I have heard so many good things about Anna and the French Kiss from book bloggers that I was excited to be able to finally read it for myself and I am pleased to say that Anna and the French Kiss lived up to my expectations. 
 Sent to an American boarding school in Paris, Anna is more than upset. But things start to look up when she meets a group of new friends, Meredith, Josh, Rashmi and St. Clair, beautiful, smart, charming Etienne St. Clair. Too bad he already has a girlfriend. But they're in Paris, the romance capital of the world. Will they be able to have their French Kiss after all? 
 The first great thing I love about Anna and the French Kiss is the humor. Anna's narration is charming, witty and hilarious. It's pretty much laugh-out-loud. She pulls no punches when it comes to telling us what she doesn't like about her father, what she knows about France (not much), or her grasp of the French language (practically non-existent). Reading from Anna's perspective is delightful, the perfect way to spend a summer's day or in my case, a chilly, rainy afternoon. 
 Stephenie Perkins has a great way of writing in that you feel like you're included. I truly felt like I had made friends with Meredith, Josh, Rashmi and St. Clair. They're boisterous, friendly and most of all, they're true friends to each other. It's sort of like a clique, but cooler and more serious at the same time. 
 The story itself is not as cliche as you might think. Yes, you can tell from the summary that St. Clair is the male romantic lead here, but it's not that simple, and not just because he has a girlfriend. St. Clair has an aura to him that everybody wants to be friends with him. He's friendly and charming and he goes out of his way to make Anna feel at home. But what I really liked about him is that he's not the stereotypical male lead. On the outside, it seems like he has everything but that's not the case. He has family troubles of his own to contend with as well as girl troubles but he carries himself well and it was refreshing to see that. 
 The romance here is, for lack of a better word, sweet. It's obvious from the start that Anna has a crush on St. Clair. It's more about her journey from having a crush to realizing that she actually likes St. Clair, perhaps even to the point of loving him and I think readers will really enjoy that ride as well. 
 Stephenie Perkins has converted me to her brand of contemporary YA novels and I can't wait for the next 2 companion novels. Anna and the French Kiss gets 4.5 stars but I'm giving it 5 for the beautiful cover. :)