Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: With One Kiss
SERIES: Paris Tales #2
AUTHOR: H.L. Day
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 256 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2025
BLURB: A fake relationship with his frenemy’s straight little brother? Definitely not on Laurent’s bingo card. But destiny has other plans.
Laurent is doing just fine, thank you very much. He doesn’t need matchmaking, and there’s no gaping hole in his life. Work, friends, and dealing with his alcoholic father keep him busy enough.
Enter Cormac King: charming, chaotic, and on the run from his clingy ex. But his perfect hideout in his brother’s empty flat comes with surprises. A cat (manageable) and a cat sitter (decidedly less so.)
Pretending to date? Fine. Flirting for cover? Sure. Falling into bed together? That was definitely not supposed to happen.
But when fake becomes fun—and then something more—Laurent and Cormac will have to decide if they’re still just pretending.
With One Kiss is a standalone MM romance in the Paris Tales series, featuring fake dating, a bi-awakening, sharp banter, and a slow burn with heat, heart, and humor. Expect emotional walls, complicated family ties, a relentless ex, and just enough tenderness to make it all worth it.
REVIEW: This is the second book in the Paris Tales series, featuring Laurent, the amazing coworker and friend of Finn from book one, Never Too Late. I’ll say right off the bat that while the trademark snark and sass are definitely present here, as in the first book, this one has a more serious underlying plot.
Since Finn is now in a relationship with his boyfriend, Cillian, he has made it his mission in life to find Laurent a guy. Laurent is a laid-back guy who has trouble saying no to Finn. He has now been on five blind dates, because “…it proves easier to go than have Finn nag me.” The problem is that since Laurent doesn’t want a relationship, combined with Finn’s inability to come up with anyone Laurent would be interested in, the dates are such time-wasters. He gets a bit of a break when Cillian and Finn go out of country and Laurent is charged with watching Quasimodo, their cat. He’s happily cat sitting when he shows up one and someone is there. Thinking the couple returned early and didn’t tell him, he is going to try to catch them in the shower together and use it as embarrassment fodder. So he does, except it isn’t them in the shower. It’s Cillian’s black sheep younger brother, Mac, instead. The whole scene was funny because Laurent is absolutely mortified, thinking he was ogling Cillian (they have a complicated relationship). It’s more of a friend meet-cute though, as Mac invites him to hang out, as a friend since Mac is straight.
Cillian doesn’t know Mac is there, and Laurent agrees to not tell Finn. These two hang out together, share some seriously funny snark, and basically rag at each other constantly. It was funny, but they also have some deeper conversations, such as why Cillian and Mac don’t really get along, and the issues Laurent has with his father. “What’s happiness for you? My father giving up alcohol and being a father again.” Anyone who’s had an alcoholic in the family will relate to what Laurent is going through. His mother died several years before and his father has fallen into the place where only the next drink is important. He steals from Laurent, lies, and always, always the booze comes first. “I loved my father, but I’d long since stopped liking him.” I totally got that.
When Finn and Cillian find out Mac is there, Mac comes up with the brilliant idea to pretend he and Laurent were boyfriends. I was a little squicked out by this, since Laurent actively lies to Finn. Somehow it wasn’t sitting right. There is also a time when Henri, another good friend of Laurent’s, is having trouble, and Laurent is really harsh with him. In book one, Laurent was this incredible friend, and here he topples off the pedestal. “You think I was harsh?” I provided an answer before he could. “I probably was.” Still likeable, but it seemed a little out of character. He does get called out on his deception by Finn, “You’re the one I work with, and who is supposed to be my friend.”
They keep up the fakery, but as it turns into real, they start to open up to each other. There is a part where they share flaws. It’s silly at first, but then it gets real, and Laurent’s honest appraisal of himself is a little heartbreaking.
In addition to the plot line of Laurent’s father, there is another subplot about Mac’s ex-girlfriend, Katrina, and that kept this from being a five star for me. It seemed like an afterthought and was over the top. The resolution was just odd also.
We get to see Amrita, Cillian’s PA, who is a force of nature and I loved her. And a romantic gesture by Laurent that made me swoon, because it was so them and so perfect.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
