Nope. This one was not it for me, and I'm so disappointed. I got approved for a NetGalley ARC in June and kept stopping and starting it for one reason or another, mostly because life just got in the way. I finally made it 50% of the way through tonight and I just shouldn't have picked it back up at all. The relationship between Andrew and Dylan didn't work for me and I don't think their history added to the story or was necessary. And then the miscommunication between Ellie and Jack just pissed me off. I wanted to like this one so bad but it's a DNF. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and Alison Cochrun for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As the sophomore book from this author after the Charm Offensive I was beyond hooked to get this book!

One thing I can confidently say between this and the Charm Offensive is if you want mental health rep written well into a romcom, no one is doing it like Cochrun!

I love how much happens in this for a holiday romcom, the good, the bad, and ugly! Cochrun did not stay away from tough topics despite this being a holiday read.

One thing I am most excited to discuss with friends as they read as well is how this books interrogates different ideas about failure. The 2 main characters and love interests how very different and nuanced ideas of what it means to fail and more interestingly the fears around it. Other characters as well!

Overall, while I went in for a cute holiday romcom, Cochrun really creates a meal with her work, offering the reader lots to chew on!

If you loved the Charm Offensive, Christmas romcoms, or even light literary fiction I think you would enjoy this! My only very, very, very slight critique is I found some pacing issues around the beginning to get into the text itself, but also understand it was probably needed to set the stage of the book.

I enjoyed this Christmas romance, though (as other reviewers have noted), the dynamic between the central pair (particularly their history) sometimes left a lot to be desired. I wasn't a huge fan of our main character all the time either, which is fine, but I do read Christmas romances mostly for fluff, and this was a tiny bit heavier than I'd prefer.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book! Cochrun did a great job of setting up a rollercoaster sapphic romance between Ellie and Jack, the former being her protagonist. The relationship between the two was swoon worthy and believable, even if their meet-cute was a little too perfect. Cochrun doesn't just focus on the romance factor but really delves into the theme of fear/fear of failure, which shows in both Ellie and Jack in different ways. That being said, so many romantic comedies build around misunderstanding/miscommunication and Kiss Her Once for Me was no different. The majority of the problems that Ellie and Jack dealt with stemmed from miscommunication; if they had just TALKED to each other, so much of the story would have resolved itself. Overall, Cochrun's writing truly shines and reminds me of Casey McQuinston's works. Thankful to have another good book to shelve with LGBTQ+ romances.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kiss Her Once for Me is Alison Cochrun's sophomore novel behind her debut, The Charm Offensive. I LOVED The Charm Offensive, so I was so excited for this book and had such high anticipations when I received the title via Netgalley.

This was a cute holiday queer romance with great LGBTQ representation, as well as great mental health rep, but unfortunately, it didn't resonate with me the way The Charm Offensive did, though this could be a case of "it's not you, it's me." This novel contained various tropes and themes that I generally am not as fond of. I'll start with what worked for me in this book.

What worked for me:
- I loved the two grannies, Meemaw and Lovey. They were a highlight and I wish we would have had more of them.
- The mental health rep. Mental health awareness and treatment holds a special place in my heart, so I LOVE when novels include this representation. And more importantly than just including it, is if it's done accurately and compassionately. Alison Cochrun conveys mental health perfectly and it's one of my favorite aspects of her as a writer.
- The diversity presented in this book.
- I liked the rest of the characters on their own, especially Jack, Ari, and Meredith
- The writing style. Alison Cochrun's writing is very open and easy to read. It's easy to forget the world and sink into the story for a couple hours.

