KISS HER ONCE FOR ME is a queer holiday romance that addresses mental health and brings on the laughs. I could see the inspiration from While You Were Sleeping, but instead of a coma, down-on-her-luck, failure-fearing Ellie agrees to a marriage of convenience with rich Andrew for a cut of his inheritance. However, Ellie is still pining for the woman she met last Christmas who she only knew as Jack. When Ellie finds out that Jack is Andrew's sister during a week-long family get together during Christmas, she's conflicted to say the least. I thought the family was instantly hilarious and lovable, which is such a draw for Ellie who has a difficult relationship with her own parents. Jack also jumped off the page as a perfect foil to Ellie, making this fake engagement difficult to carry on. I thought this was a fun read and perfect for holiday romance lovers.

Thanks Netgalley and Atria for the ARC!

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦.”

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: ellie fakes an engagement so she can get two hundred thousand dollars. turns out - she’s in love with the sister of the man she’s supposed to marry.

𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: unfortunately i don’t think this was the right book for me. while i liked some aspects of it, i think there were more things that didn’t work for me than did work. i will say that i liked the underlying message of fear of failure and liked ellie’s development in this area in the end of the book. i also adored the family characters - andrew, meemaw, lovey, katherine, dylan - they were all so much fun. i think where this book didn’t work for me was the CONSTANT miscommunication and the insta love. i really struggled to get through it because of that. if you love alison cochrun, i would still give this one a try around christmas time because she does write SO well and has SO much representation in her books.

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: it was just okay!

special thank you to netgalley, atria books & alison cochrun for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cochrun has managed to recreate the warm hearted insecurity that made The Charm Offensive such relatable magic in this entirely new story. The story is at it's base a romance but there are side plots of equal importance. Ellie learns the value of found family, making new friends, trusting in friends who love her, setting boundaries with family who does not, and believing in herself.

Ellie could be a little frustrating with the mistakes she made that seemed obvious but that is why the story is about her growth. She is the main character, the world was so complete I felt it easily could have been told by Andrew, Dylan, or jack and been just as brilliant, but Ellie's journey is why it's her.

ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. My expectations were very high coming into this book because…. The Charm Offensive. Alison Cochrun not only delivered but she has officially written one of my favorite sapphic books ever? I loved this story. I related to the main character SO HARD. I felt so much while reading this and I simultaneously want everyone to read this so we can bask in the joy and love of it while also wanting no one ever to read it so I can keep it close to me and let no one say bad things about it. UGH MY HEART. A CHRISTMAS SAPPHIC ROM COM???? I’ve never needed something more in my life, even tho I just read this book in August.

Ok… if that wasn’t the most glowing review I’ve ever written in one paragraph I don’t know what is? To the author: thank you for writing Ellie. As an anxious queer girl myself, I felt very seen and represented on these pages. Ellie is one of those characters you can’t help but relate to. She has the biggest heart and I just wanted her to succeed in everything she did. And we can’t forget about Jack!!!!! Swoon worthy if I do say so myself. I loved her so much. Her personality literally leapt off the page.

I thought the premise was absolutely hilarious. The pacing was perfect. It was fast paced but also slowed in all the right places where I wanted more. The chosen family aspect of this book was wonderful. The Kim Prescotts were hilarious and I ate up the family dynamics at the cabin. I really enjoyed the alternating timelines so we could see how Ellie and Jack first met but I also appreciated how the author kept those few and far between and relatively short so it didn’t take away from the present day story. Also, I loved the little bit of steam thrown in there!!!

I laughed, I teared up (multiple times), I swooned and I legit fell in love with these characters. I’m always always always on the hunt for a great sapphic rom-com and this one fits the bill. If anything it surpasses it because I freaking loved it that much. I’ve just raved endlessly about my love for this book and if that’s not a sign for every person who’s reading this to go pre-order or request an ARC of this book I don’t know what is!

