I want to start by saying: I loved this book. This was my first book by Alison Cochrum, but it will definitely not be the last!

The author in her acknowledgment thanks her agent for believing in her, when this book was noting more than a flash-out gay While You Were Sleeping FanFic. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. I guess I was too taken by the story and the characters.

Now, all the things I loved:
- The characters. They were all very well written and entertaining. They all had clear personalities and they made me laugh out loud in more than one occasions. I loved the Grandmas and their vibe. I would read a spin off about them going on adventures. I loved the Kim-Prescott family to the core. They were funny as a comedy would want them to be, but they were also so real.
- The family dynamics and all the relationships. I was amazed by Meredith and Ari’s relationship with Ellie, I loved how easily they were there for her. I loved Andrew and how his friendship evolved with Ellie (the last scene between them was amazing and I could see it unfolding in front of my eyes) and of course I loved Ellie and Jack and their whole journey as a couple and witching themselves, it was just perfect.
- I hope the author doesn’t change a single quote in this book. There were so many passages that made me laugh out loud, especially the parts about “the queer way” to deal with stuff.
- I just flew through the book, it was hard to put down because it was really a lot of fun!
- The ending was perfect.

I want to add that I loved the LGTBQ+ representation, the use of pronouns (and people asking about their preferred pronouns) and the fact that - like in Shitt’s Creek (aside from the homophobes in the book that were all very negative people all over) there was this sense of acceptance and everyone was fitting in. I wish we had in our world.
It made me feel warm and fuzzy and I can’t wait for the book to come out in November!

Thank you Alison Cochrum and NetGalley for this advanced copy of “Kiss Her Once For Me” in exchange for an honest review.

This story taught me a lot about different identities. The jump between the webcomic and the story itself was fun and provided a lot of insight into what the main character was thinking.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me access to this eBook arc!! If you’re looking for a Sapphic novel set during Christmas time with fake dating and lots Taylor swift mentions, this is the book for you. this book made me laugh but also made me cry. so beautifully written and the characters are amazing!

Kiss Her Once for Me was a gorgeous sapphic Christmas romcom that I'll be recommending for ever - also can Netflix or someone pick it up so we can enjoy an amazing, messy story around Christmas 2023?!

In KHOfM we follow Ellie who feels like her life is falling apart - her dream career is a thing of the past, she's working a dead-end job, her mother only cares about her as long as she can siphon money off of her, and she's about to be evicted from her apartment. Christmas '22 is looking dull. Until Andrew, the property-owner of the cafe Ellie works in, makes an outlandish suggestion - Ellie will marry him so he can get his inheritance and spend Christmas with his family. It all seems absurd but Ellie is in desperate need of the 200k he is offering her in return. And it all seems like it might just work out - but then Ellie finds out that Andrew's sister is none other than Jack, the gorgeous woman Ellie fell for in the span of one day last Christmas.

This book made me wish it was Christmas-time already so I could curl up with hot cocoa and watch a messy but wholesome Christmas romcom with merry jingles playing in the background. This is CHRISTMAS ROMCOM GOODNESS in a nutshell - all the familial vibes (found family is just as gorgeous and valid as the blood one), not one but TWO love stories that will steal your heart, and a very real struggle in the center. Ellie is AFRAID and while that fear colours every interaction of hers, it is also one of the most relatable feelings in the world. We are afraid of being alone, of failure, of wishing for something so bad only to realise it was all an illusion.
Alison Cochrun once again wove a beautiful story full of heart that will make you ache with how relatable it is! I felt for Ellie and her struggles (and don't even get me started on how much I adored the anxiety rep! So relatable and sensitively written!) and I rooted for her from the get-go.

If anyone is looking for me, I'll be fighting off a reread, daydreaming about Ellie, Jack, Andrew, and Dylan, and wishing it was Christmas already (and I detest winter and the cold so that is saying something!).

A must read for anyone looking for a beautiful Christmas romcom with incredible queer rep (bi MC, lesbian SC, queer SC, nb SC, side poly relationship), mental health rep, and a diverse cast of characters!

