The Last Guy You Kiss is achingly sweet, honest, and funny. It’s a gorgeously layered romance about the courage of choosing to love when the world makes you want to guard your heart.
Carla de Guzman is one of the authors I wish more people read. She’s so good. Her books are like a tapestry with rich and intricate details. The Last Guy You Kiss reminded me a bit of Cara Bastone’s Promise Me Sunshine in that the characters are trying to get through a life in which grief and love, joy and pain are inseparable. They want love and connection, but also to protect their hearts and keep expectations low. The desire for all kinds of love (romantic, family, friendship) is inseparable from the fear of getting hurt. Love is a choice, relationships are work.
Mara Barretto is trying to live her life, and Jay Montinola is making it more difficult. First, he’s handsome and charming. Second, he turned Mara’s face into a meme that her family, friends, customers, and strangers keep bringing up; and third, he kissed her and she didn’t find her soulmate afterwards! According to the lore, Jay is the last guy you kiss before you find your one true love. But when he kisses Mara, no one true love walks into her life. Just Jay hanging around, not wanting anything permanent and not sure he would deserve love even if it found him. Mara would be okay with being single for life (she likes her life!), but she would like to explore the option of having a relationship. She would like someone who looks at her the way Jay looks at her (but obviously not actually Jay). So when no one true love comes along, Mara and Jay make a deal to give Mara some of those experiences she has missed out on.
Carla de Guzman’s romances are full of complexity. Mara and Jay have to contend with other people’s expectations of who they are and what they are supposed to be. Mara has to deal with fat phobia, even from people who love her, and though she loves her body, it still hurts. Early in the book, the idea of One True Love is discarded, but it takes Mara and Jay a while to recognize that their romance ideals are not reality. They have to make a choice to love or to push love away.
I received this as an advance reader copy from Harlequin and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.