Review: Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle

Kissing Shakespeare

By: Pamela Mingle

Pub. Date: August 14, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Source: Netgalley

Pages: 352

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 meet Shakespeare, 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 use her acting talents and modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help, Stephen claims, the world will lost 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.

Kissing Shakespeare is a fun, cute and quick read that I really enjoyed. The main character, Miranda, loves all things Shakespeare. She knows all of his plays, sonnets and poems. On the night of her HS production of The Taming of the Shrew, student Stephen Langford tells her that he needs her help right away. Turns out Stephen is from the year 1581 and needs Miranda to save William Shakespeare from joining the priesthood or else all of his classics will be gone forever. Meredith, of course, thinks that Stephen is crazy until she is transported to 1581 and meets Will.

I think what I loved most about Kissing Shakespeare was the relationship between Stephen and Miranda (who is now pretending to be Olivia, Stephen's younger sister). They were so cute and sweet together and I could not get enough of them. I really enjoyed Miranda's character. She was part of something that she would never believe was possible and I think she handles it very well. She was so real and funny. While I did love Stephen and Miranda together, I still thought that that Stephen was a stupid boy. He had no idea how to deal with girls! I also loved young Will. Before he was a famous writer, he was just a boy trying to figure out what his path in life should be.

I also enjoyed the historical aspects of Kissing Shakespeare, specially how much religion was apart of life back then, and you could be persecuted for believing in something different. The Jesuits were a real thing and I think Pamela Mingle did a good job incorporating them into the story.

What first drew me to Kissing Shakespeare was the cover. I love the pink and even though I don't think the cover fits with the story, it still holds your attention to want to read the synopsis. The story is filled with mystery, romance and history and I was very pleased. The ending was bittersweet but I think it had to happen that way. I just hope it means that there will be a book two eventually!

Overall, I think Kissing Shakespeare is worth reading. I enjoyed it very much. Sometimes you need a light, fun read and Kissing Shakespeare is perfect for that!