ARC Book Review: Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle

Title: Kissing Shakespeare
Author: Pamela Mingle
Links: Website | Twitter
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 14th 2012 
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Summary from Goodreads:
A romantic time travel story that's ideal for fans of novels by Meg Cabot and Donna Jo Napoli--and, of course, Shakespeare.
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 to 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.

Thoughts:
The cover for Kissing Shakespeare was honestly what first got my attention and was quickly followed by the title and the summary. I mean, the colors of the cover are gorgeous. Plus, what she's wearing is completely gorgeous and the flowers in her hair was a great detail to add in. I also loved how the title was positioned and the font used for it! Yes, as you can tell, I like the cover but what of the actual book? Well, the actual plot was very intriguing and the writing was easy to read so the whole book was actually a rather quick and fun book to read.
Characters:
Now.. the characters. The characters in Kissing Shakespeare could honestly be divided into people I enjoyed reading about and people I wanted to slap silly. Er, at least.. for me. Miranda was a really interesting character to read about. I like to think of us as having a love-hate relationship because well, the name itself is pretty self explanatory. There were times when she was annoying me so much with her winning, even though at times there were reasonable explanations for them. Yet then there were times when she transformed into a brave and kick ass woman that I cheered on for! So yeah, love-hate relationship here. Stephen's character was one I really disliked in the beginning but kind of well, really liked towards the ending because his past unfolds as the story continues and you get to really get to know him. Will.. oh will, how in the world was I supposed to imagine William Shakespeare? I have to admit, I'm not a big Shakespearean fan because well, I haven't read all the plays but I do know this isn't really how .. erm.. realistically would have pictured him. Anywho, I adored his character! I think he was a perfect touch to the romance and story in general but I wish I'd seen more of him and his work in the book.
Romance:
The romance.. mmhm. I think you could either come to love this romance or loathe it. It all depends on how you perceive the characters, I believe. For me, it was more of a loathe kind of feeling. I loved the romance, yes but I disliked how some moments unfolded. I loved the way the romance was written and shown towards the second half of the novel though, brilliant!
Ending:
I refuse to believe this was the end. *crosses arm and huffs indignantly* 
No, just no! It was a sort of open ended ending and I loathe those. Well, depending on what book it is, really. Kissing Shakespeare was finished in a brilliant way though, even though I feel as though there should have been a tad more, I admit it was a brilliant ending.
Recommendation:
I recommend this to anyone looking for a quick and fun read that has Shakespeare in it and the perfect touch of romance. This novel is also set back in time, so anyone looking for a book set in another time in history.. this book is for you.
First sentence:

"I was all alone backstage."