AHH ok I so loved this book! It is a very cute story overall. I appreciate that the book is realistic in that the romance does not solve everything - Ellie for example, has a lot going on that she's tackling and you can see her work through that throughout the book. I could see this book as an epic queer holiday rom com movie. I didn't like the comic book sections, it was different but I felt it took me out of the story. They did add to the story, but it was a bit of a distraction.

A great rom com! The cover art is so cute and grabs your attention. The novel was well written and had a great plot line.

This. Book. Was. Fabulous! I couldn’t put it down, as soon as I started reading it. I’ve never flown through a book so quickly (except maybe The Charm Offensive). I loved all of the characters, especially Meemaw and Lovey. Highly highly recommend this (especially as a Christmas time read).

Alison Cochrun is an author that I’m pretty sure I would trust with my life (or at least my most sensitive topics) and be confident that she would handle it with care and dignity. Kiss Her Once For Me (KHOFM) is a very different book from Cochrun’s debut book, The Charm Offensive (TCO) — it’s a fun holiday romp with a love trapezoid and an ode to 90s romcoms. But like TCO, it hits on a few major points that make it an outspending 5-star read for me.

First and foremost, it’s a fun romance, a bit sexy and a bit funny, and packed with well-developed characters who have excellent chemistry. Each character feels well-rounded and unique, and the background characters have their own issues, making them feel like real people. I’m always impressed by the way Alison Cochrun can make me laugh with a witty description or a particularly sassy piece of dialogue. Several tropes (most prominently the fake dating trope) are flipped on their head and used in unexpected ways, which makes it a fun and less predictable book. This alone would be enough to make KHOFM a good romcom, but it’s the other factors that take it from good to excellent.

Like TCO, KHOFM has phenomenal mental health rep. The main character, Ellie, has anxiety and depression (though I’m not sure if the depression is explicitly stated). Cochrun depicts these with extreme care; they are present throughout the novel and affect Ellie’s behavior and thoughts, but by no means are the only facets of her personality.

KHOFM also has biromantic, demisexual representation. Again, Cochrun describes these identities in an authentic, realistic way. It’s great to see representation I can relate to in books; I think other ace-spec readers will also appreciate the demisexual representation.

My favorite thing about Cochrun’s books is that romance doesn’t solve all the problems in the main characters’ lives. Ellie has several significant issues she’s tackling in her life (an estranged relationship with her mother and a stagnant career, for example); throughout the book, Ellie grows and eventually tackles these problems for herself, in a way that works for her. It’s always refreshing in a romcom to see main characters who grow individually, who make major changes in their lives for themselves because it’s the right thing to do.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun romcom with a dash of found family, personal growth, and excellent queer rep. I will definitely be rereading later this year around the holidays!

Thanks to Atria Books & Netgalley for this eARC.

Wow. Wow! This book was everything I hoped for! This needs to be a movie, it would be the queer holiday rom-com that we have been waiting for! We've got a diverse cast. We've got queer rep from across the fucking spectrum. We have the ostensible male lead (aka Andrew the rich guy proposing the arrangement) describing his sexuality like a Rorschach text. We have non-binary rep. We have a supporting trans woman of colour. Y'all, the main character is demi! I don't think I've ever seen a demi lead character in a book, certainly not a romance! And my demisexual ass is here for it! On top of the sexualities, the examination of Ellie's anxiety was great. Conscientious, and felt true to life. There was a little less focus given to Jack's ADHD, but it wasn't her POV the book was coming from, so that made sense.

Most of the characters were to die for. You felt just so...cozy, and warm. You wanted to be there with them, drinking the grandma's sangria and making cookies, and singing songs.

Of course, the entire time, you're also screaming at Elle to be honest! Be honest Andrew from the start about who Jack is to her. Be honest to Jack about the arrangement. But, that is the conceit of the book, this is how everyone is acting, so the frustration all the lying causes does not make it lose any stars. <spoiler>That said, when the inevitable third act break-up comes, it was both earned, but also so physically frustrating — in relation to both Jack & Elle's night at the lone cabin and Andrew & Elle finally deciding to be honest with those they loved — that I physically had to put my phone down, walk around, and complain to a co-worker about it. Wow, that one hit me hard.</spoiler>

In terms of spice, the book is pretty light when it comes to on-page sexiness (there's really only one full on sex scene, though it is spread out over 2 chapters), but the low level simmer between Ellie and the girl she's fallen for seems to permeate so much of the text that it feels much sexier than that.