I know my fellow romance pals won’t sleep on this one because let’s be honest if you had the privilege of reading The Charm Offensive then you’re probably not so patiently waiting to get your hands on this lovely piece of art.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

During Pride Month in 2022, I picked up The Charm Offensive and absolutely fell in love. It quickly became one of my favorite reads of the year and before I was even halfway finished with it, I searched up Alison Cochrun on The StoryGraph and every social platform to see what she had already written and what she was writing next. You can imagine my joy upon discovering that Kiss Her Once for Me would be released during the winter of the same year! I added it to my TBR and requested it on NetGalley without even reading the plot (something I rarely do… but I just had this gut instinct about Alison’s writing and knew I would love it no matter what it was about). My happy dance was more like a happy rave when I got the approval email!

Now, a little bit of backstory time. I grew up on While You Were Sleeping. Every single year for as long as I can remember (it came out the year after I was born… so TRULY as long as I can remember), this movie marked the start of the holiday season. If it wasn’t watched on the day we put up our tree, it was at least watched during the holidays. My dad, mom, sister, and I would curl up with spiced mocha, popcorn, peppermint bark, and molasses cookies to spend the next hour and forty-three minutes quoting every line, humming every bar of the soundtrack, and laughing at every joke (even though we already knew the punchline). Not a year has gone by that this movie hasn’t been watched and loved thoroughly… even my husband was brought into the tradition while we were still dating! It’s my ultimate comfort movie and I love the story with all of my heart.

Okay, so… picture this: Stephanie opens up Kiss Her Once for Me and reads the opening lines of the note for the reader and it starts out by talking about the author’s love for While You Were Sleeping and how that played into the writing of this book. I mean, come on, it’s like fate! My jaw just about hit the floor in both shock and excitement. I already knew I was going to love the book, but now I was convinced I was going to be full-on obsessed. I wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t put this one down!

This book gave me everything I wanted from it and more. I’m talking sapphic love story cuteness (complete with – as the author called her – “lesbian Bill Pullman”), hilarious holiday hijinks, adorable all-knowing grannies, and the most heartwarming found family I’ve read about in ages. I truly never wanted it to end. I was going through a truly challenging time in my life and this book brought so much comfort and warmth. I know that I’ll be picking it up again and again over the years just to bring that “hug in a book” feeling.

It takes place during the holidays, but I wouldn’t call it a “Christmas book.” It’s more overall wintery and just happens to have Christmas-y moments in it. It also made me interested in webcomics. So much so that I immediately began the Heartstopper series on Webtoon after finishing it (which is another comfort read now, so thanks for that nudge, Kiss Her Once for Me).

Kiss Her Once for Me is swoony, a little spicy, sweet, and SAPPHIC. It’s absolute perfection and definitely the book you need to pick up this winter if you want a little comfort and cuteness in your life!

[CW: (major) Sexism, Abandonment, and Sexual content, (moderate) Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship, (minor) Alcohol, Drug use, and Infidelity]

Kiss Her Once for Me - Alison Cochrun

I was of course thrilled to get an ARC of my most anticipated read this year. It’s a sapphic Christmas novel written by the author of one of my (if not my #1) favourite books of all time, The Charm Offensive.

Kiss Her Once for Me is a second chance romance, a fake fiancé’s sister romance, a love trapezoid, and brings all the cozy Christmas vibes you could want. Ellie and Andrew decide to get married, so that Andrew can get his inheritance. Ellie spends Christmas with Andrew’s family and discovers that his sister Jack is the woman she had a one night stand with the year before. We get flashbacks in the form of Ellie’s writing, to the day they had spent together. I loved being able to watch them fall for each other in the past and present. I loved these characters, and the forbidden aspect.

I’m not surprised that I adored this, I might even reread it closer to Christmas once I get my hands on a physical copy. Thank you @alisoncochrun for writing the most beautiful stories 💗💗💗

The Charm Offensive is one of my favorite books of all time and the synopsis for Kiss Her Once for Me sounded phenomenal, but unfortunately this was a big disappointment for me. I love Alison Cochrun’s writing and I will always love her writing, but the content in this story just didn’t work for me.

The part of the story that pissed me off the most was the miscommunication/cheating/breakup mess. It’s hard to really define in one clear word what happened without spoiling it, but the reason why Ellie and Jack aren’t together at the start of the book just didn’t work for me. It was awful and it was something that I didn’t think was entirely forgiveable, especially in the way that it all went down. What’s even more awful was that the guilt for that situation was pinned on Ellie when it clearly wasn’t her fault. This whole pinning the guilt on Ellie even continued later in the book, too, for things that weren’t Ellie’s fault. Why were so many characters mad at Ellie for what happened? She didn’t do anything wrong in this book.