What did not work for me:
- Insta-love. I am not a fan of the insta-love trope. I can't relate to it and it often feels forced and unrealistic to me.
- The conflict within this novel didn't work for me for several reasons:
- First off, the conflict from their first day together. It felt like Jack held a grudge over this, and even Ellie seemed to blame herself for this and use it as proof of her running. But Jack was married!! I don't care if the marriage was ending, if they had an open relationship, whatever. When someone is presented with their one night stand's previously unbeknownst-to-them spouse, leaving the situation is a very realistic response to that. It didn't sit well with me that this continued to be a point of contention with multiple characters throughout this novel.
- I also don't buy into the premise that Ellie thought their relationship would fail the second time around. They had been reconnected for roughly a week this time around. The first couple days Ellie was still under the impression that Jack had a wife. The next couple days they were working through feelings and miscommunications and misunderstandings. Then, Ellie was finally getting to a place where she was ok with ending things with Andrew when everything hit chaos mode. She was ready to give the relationship a chance at that point. Again, that's just a natural progression given the circumstances and relationship development.
- I wish we saw Ellie connect more with the side characters. They felt under-utilized
- Jack's family's reaction when things were revealed felt like an overreaction, especially when we didn't see Ellie's relationship with the rest of the family develop. Or at the very least, why was it all directed at Ellie and not at Andrew.
- The dual timelines didn't work for me here. I think back to what I loved about The Charm Offensive and I think about the journey and watching the relationship develop in a linear progression. Here, the dual timelines and the insta-love removed that experience and left me feeling not invested.
- I'm not good at suspending reality, so Andrew's complete lack of effort at selling the ruse felt like a hole to me. Like the skiing day, he wouldn't help his fiance learn to ski for even a half hour??
- Some of the repetition annoyed me after a while. I get it, Jack has thick thighs and a half moon smile...
- Lastly, cheating is a plot point I struggle with. In this story, I understand that none of it was technically cheating (Jack was in an open marriage, then Ellie and Andrew's engagement was a ruse), but there's still this gray area that I was uncomfortable with. Even though cheating is a plot point I tend to struggle with, I do envision a story with more nuance, where I could have felt comfortable with the direction. Unfortunately, as written, it didn't work for me.

Unfortunately, this novel didn't work for me. However, contrary to the many reasons listed above, I didn't dislike it. It was just fine. I do think there are a lot of people who will enjoy this and I do think there's a lot of value in the representation of sexuality and mental health. For that, I give it 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. And I do look forward to continuing to read Alison Cochrun's future novels. While this one didn't work for me, I do love her writing style and the messages presented in her works.

Such a cute Christmas story that anyone who's been a little messy at Christmastime (which - who among us *hasn't* at one point) can relate to and root for. It gives you all the warm fuzzies of Christmas hijinks without the total predictability of a hallmark movie.

Looking for your next Christmas read? Pick up a copy of Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun! If you are looking for some Christmas magic with a little bit of drama, add this to your TBR. Alternating between the past and present day, this tells the story of Ellie and Jack's first meeting and now present day -- with Ellie engaged to Jack's brother Andrew. This one has been compared to classic favorite While You Were Sleeping -- hello Bill Pullman! Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book. It is on shelves now!!

One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.

Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.

I really enjoyed this book! It was the perfect, fun queer Christmas romance. I did, however, find a few of the lines were a bit too cheesy. Overall, this was a very fun and enjoyable romance and I would recommend it to anyone who likes queer, fun marriage of convenience novels (a genre I now NEED more of)

while you were sleeping has always been one of my favorite "holiday" movies so this book truly was at the top of my holiday tbr. alison cochran did an amazing job with this book. it has so much depth, love and all of the holiday feels!! i cannot wait to recommend this book to everyone.

❄️ 𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎: 𝕂𝕚𝕤𝕤 ℍ𝕖𝕣 𝕆𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕄𝕖 ❄️

A queer romance inspired by one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies? Here for it! 🙌

Last Christmas, Ellie fell for Jack, but their romance didn’t last. This year, Ellie agrees to fake date Andrew, a work acquaintance, over the holidays to help secure his inheritance. But when she arrives at the family cabin for Christmas, she’s stunned to see her former flame.

What I loved about this:

💖 This was loosely inspired by While You Were Sleeping, and you can see that in the ancillary characters. This extended family is wacky and great!
💖 I actually loved Andrew in all his ‘himbo with a heart of gold’ glory.
💖 Alison Cochrun’s writing is so smart and fun. It reminds me of books written by Alexis Hall, who I also love!