Finally, I love the growth the characters make in the end. And also that the book stresses that it's a process, that there are no immediate fixes, but that the future can be looked at with home. This is a wonderful story fool of hope and queer joy that is very much needed in the world right now! 5 enthusiastic stars!

Kiss Her Once for Me is a sapphic rom-com set around Christmas time. As Cochrun mentions in her opening remarks, the inspiration behind this book was to make this a queer retelling of the movie While You Were Sleeping. That being said, while reading, this definitely plays out like a movie. There are a lot of references to romantic comedies, a bit of insta love, some fake dating, predictable moments and family drama centered around the holidays. What's different is that the entire cast of characters had pretty complex identities and the LGBTQ+ representation and terminology was effortlessly integrated. I learned a lot and appreciate how Cochrun included a lot of her own voice into the book. Despite all of this, I did not love the concept of this story as much as The Charm Offensive. It is hard to buy into the romance, the writing had some repetition and there were chapters that detailed the main characters' webcomics that I wish I enjoyed more. 

Thank you Atria and NeGalley for a copy of this ARC. Pub date: 11/1/22

Alison Cochrun has done it once again. This book was full of beautiful internal dialogue that brought the main character alive and really had the reader understanding her flaws and her assets. The storyline was the perfect amount of “how on earth could that ever happen” and “of course their luck would get them into this position”. The miscommunication trope was here and proud, but not annoying. The only complaint I have is that the main characters’ physical appearances were not ever described enough. I couldn’t actually picture the characters because of it, at least not until the end of the book.

I loved this book. The complexity of the characters, the trauma they experienced, and their desire to keep moving forward hit home for me.

I would like to begin my review by saying I finished this book in a day and it was fantastic. I haven't finished a book in a day in quite some time.
Kiss Her Once For Me is about a girl named Ellie who has her life falling to pieces and finds an opportunity to fix her problems by fake marriage. The guy, Andrew, also greatly benefits from the fake marriage and invites Ellie to his family's Christmas cabin for the holidays and everything becomes a whirlwind of family drama, secrets, complicated love stories, and the usual holiday shenanigans.
I really enjoyed this book for the story, the romantic moments, and the welcoming quirky family that really played on the found family troupe. Each character was lovable and unique with deep personalities that make the reader momentarily forget that they are simply reading a book and not truly with this family. The character development was spot on and dropped off the characters exactly where they needed to be by the end of the book. The romantic moments truly tugged at my hopeless romantic heartstrings and became nearly swoon worthy as I wished I could find a love as natural and wonderful.
Unfortunately I do have some critiques in my review starting with the web comic chapters. The comic chapters were important to the story but they also interrupted it. There were times I wished I could just skip them to get to the main timeline of the story but you can't skip the chapters because they do play an important role to the plot. I also didn't like the introduction to the fake fiancé because he was too loveable; it seemed a shame to only break his heart in the end. He was such an influential character and I'm happy the direction the character took but it was also not set up well for the first few chapters. The character was TOO there and he suddenly became a background character. I get why this needed to happen but he felt too much a placeholder and his resolution wasn't much for the growth a few of the other characters went through since he was also a main character. The end was stretched too far and while I loved it, it also had me checking how much I had left in the book because I thought it was ending more than once.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and found it very hard to put down. I definitely recommend this book. If you are a hopelessly romantic Christmas lover such as myself but Hallmark never seems to write a love story that you can find yourself in I definitely say read this one. It has all the cozy dramatic Sapphic Christmas charm they will never have.

Ah fake dating and fake engagement - what could go wrong, am I right!?

Ellie meets a woman at Christmas, spends an amazing day/night together, and it blows up in her face. One year later, she is fake engaged to a man and agrees to meet his family. Only… her fiancés sister is her mysterious hookup. Chaos ensues!

This book was very sweet. It was super easy to read and it was shockingly believable. Lots of great representation here from the queer community. The love stories were very cute.