Speaking of Ellie, I found her to be really relatable. I wasn’t super fond of her personality, but when she would describe her fear of failure and her social anxiety, I completely related to everything she said. The anxiety scenes really captured how my anxiety presents itself, so it was really special to me to have the anxiety representation in this book.

Demisexuality was included in this book, but I wasn’t entirely satisfied with that representation. I’m not saying that people can’t fall in love in a day, but it was constantly emphasized that Ellie doesn’t feel sexual attraction until she gets a deep emotional bond with someone. However, Jack is this magical person that’s the exception to her demisexuality and Ellie just magically feels sexual attraction to her after just a few hours? I’m on the ace spectrum but I’m not demi, so I don’t get the final say on whether this representation is good or bad, but the story definitely doesn’t match with my understanding of demisexuality at all.

I’m on the fence about whether I like this book or not, but I wanted to end my review on a more positive note since I really like Alison Cochrun. There were a few things that I adored about this book. I loved the setting. I live right outside of the locations where this book took place, so the setting was very homey and familiar to me. I also really loved Meemaw, Lovey, and Andrew. Meemaw and Lovey were the funniest part of this story and they helped lighten the mood in the darkest scenes. Andrew was a really interesting character who had a good heart throughout the story. I wish that he wouldn’t have ended up with the person that he ended up with because their relationship seemed like it was purely lust and it lacked depth, but he was still a fun character to read about and I was rooting for his sucess from the start of the book.

I don’t know if I’d strongly recommend this book since it had so many flaws, but I don’t regret reading this book. It will find an audience that loves it. I’m just not part of that audience.

I thought this book was very cute. I love the fake dating troupe. I loved the characters and thought they were well rounded especially the grandmothers and think they should get their own novellas. This book will be perfect for the holiday season. I did think the book needed some editing and was about 50 pages too long. I did think some of the dialogue was a little forced. If you love Hallmark Christmas movies but want queer main characters, then Kiss Her Once For Me will be the perfect book for you.

The premise of Kiss Her Once for Me is unabashedly zany: girl meets girl over the last copy of Fun Home at Powell's bookstore, girl falls completely in love within a span of 15 hours before having her heartbroken, girl agrees to fake-marry a charming trust fund baby for a portion of his inheritance only to arrive at his family estate to discover her long lost love is her fake-fiance's sister. And while there are certainly moments of silliness (the boozy grandmas are among my favorite ever fictional characters), the core of the novel is a surprisingly sincere reflection on the way families come together, fall apart, and shape the way people move through the world. It's easy to root for Ellie and Jack, who, like all good romance characters, navigate misunderstandings, challenging family dynamics, and awkwardness in an effort to find their way to each other. I appreciated Cochrun's resistance to the romance writer's habit of using miscommunication to stand in for actual conflict: at points where other novels might have leaned into confusion to prolong tension, Jack tells Ellie that they're going to do the "queer-women thing," which is talk about their feelings. This doesn't eliminate all of the angst, but it definitely made me feel less frustrated as a reader.

Kiss Her Once for Me weaves excerpts from a cartoon created by Ellie into the narrative in order to explain the beginning of her relationship with Jack. These segments are out of order, a choice I imagine Cochrun made to build suspense (we don't find out WHY their day took such a turn until late in the novel) but which I found a little confusing and disruptive to the flow of the larger story. I also sometimes struggled with the attention paid to Ellie's anxiety, which is likely a personal failing on my part. It turns out that, as an anxious person myself, exploring someone else's anxiety in excruciating detail took me out of the romantic vibe. These quibbles aside, Kiss Her Once for Me is cute and queer and easy to like. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

As the self appointed biggest fan of The Charm Offensive, I was dying to get my hands on literally anything else that Alison wrote but when I heard it was a queer Christmas book, I was even more excited and even with all of that anticipation, this book did not let me down! I loved every single minute of this book and it has officially made Alison an auto buy author for me! Alison has this way of writing the most messy, relatable, and lovable characters that are impossible not to root for even when you’re yelling at them to just talk to each other! I just loved this book so much and I can’t wait for everyone to be able to read it in November!!

