the hard white floor" made no sense. Other phrases like "swollen peaks of desire" were just dumb. The author also constantly misused the word "insure," on top of other terrible grammatical mistakes. Where was the editor? What was Love Spell thinking, publishing this mess?

The heroine is not endearing. She is supposed to be a scientist (meaning, we're supposed to believe her intelligent), yet she acts like a complete moron. For instance, she freaks about about the fact that the hero spends the first third of the book naked (especially since she has a fiance hanging around), yet she doesn't immediately try to clothe him. She doesn't even offer a blanket. It takes her several days before she finally buys him some clothes at the store. Then, instead of being discreet and purchasing clothes in another city, she purchases clothes in the local men's garment shop, which of course gives the town snoop something to gossip about. Come on!

That's just one example. I don't even want to go near the "moral" struggle the heroine supposedly has. In fact, there's just too much to complain about regarding this book. I don't have to time or desire to go into it. I'd rather forget this book existed.

Listen, I too purchased this book from amazon thinking that the negative critics were probably being too harsh. I thought it would be worth my time reading it, just because the premise sounded cute. The book sucked. Really. This publisher usually puts out good books, so I'm shocked. And disappointed. I would give KISSING FROGS zero stars if possible, and I never have felt that nasty toward a book before (not even after reading Christine Feehan's awful DARK PRINCE).

If you want a good story, read something else, anything else. My idea of a witty, fantastic, well-written paranormal romance would be BREATH OF MAGIC by Teresa Medeiros, IMAGINE by Jill Barnett, or KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR by Jude Deveraux.

This book has left me seriously annoyed. Totally unlikable characters. The heroine came off as being especially weak willed and inept. The way the heroine goes about ogling the prince while stringing along her perfectly sweet fiancé makes her look not conflicted by like a total letch. Furthermore the premise that she's doing this all to gain back daddy's love and acceptance makes her seem extremely infantile.

If you require heroines in your romance novels who you can be proud of and relate to, you won't be finding it here.

I have to agree. As far as fractured fairy tales go, I wasn't happy with this version of the Frog Prince.

Wolfe has a curse put on him because he thinks he is Gods gift to women and it's not their choice to be able to say no. You would think that having faced 1000 years as a frog, living in a pond some how frequented enough by people to learn modern English, that he would have learned manners as well.

Lucy, (after getting publicly humiliated on national TV because she "found" a new breed of frog her father had previously discovered) after almost running something over discovers that it's a frog...one not yet discovered. Kissing the frog in her excitement, well you know the story.

KISSING FROGS by Laura Marie Altom tries to be humorous. However, Lucy's fiance can't be a complete, blubbering idiot, which he is portrayed to be when he believes her LAME excuses for why he can't go into her apartment. Yes, the other reviews claiming Wolfe yells "Wench!" while naked on her couch are true. I don't know why I didn't stop reading this book there. I honestly don't think Wolfe ever reforms. The book leads you to believe that he starts to change when he discovers Lucys scientific notes and realizes that he's more important to her as a frog than a man, but he never turns into a hero for me. I guess I don't understand if this new species of frog is SO important to Lucy so she can regain her fathers respect, how she could have fallen in love with this frog-man; besides being gorgeous he is never someone that anyone could fall in love with.

Also, I had a hard time fathoming an alternate reality where on Earth, we as humans are more interested in discovering species of frogs than the Oscars. UGH! Frogs? Why not butterflies or for that matter insects from the Amazon jungle?

As a concession, I have to say, I really enjoyed the scene with the crazy priest. However, this was only a couple of pages long, and therefore I would be judging a novel only on the end of the book. Yes the ending of a book can make or break a novel, but in this case I can't recommend reading the book solely on its ending.

Over all, I really can't recommend this book. Both the heroine and hero were annoying and I just couldn't sympathize with their situation. If you are looking for a good version of THE FROG PRINCE try Elle James version titled TO KISS A FROG.