Book Summary and Reviews of Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley

Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley

Consider Yourself Kissed

A Novel

by Jessica Stanley

  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Published:
  • May 2025, 336 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

A literary love story told through ten years in the life of one woman as she tries to build a longed-for family without also losing herself — an entertaining portrayal of the true, grown-up meaning of "happily ever after."

When she first meets Adam, Coralie is new to London and feeling adrift. But Adam is clever, witty, and (he insists) a quarter inch taller than the average male. His charming four-year-old daughter only adds to his appeal.

But ten years on, something important is missing from the life Coralie and Adam have built. Or maybe, having gained everything she dreamed of, Coralie has lost something else she once had: herself.

Set against an eventful British decade that included the soap opera of five prime ministers plus the chaos of the pandemic, Consider Yourself Kissed puts the subjects of love and family on a grand stage, showing how the intimate dramas in our homes inescapably compete for energy and attention with the shared public dramas of our times.

Told over ten years of one woman's life, Consider Yourself Kissed is an unforgettable literary love story that effortlessly balances sweetness with bite, the public with the personal, and humor with heart.

Please be aware that this discussion may contain spoilers!

See what our members are saying about this book in our Community Forum.

What are you reading this week? (6/26/025)
A vintage vendetta - Camelia Woods (ARC from Hidden Gems) The lost world - Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook) Consider yourself kissed - Jessica Stanley (for bookclub) The tapestry of time - Kate Heartfield (for BookBrowse)
-Marijana_Bankovic

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"[C]harming...Stanley portrays domestic and political developments with wry humor and sharp prose, depicting how the Brexit vote and a family loss each put a strain on the couple and how Coralie finally grapples with her desire to write. Readers will root for Stanley's endearing heroine." —Publishers Weekly

"A tender and realistic cataloging of a relationship as its shifts, changes, and grows over time." —Kirkus Reviews

"The kind of book that, for a certain kind of reader, will immediately become a treasure...This is a book about making a better world, globally and domestically – and whether, perhaps, those two might amount to the same thing....a very human novel. And a very good one." —The Guardian

This information about Consider Yourself Kissed was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Jessica Stanley

Jessica Stanley grew up in Australia and moved to the UK in 2011 where she lives with her three children and partner. Her first novel, A Great Hope, was published exclusively in Australia in 2022.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more literary fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Hunter's Daughter
by Nicola Solvinic

Members Recommend

Who Said...

Education is the period during which you are being instructed by somebody you do not know, about something you do ...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Book
Trivia

  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

W the C A the M W P

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.