Things I wanted to like more:

❄️ I felt like Ellie was the cause of many of her own problems. One of her biggest challenges was that she had a crappy job at a coffee shop. Girl, it is Portland, get yourself another job! Some of this had to do with her mental health struggles, which made the story more nuanced than a typical romcom.
❄️ Also, and this was minor, but I felt like there were some parts that were like “Portland, amirite?!” But those parts were less relatable and more hyper-specific.

Overall, this is a quirky romance that touches on bisexuality, gender and sexual identity, and generalized anxiety disorder/mental health. You know, your basic holiday romp.

And if you haven’t read The Charm Offensive, also by this author, you should stop what you’re doing and read it immediately!!

This book is available now and was a December BOTM pick. Thank you to @netgalley @atriabooks and the author for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I adored this book! It was my first holiday read and it did not disappoint. I connected with every character both main and supporting. The relationships between the female lead, Ellie and her love interest, Jack, was beautifully written. From their serendipitous meet cute, to the one that got away, only to be brought back into each other’s lives storyline was well executed. These two women had such a powerful connection from page one and I was rooting for them the entire time! This was my first by the author but I will definitely be reading more by her! If you’re looking for a holiday romance, with so much heart, a little spice, and all of the holiday magic then pick this one up! Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria for this gifted ebook! (4.5 stars rounded up)

This was really cute and a great followup/sophomore book to Charm Offensive. I loved the Christmas vibes, the whole last Christmas vs this Christmas thing, the baggage that each character had that made them feel like real humans, and the Taylor Swift references (hello, scarf I left at your sister’s house and you’ve still got it in your drawer even now). I did feel like I dragged a bit in the middle, but we got there. Everything worked out. And I did, in fact, cry at the acknowledgments. Overall, great holiday (and just in general) read!

📖 | Revιew • Kιѕѕ Her Oɴce For Me

Aυтнor: Alison Cochrun
Geɴre: Romance / Holiday / LGBTQ+ Romance
Trope(ѕ): Insta Love / Second Chance Romance / One Bed / Forced Proximity / Marriage of Convenience / Found Family
Sтeαм Rαтιɴɢ: 🌶️ 🌶️

I read The Charm Offensive in February and it became one of my favorite romances of all time, so you can guess how excited I was to get an early copy of Allison’s latest sapphic romance!

As with The Charm Offensive, Alison brought her A game in this story when it comes to LGBTQ+, sexuality, and mental health representation. However, I think this was a case of the wrong book at the wrong time for me as I was in the throes of a reading slump. It took me a month to get through, and I kept putting it down to try other reads.

The artistic angle of the story felt unique to me with the way she incorporated Ellie’s webcomic series into the past and present plotlines. I loved the nod to While You Were Sleeping (one of my favorite rom-coms), the grandmas, and the family dynamics—but the relationships all fell a bit flat for me. I didn’t connect with the insta-love in this case between Ellie and Jack (maybe dual POV would have helped 🤔), I wish there was more interaction and relationship building between Andrew and Ellie and the family members, and Ellie’s self-deprecation and overall stuckness (is that a word? 😅) felt dragged out.

I welcome heavy topics in romances, but I think there were missed opportunities for lighter moments to add more balance here.

I LOVE Alison’s writing (especially the way she ends chapters is 🥺), and her voice is unique and important. I will read EVERYTHING she writes, and I hope you do too! This one just didn’t hit the same for me.

Thank you, @atriabooks and @netgalley for a digital ARC of this one!

This was such a cute and fun Christmas read!! I really enjoyed it! I also appreciated the anxiety representation.

I adored this book! Kiss Her Once for Me delivered on all the holiday magic I could ask for, as it is chock full of Christmas activities and romance tropes. There's a snow day meet cute, cookie baking, ornament hanging, Christmas songs, snowball fighting, skiing, getting snowed in together, and lots more. The plot is a little convoluted (one night stand misunderstanding, marriage of convenience fake dating, love quadrangle) but things smooth out once we get to the cabin and the crossed lines come together. Be warned that there is some vague assumed cheating/deception because of the fake dating (it didn't bother me but I can see how it could bother other readers). It's also worth knowing going in that the depiction of social anxiety is very accurate but at times difficult to read, as Ellie is in a really miserable season of her life when the book starts.