I’d recommend this one. Thanks NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review:

The characters in this book were amazing and written wonderfully. Alison Cochran has this really beautiful way of adding flaws and struggles to her characters. The main character’s anxiety was grounded and realistic. The premise is wonderful and the execution was great. This is a fantastic romance and a must for the TBR

Got an eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is for those who are scared to let people in but want to be loved. For those who are unknowingly self-sabotaged and, hopefully, try to get away from that toxic cycle. And lastly, for those who need convincing "that some things are too spectacular for fear."

- Yes. The quoted line is from Alison Cochrun's acknowledgements in the book 'Kiss Her Once For Me.'

Y'all! Shut up! I- this... IT'S FULL OF QUEERNESS, AND I LOVE IT!

The times I silently screamed and laughed while everyone was asleep were hard to count. I love the angst between the main and side couples. I also can't remember how many times I said in my mind, "JUST BE TOGETHER!" And then realizing I want more. And if they are with each other, the story will be short. This book made me happy cry and sad cry, and a mix of both.

I love the characters. I love the writing style. I love the plot. I love the representation of the ace spectrum/demisexual. I love the gender representation. I love the mentions of aromantic. I love the talks about attractions to people. I love the jokes about lesbian stereotypes. I love the lesbian transgender representation. I love the bisexual representation. I love the idiotic declaration of love that made me laugh so hard with tears falling from my eyes. I LOVE absolutely everything (of course, the exemptions are those sh*t characters and stuff).

CW: Parent Abandonment, Toxic Relationship, Anxiety, ADHD, Mentions of Racism, Bisexual Erasure, and Cheating (search it up for more specifics or correct CW as mine is what I thought is triggering while I read it)

“Kiss her once for me” is a fantastic holiday romance that had me hooked immediately!! The magic of meeting a stranger on a snow day and falling in love with them, time spent apart and meeting again. This story was truly so magical and brought in the elements of “fate” that I love.

I admired that Ellie is still trying to figure life out throughout the whole book. Her fear of failure was hit very close to home but I loved her character growth and her commitment to honesty and moving forward!

I loved the friendship that formed between Andrew and Ellie although I wish there was more overall dialogue and scenes with them growing closer.

I am a sucker for the found family trope and the Kim-Prescott family was a diverse bunch of hilarious characters. I found myself wanting to jump right into the family snowball fight.

Jack completely stole my heart! This pop music loving, stubborn, too loud, amazingly honest and caring woman.

Ellie and Jack are two broken people trying to put their lives together, they truly bring out the best in each other and I couldn’t be happier with their ending.

I did find a few spelling mistakes/ repeated words but other than that this book was 5 stars for me!

Calling it now: @alisoncochrun's KISS HER ONCE FOR ME is going to be the holiday book of the fall. It's about a woman named Ellie (helloooo) who fakes an engagement with her employer in return for a portion of the inheritance he'll get as a result of his marriage. But when she goes on vacation with him for Christmas, she discovers that his sister is the very same woman she had a magical one night stand with a year ago. It's a night she hasn't been able to get out of her head since - and now she's posing as her future sister-in-law!

Loved the mental health aspects of this book, as well as the Christmas time hijinks, the queer romance, and the bookstores! Thank you to @atriabooks for the early @netgalley ebook.

This publishes November 1, 2022!

@alisoncochrun is quickly becoming a fave for me!

Ellie Oliver is experiencing a major low point in her life. She has a “one night stand” that leaves her heartbroken, loses her job, and is desperate for money and feels very lost.
She makes a deal with Andrew, the coffee shop’s landlord that she is currently working at, to marry him so that he can receive his trust fund. In return, she’ll receive part of the money.
She hesitantly accepts, and finds herself spending Christmas with his family, only to realize his sister is her one night stand from the past.
This book is full of moments of laughter, characters that are easy to root for, and a great plot. It’s also set during Christmas time, which is my absolute favorite!

Another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

SUCH a cute hallmark movie romance, but with a sapphic twist! Super cute romance for anyone who can't get enough of cheesy Christmas romance novels and movies for the holiday season. The perfect book to release in November