The Kissing Game

By Kasey Michaels

Book Overview

Lady Allegra has made handling unpredictable situations and people an art form, particularly since her father, Oxie Nesbitt, is one of the greatest practical jokers in all of England. For the sinfully handsome and wickedly witty Armand, who loves to observe the world around him, Ally and her outrageous father prove to be too irresistible. He forms a fast friendship with them, enjoying Oxie's pranks and often helping Ally to get him out of his predicaments. But soon both have more than friendship on their minds, in spite of the danger their feelings for one another might bring. When one of Oxie's pranks backfires, and three men are dispatched to take care of him, only Armand and ally can save him -- if they put aside their fears of losing themselves to each other.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446610852
• ISBN13: 9780446610858
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Forever
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

One of the best heroines ever, the absolute OPPOSITE of TSTL

It seems to be the bane of my reviewing existence that I read different books than everyone else. I still have not figured out how I can come away from a book with such a completely different experience than so many others. Then I find myself reading reviews that seem completely bizarre. First, as is my way, I skip the retelling of the plot (although so many reviewers managed to flub it, that I could be making a mistake with that). Secondly, I'm trying to figure out what part of the dialogue or book itself was anachronistic. There were no 20-21st century phrases or opinions. Just an outspoken heroine who did not use stilted speech and act as a simpering, TSTL ("too stupid to live" for those of you uninitiated), stereotypical "romance" genre heroine. I have yet to determine how a winy, helpless, hapless woman could be appealing to read about -- most of the time I read books in spite of "heroines" like that; in this case I found a heroine that I could truly embrace. Thirdly, yes, fine, the "mystery" wasn't very deep or intriguing. Thank God! How nice it is to finally read a book where the story is just about the characters! And characters that are fun and unique! How frustrating it becomes to read stories that rely solely on the stereotypical romance "plots" -- and how entertaining it is to read a book that doesn't rely on any of them! There's no "big misunderstanding", there's no great "conflict" between the hero and heroine. There's no need for the hero to "rescue" the heroine from some deranged villain bent on raping her. Instead, you had a story that was fun, light, and entertaining from beginning to end. You had characters (main and secondary) who were smart, clever and genuinely witty. Ally is a confident and self-assured young woman. She's not "afraid" of getting married, or unwilling to. She's loyal to her family and unwilling to consider marriage to anyone who will look down on them. She wasn't "expecting" to find love buried out in the country -- she just wasn't going to spend the time in London searching for it. Armand is confident as well, but he feels a fraud. In a way, he is. His boredom with the act, the face he has to put on for society, has led him to embrace the outlook that Ally shares. Seeing the starchy, straight laced, uppity, self-important tonnish people reduced to victims of a prank, humbled to simply any other fool, feeds his need to separate himself from those who would reject him if not for his image. Beyond the two of them, however, is the cast of supporting characters who are just as different. Oxie the youthful prankster (more child than parent), Bones the depressing and lamenting man still stuck in leading strings, Letty the worldly but morally upright chaperone, and Elizabeth the jealous cousin who was raised to be the Earl's daughter (whose lifestyle was swiped out from under her). Each one is fully developed, each person's history is rich and colorful. More than that, though, each chara

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!

I almost didn't read this book because of some of the negative reviews. I'm so glad I read it anyway. I enjoyed "Someone to Love", so I thought I would try the Kissing Game. I actually prefer the Kissing Game. The first two chapters didn't do anything for me. Too many characters introduced too quickly and it confused me. To be fair, I was also really tired when I started reading this book. But as soon as Armand is introduced, the story starts to pick up. For me, the story REALLY gets good in the last 1/4 of the book. I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding Armand's past, but my favorite part of the book was the dialogue between Ally and Armand. Their conversations had me laughing out loud. This book probably isn't for everybody, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it if you're looking for a fun, light-hearted Regency romp with wonderful likable characters.

Light Easy Read - The Way We All Wish We Could Be

I found this book to be amusing and funny. It is a very easy read and I found myself wishing that I could be as open and honest as Allegra. I admit the plot could use some work and things magiclly resolve themselves without much effort, but all in all it was easy and funny.

A historical romance that plays prank on your heart

"OXIEEEEEEE!" Lady Nesbitt's scream echoes into the night. The Earl of Sutherland, Oxie Nesbitt's prank had been discovered and he chuckled at the sight of his beloved yet flabbergasted wife. After becoming earl and swooping down on society and the ton like a bunch of one-winged albatrosses the Nesbitt family retreated back to their country home with prestigious titles and a few more servants.However, Oxie had tired out his village with his pranks. The victims not longer gave him the satisfaction of becoming upset when he put their milk cow on the roof. Thus he pulled the ultimate prank on his family: they would return to London and pop off their daughter, Allegra, or Ally. Lady Nesbitt hide in her room for a month before the trip praying it wasn't true.Once in London, Ally rediscovers the rudeness and diabolical ways of Society. She will not let herself act in the ways of a silly debutante and when the family receives a ball invitation after weeks of society's neglect; she goes to investigate.Enter Armand Gauthier, a dashingly handsome man-aren't they always-with an air of mystery about his origin that no one can figure out. Bewitched by Ally's beauty when passing by her estate in London, he arranges a ball to meet the girl and introduce her to society. When the two butt heads, Gauthier finds out he perhaps will lose a little more than society's favor, he may lose his heart to her. More intrigue evolves when Ally's handmaiden seems to know a lot about Gauthier and vice versa. One night Ally finds her dying her hair black, to hide a brilliant color not gray hairs. And all the while, Ally spends more and more time with Gauthier, attempting to pull a prank on her father, Oxie; that she has found a man. Oxie recognizes her game but is too busy pulling his own pranks on the old schoolmates who snubbed his famiy with their lack of invitations. The trouble comes when the mates have apparently lost a lot of money and their sense of humor . . . Kasey Michaels takes what would have been a typical historical romance and breathes humor and life into it through Oxie Nesbitt. By far, the best parts of the novels-the ones that make you laugh out loud-are the mischievious happenings of the Nesbitts. Believe me, I'd let you borrow my copy but my boyfriend is halfway through it. . . .

Hillarious

Let me just start off by saying, i'm buying more of her books. The first one I read was Someone to Love, and I immediatly read Escapade (Callie & Simon's story-even funnier then this one), I had downloaded both of these, and passed on this book, because it wasn't available for download. So I saw it in the train station and figured it'd be a better read then my chapter on valuation of bonds-so i bought it. Oh My GOD did i feel like an idiot, I was laughing so hard on the train, people were staring at me, but I couldn't put it down..Alright its a given that you have to be in the right frame of mind to get a kick out of Oxie, even if he isn't believable he's still one hell of a guy. I especially liked how Bones finaly gets some backbone (you meet him in Escapade). OK so her story is fully of zany, crazy, off the wall people, but none the less Kasey Michaels is one of the only authors who can get me to laugh out right at a book-and i've read more books then i can count. She's great, this book was great-it's worth buying.