I love Alison Cochrun's writing - there are so many sharp, funny lines in the first chapter alone! And she develops characters that you can really care for that have believable, fond relationships with one another. I felt like I knew every character really well, even the ones that don't get as much screen time like the grandmas or the coffeeshop coworker. There's a kind of found family aspect to this book that I adored. The side romance with the brother and the best friend was great!

Highly recommend if you are looking for a sapphic romance this holiday season!

This was so cute and had one of my favorite romance tropes in it. I loved the main character so much and I love how this book didn't just focus on her romance but also talked about her friendships and her relationships with others. Overall this was such a cute Christmas romance book!

ABSOLUTELY adored this read. Alison Cochrun could do NO wrong.

This book is cute, filled with holiday romance, and completely inclusive and queer. Easily going to be my top holiday read of the year (of all?!)

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this one!

I have been seeing this book everywhere! It was a Book Of The Month pick and has a 4.17/5 star rating on goodreads, so naturally this one had to come to the top of my TBR!

“One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.

Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.”

What I liked about this one: it was different! It wasn’t just another Hallmark style book. It gave all the holiday vibes with a cute setting, but with more depth. The characters were fun and so real.

What I didn’t like: it was a lot. There were a lot of different tropes, romances, characters, and so it was hard to follow at times. I also felt like there was a lot of cheating and deceiving with the family members

Overall I loved this book and I can see why it is a popular one on bookstagram! If you love holiday books and are looking for a story with those magical holiday vibes, I highly recommend this one.

🎄Book Review🎄
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Summary: One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.

Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.
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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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My thoughts: this was my first holiday romance of the year but what a fantastic start! This might be one of my favorite Christmas romances I’ve ever read ! I loved loved l loved Ellie as a character. She was so deep and complex, it dealt with a lot of deeper issues than just your typical holiday meet cute. Beautifully written and a fantastic follow up to The Charm Offensive by @alisoncochrun . Thank you @netgalley and @simonandschuster for the advanced copy! Go grab this today 🥰
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QOTD- do you like reading holiday romances ?!
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#kissheronceforme #alisoncochrun #bookreview #bookrecommendations #bibliophile #booklover #bookaddict #bookaesthetic #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booknerd #booklover #holidayromance #holidayromancebooks #romancebooks #romancebookstagram

4.5⭐️

Thank you so much to Atria and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I have a lot to say about this book so buckle up for a bit of a long review.

First of all - I absolutely adore Alison Cochrun. And I absolutely adored this book. I love how much she packs into her books and gives voice to representations I don't see in romance very often (in this case ace-spec characters)

This romance is MESSY. And I was absolutely here for it. It had fake dating, forbidden romance, miscommunication, pining, and angst. And at times the characters are quite unlikeable because of it - which won't work for everyone.

But boy did it work for me.

I thought the secretive nature of the main romance only added to the chemistry and build up. And I couldn't get enough of them together. Their romance is hella steamy and fantastically done.

But here is where I want to have a discussion --

I've seen a lot of reviewers talking about how this was "bad demisexual rep" because the heroine fell "too quickly". And I think that putting limitations and requirements on someone else's sexuality and identity is extremely harmful (especially if you are an allo-sexual reviewer).

Reading the definition of demi sexuality does not give you the right to put constraints on what it means to be demi. There is no time limit to an emotional or romantic connection. There are no rules or check boxes that she must follow and complete to call herself demi.

And insinuating that someone must follow your perceived notions of the identity is harmful and insulting.

You do not get to call someone "not demi enough" simply because you thought the romance was too fast or because it doesn't directly correlate your lived experiences.

As an ace and demi reviewer, was this exact to my experience? Of course not. No 2 people will experience sexuality and romance the same way. But calling out someone has "not enough" is never okay.

So do I think this book had good representation? Yes. Absolutely. I think Alison Cochrun did an amazing job highlighting the SPECTRUM that is asexuality. We are not isolated to one thing. Every encounter and experience can be different than the next. And that is OKAY.

I absolutely cannot wait for whatever this author does next.