I loved the characters, Ellie & Jack, of course but also Andrew and Dylan and Katherine and Meredith and Lovey and Meemaw and Ari! I loved how messy all of the characters were in one way or another. I loved getting to see everyone’s growth and how much every kind of relationship matters, not just the romantic ones. I loved getting to see Ellie and Jack, both in the past when they met and in the present when they were thrown back together. I loved getting to see Ellie realize how loved she actually is even if she wasn’t always able to see it. I love honestly loved everything about it!

I also really loved the twist on the fake dating trope! It was so fun and the love trapezoid was so messy in all the best ways and watching them all fumble through their feelings and how to navigate everything was wonderful! And also just like with Charm, mental health is such an important aspect of this book too and Alison writes mental illness in such a real and honest way! Honestly just very grateful to have gotten the chance to read this one early and I can’t wait to get my hands on everything she writes in the future!

Lastly, I just wanted to say thank you to Alison for writing characters that help me embrace the parts of myself that I’ve spent my whole life thinking we’re unlovable! I think being able to not only find yourself in books but learn and embrace parts of yourself is the most beautiful thing about reading and I’m very grateful to be alive at a time where I am able to do this through your characters. 💖

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun is such an adorable sapphic romance! This book follows Ellie, a young woman who fakes an engagement with the landlord of the building she works in in order to partially inherit some money she desperately needs. When she realizes that her landlord’s sister is the mysterious woman she fell in love with in a day the previous Christmas, Ellie has to decide if her feelings are worth risking the safety net the money will provide her with.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book, and the fact that it was set around Christmas made me love it even more! I also really enjoyed the romance and the representation that was present throughout this book and the central theme of how important it is to not let the fear of failure hold you back. I really found myself relating to Ellie as I was reading this book as she struggles with anxiety and has to work to not allow it to keep her from living the life she wants. This book also includes the found family trope which was super heartwarming to read!

There were a lot of fun moments in this and some decent character growth. Ellie drove me a bit nuts sometimes though. Mental health is addressed pretty well throughout the story. Overall, a good sapphic romance with holiday feels.

I’m a HUGE fan of The Charm Offensive, so I’m thrilled to begin my #holigays22 galley haul with a review of the next Alison Cochrun 💜 Kiss Her Once For Me is an inherently queer story that explores issues & ideas that feel both fresh & familiar to queer folk. Cochrun has honed her voice in this lovely homage to While You Were Sleeping––one of my favourite movies!!––and to the holiday romcom (The Family Stone vibes are strong).

The book also features the ✨best✨ demisexual representation I’ve seen in a romcom / possibly any book ever. These are the gay Christmas vibes Happiest Season thought it was giving us, without the trauma it *actually* gave us!

KHOFM’s supporting cast is delightful and noticeably more fleshed out than Charm’s, with secondary characters that have expansive & vivid inner lives. I was suuuuper invested in a certain romantic subplot that I will not spoil here, but trust me––it’s too good!! On my Christmas wishlist: a version of the book from that couple’s POV 👀

I will say that KHOFM weaves so many emotional threads that, at times, I almost wished it were an ensemble romcom with multiple POVs (possibly like Island Time?). I want to spend more time with Jack’s family & with Dylan & with Ellie’s chosen family, and I’d have loved to see the book further complicate Ellie’s relationship with her mother. This is a credit to Cochrun’s talent for creating interesting characters & dynamics, and I’m crossing my fingers for a bonus epilogue, or even a sequel/alt version in the future!

Alison Cochrun harnesses the enchanting lyrical imagery of Taylor Swift and heart -wrenching, -aching, -breaking and -warming powers of your favourite romantic comedies, encasing them in this snow globe of a holiday romance. Bundle up for a completely enchanting experience — upon reading the first page you’ll feel Cochrun gently tipping the snow globe allowing its technical/structural perfection and deeper meaning about finding hope and healing through love to sparkle as it gently snows down around you.

