Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com/2012/01/international-kissing-club.html

With depth and meaning, but awash with flirtatious fun as well, The International Kissing Club ROCKS! ( )

I am a sucker for any book that contains international travel. I studied abroad in London for the first half of 2011 and ever since then, I am full of wanderlust and I gobble up movies and books about going abroad. The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams was right up my alley.

I loved reading about Piper, Cassidy, and Mei's time abroad in their various places, and even Izzy, being stuck in Texas, was adorable. Mei's story particularly was probably the most interesting to me - I really admired her for taking the risk of going to China to learn more about her birth parents and her own culture.

And Cassidy's story in Australia - I felt like she really grew a lot from the experience, perhaps the most of any of the girls.

I loved reading about Piper in Paris - the descriptions of Paris really made me nostalgic and I just wanted to jump into the page. Unfortunately I couldn't stand Piper or the guy she meets. I felt sorry for in the beginning, but once we got to know her, I just...blah. But the other characters - Cassidy, Mei, and Izzy - were much more relatable and likable.

Overall, I thought The International Kissing Club was cute and a fun adventure. I recommend it to anyone as obsessed with international travel as I am, and fans of contemporaries. ( )

When the novel opened, I was not impressed... but that quickly changed. It took a few chapters for the speed to pick up, but once it did, I was completely hooked.

After an extremely embarrassing incident leaves Piper in constant torment, she, with the help of her three best friends; Izzy, Mei and Cassidy, come up with the International Kissing Club (or IKC for short). They plan to each take part in their school's international exchange program; Piper to Paris (the real one), Mei to China, Izzy to Costa Rica and Cassidy to Australia. Their plan? To rack up as many kisses as possible - one point for each boy, three points if the kiss is epic. They create a Facebook page to keep track of it all and to stay in touch... Little did they know how different of an experience it would be then they'd thought, and little did they know how much their adventures would change their friendship.

This book is definitely more towards the "cute" label, but I was surprised by how much depth the authors (Ivy Adams is a pseudonym for three co-authors) were able to weave into a seemingly light plot. The characters each come from their own versions of dysfunction, and they each are met with unexpected challenges. I was happy to see that this novel was much more than a fun plot, this book really surprised me in that way.

My only real criticism kind of goes two ways... The novel switches POV (if that is even the correct term... it is a third person narrator) from all four characters each chapter. I was split between loving getting to know and experience each character's story and being confused and frustrated with the changes. In the chapters you get really caught up in one's story, then you are shoved into someone else's and forced to wait three more chapters to see what happens next. But maybe I only felt this way because I favored Cassidy...

So overall, I'd say definitely read it, I really enjoyed it. ( )