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘧𝘭𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘴, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺.”
*Eyes fill with tears for the first of what will be upwards of 1,000 times while reading*

Cochrun’s sapphic dual timeline holiday rom com features poetic reflection about the world, deeply relatable characters, unparalleled mental health representation and adopts our favourite, beloved tropes (second chance romance, fake fating, one bed) with refreshing creativity.

Last Christmas, Ellie had a full heart and life with her dream job in animation and an enchanting bookstore meet-cute that ended in a whirlwind 24-our romance. This Christmas, 25-year-old Ellie finds herself single, working as a barista, longing for a life of meaning and purpose, desperate for money and en-route to her landlord Andrew’s family cabin for Christmas — as his fake fiancée.

“‘𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴…𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴…𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴…𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦. 𝘚𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩…𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴,’ 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴. 𝘚𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤.’”

Ellie’s holiday at the cabin is characterized by: beautifully eccentric Grandmas; a sweet & snowy immersion in family Christmas traditions; being embraced by a family like the one she never had; and the heart stopping revelation that Jack, her mysterious romance of Christmas Eve’s past, is Andrew’s sister.

“𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐’𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘻𝘰𝘪𝘥.”

Through clever, colourful, emotive and lively writing, you feel every emotion with your whole being. Cochrun gently and thoughtfully handles moments of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia while immersing you in a heartfelt holiday escape; being inside Ellie’s sweet, self-deprecating, sarcastic and humbly relatable mind is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever found myself as a reader.

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩. 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴…”

I’m forever grateful we received an ARC of this fully-immersive escape so we could first digest it’s beauty for the purpose of reviewing during the summer, knowing we’ll get to revisit its beauty during the holiday season. Not even a little bit mad that it will undoubtedly take hours to transfer my endless e-annotations to my future physical copy.

This was so cute! A wonderful romance, filled with witty banter, delightful characters, and just enough steaminess. A must read for romance lovers!

An e-arc of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

“Is it weird? That I’ve never been in love love?
All types of love are love love.
We all experience attraction differently. Some of us fall in and out of love easily. Some of us don’t experience romantic love at all. Some of us have to fight to let ourselves be vulnerable enough to fall in love. Some of us have to fight to let other people love us.”

I have been so excited since the news about this beautiful book were first announced. I obviously had no idea what it was about then but just a holiday Rom-Com written by Alison Cochrun was enough information for me. ✨
I am going to tell you how much I love it in a bit but first let me just tell you the synopsis.
Ellie, the mc, is possibly in the worst emotional place of her life after losing her dream job, working as a barista to make ends meet and still thinking about last Christmas and the stranger she met that day as well as their unexpected but all-consuming relationship. Her parents have always been absent other than the usual “send me money” phone calls and shit just hit the fan since her landlord told her she will be getting evicted soon. That’s when Andrew comes in, handsome and wealthy and in need of someone to fake-date and marry so he can get his inheritance and at the same time Ellie needs money so why not pretend to date and kill two birds with one stone? And what started as a joke, drunkenly became a reality when he posted his “fiancé” on social media. Now all they had to do was spend Christmas week with Andrew’s family on their cabin and pretend to be a couple.. what could possibly go wrong? Hmm, I’ll give you a hint. Andrew has a sister and she is none other than Ellie’s Christmas mystery girl.

A few bullets points for the ones who were too bored to read the synopsis (I get it, it’s was long but I couldn’t help it, sorry) :
* Demisexual bi mc (Ellie)
* Bipoc lesbian mc (Jack)
* While you were sleeping retelling
* Second chance romance
* Captivating and humorous writing
* ADHD (Jack) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder ( Ellie)
* Found family
* A lot of queer characters with different queer identities : Dylan who is nonbinary, Ellie’s coworker Ari who is trans, lesbian and poly, Ellie’s housemate Winslow who is trans
* In general, a book you won’t be able to put down.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC of this book.

3.5 stars! This is the sapphic Christmas romcoms of everyone’s dreams. The incredibly messed up family dynamic and the flawed but still likeable characters really made up the essence of this book. I will say there were parts that felt like the whole book was trying too hard to be culturally relevant which made me cringe, but they were few and far between which allowed me to ignore them for the most part. Jack and Ellie’s relationship was so up and down and it definitely played its part in keeping me engaged. And of course, how could I ever hate a book with as many Taylor Swift references as this one. I wish I could have read this for the first time mid December but I am excited for everyone who will do so.

This book has added Alison Cochrun to my auto-buy author list. Overall, it was a very cute sapphic rom-com, but it was the characters and representation that really drew me in. The story line was fine, but I grew to love both the main characters and the side characters, which helped me look past the insta-love. Cochrun writes diverse characters, particularly addressing acceptance and unique family dynamics. This is a great holiday read. If you enjoyed The Charm Offensive, I think you’ll enjoy this one even more!

*Alexa, play Evermore by Taylor Swift*

This book is unapologetically queer. It's literally a sapphic holiday romantic comedy??? I squealed with excitement way too many times to count. 🤩

Read if you enjoy:
💞 second chance romance
🥸 fating dating
🔺 love triangle
🛏 one bed trope
🕔 dual timelines
🎄 Christmas Eve meet cute

representation:
🤎🖤 API/POC cast
💚 anxiety/ADHD rep
🏳️‍🌈 bi demisexual MC
🏳️‍⚧️ nonbinary/trans rep

There are so many bookish tropes, but I promise not one of these will play out as you would think! It was so refreshing to see a fun, queer take on these beloved tropes.

I went into this book practically blind. I have never read the author's debut, The Charm Offensive (which I will have to change very soon). I was expecting a ✨cute, fluffy holigay✨ romance, but I ended up invested in a story about two women, both afraid of failure, who end up falling in love. It was beautiful!

Ellie and Jack, the two MCs, are lovable characters that feel so real and close to my heart. Both Ellie and Jack had their own fears and traumas which impacted them in different ways. The mental health representation in this book was *chef's kiss* 🫰.

Beware, there is some insta-love involved in this story. I'm usually not a fan of insta-love, but I think the author depicted Ellie and Jack's gravitation towards one another in such a beautiful way. I genuinely felt like the characters had known each other longer. The chemistry was off the charts between Ellie and Jack from the first time they met all the way to the last page. 🥵

All the supporting characters in this novel were strong, individualized characters. I loved every single one of these characters' personality, motivations, and individual quirks. I fell in love with the Kim-Prescott family through Ellie's POV. By the end of the book, I felt I knew these characters so well that I could guess each of their favorite Christmas songs.

The comedy was, again, chef's kiss. Prepare for many jokes poking fun as lesbian stereotypes.
Also, the Taylor Swift references and 2000s pop music references nearly sent me into an early grave. 🤣💀🪦

It was a privilege to read and ARC of Kiss Her Once for Me. Big thanks to NetGalley, Atria, and Alison Cochrun for this wonderful story. I will be purchasing a copy for my shelves when it is released November 1st, 2022!

Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CW: Swearing, sex, alcohol consumption, light drug use (weed), anxiety (specifically Generalized Anxiety Disorder), depression, ableism
Negligent parents and familial estrangement, emotionally abusive parenting, biphobia and transphobia,
References to cheating and adultery

What an adorable read this was! Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun has everything you want from a holiday rom com and if it doesn’t get made into a movie, or something, I may lose my mind.

The story follows Ellie, an anxiety ridden animator who fell in love last Christmas with a woman named Jack, only to have it fall apart the next day. A year later, Ellie has lost her animator job, works in a cafe she hates, and is guilt tripped and manipulated to take care of a parent who doesn’t care about her. In walks Andrew, an investor bro who asks Ellie to help him win his inheritance from his jerk of a grandfather by marrying him. In exchange she will get &250,000. What starts is a wacky holiday ride meeting Andrews family, his ex, and most importantly his sister…Jack. Pretending to be in a fake engagement while pining after the woman who she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about for over a year…what could go wrong?

I could rave about this book for its anxiety rep, it’s butch lesbian rep, the clever dialogue and it’s pacing, but really it will amount to the same thing, I loved it all!

Kiss Her Once For Me was such a joy to read and I know the minute it is out I’ll be forcing anyone and everyone to read it. Now to run off and preorder my copy of this and order the Charm Offensive because I must own everything Cochrun has written.

A note about content warnings, Cochrun does list them all on her website with more extensive notes. I have minimilized them down due to word count.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review