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I think I’ve said it before: I’m not usually a second chance romance fan, but in the case of Once More With Feeling, it worked for me.

Kathleen and Cal both being a little older than your average romcom characters is probably why this worked so well, plus their backstory really gave them a lot more depth. We see glimpses of how they met in flashbacks and as the present day love story begins to bloom we see what led to that fateful day a decade earlier that ruined both their careers and their almost relationship.

Also, yes, cheating is so wrong and I do not condone it but in the case of Kathleen Rosenberg and Cal Kirby, I find them innocent because Ryan was a piece of 💩 and I did not root for him at any point because he was so clearly just using her and piggybacking off her career to get a leg up. The proposal scene was so fucking cringy as well, she should’ve said no in front of all those millions of people but I guess I understand why she didn’t 🤭

I loved the overall premise of two has-beens reuniting to relaunch their careers and the conversation around how women are usually the ones to take all the blame and hate and suffer consequences more than a man would if they make a mistake in the public eye.

Overall, I really enjoyed and do recommend.

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THIS BOOK. After reading Funny You Should Ask, which was an instant favorite, I was super excited about this book especially because it’s about theatre and music and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. This was a second chance, enemies to lovers, with SO much pining and tension and it was EXACTLY what I needed to read right now.

I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the way everything tied together in the end, the chemistry was great and the banter was absolutely excellent.

I read this one SO fast and already want to read it again. This book just made me incredibly happy and I’m in absolute awe of the kind of stories and chapters Elissa Sussman creates and I can’t wait to read more of her work.

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4 1/2 stars

This was such a fun second chance romance (or was it third chance?). Kathleen and Cal initially meet at a summer camp fo theatre when they are teenagers. Then flash forward ahead to when Kathleen is "Kate" and she's a pop star. Cal is part of a new boy band - - the same one that Kate's boyfriend belongs to. And then they meet up again in the present when they are working together on a musical. Through it all, they have a chemistry that hasn't faded. But they also have a great deal of distrust and past betrayal to overcome. It might be that there's just too much baggage to deal with.

I was a huge fan of this author's previous book, Funny You Should Ask, so I was thrilled to receive an early copy of this one. I'm quickly becoming a fan of the author and will eagerly await the next book that she decides to put out there.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

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I liked this one more than Funny You Should Ask. It was a cute fun read! I really like second chance romance and the celebrity romance makes the story a little different too!

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Even better than Funny You Should Ask. I could not put this book down, the chemistry between the two main characters was crazy intense and had you wanting to skip pages left and right to figure out what happened between them all those years ago. An incredibly good second chance romance that also looks at friendships and growth within oneself.

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I really enjoyed this new novel by Elissa Sussman about a woman making a comeback after a fall from grace on the biggest stage of her life. I thought that the characters were very relatable and I enjoyed the banter between Kathleen and Cal.

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ONCE MORE WITH FEELING by Elissa Sussman was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023 - so I was thrilled and so thankful to NetGalley and the publishers to receive an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sussman's first novel - FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK - was an absolute highlight of '22 reading for me. ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, Sussmans' follow-up, tells the story of Kathleen, a former pop star looking for a comeback, and Cal, ex-boy band member who has major history with Kathleen. ONCE MORE WITH FEELING follow these two as they work together on a musical set for Broadway, and we learn about their messy past. Overall, I really enjoed this novel, and continue to love Sussman's sharp, funny, heartfelt writing. This story fell a little flat for me in comparison to FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK: I didn't feel the connection between Kathleen and Cal as much as I wanted to, and some of the secondary storylines (Kathleen's friendship and conflict with Harriet, other minor characters) felt a little rushed. In all, I would recommend this novel, particularly to fans of second chance romance, and fans of Sussman in general!

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Synopsis: Kathleen Rosenberg, aka Katee Rose, used to be the biggest pop star in the world - until a scandal involving members of the boy band Crush Zone derailed her career. Now, all Kathleen wants to do is follow her passion and star in her friend Harriet’s new musical. That is until she finds out that the director is none other than Cal Kirby, one of the members of Crush Zone. Forced to work together, Kathleen and Cal must come to terms with what happened years ago and with the feelings that might still exist between them.

Thoughts: This was such a fun read! Told in three timelines (high school summer theater camp, early 00’s pop star world tour, and present day), the story is weaved together so well. The past timelines give real depth to the characters and their situations, and the present timeline will have you rooting for Kathleen and Cal. If you’re a fan of 90’s/00’s nostalgic reads you’ll love the past timeline, and if you’re a musical theater fan you’ll love the present timeline. I’m into both, so I thought the whole book was super entertaining!

Read this if you like:
🎤 boy bands/pop stars
🎤 90’s/00’s nostalgia
🎤 musical theater
🎤 second chance romance
🎤 multiple timelines

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I ADORED Elissa’s first book but unfortunately I was not a fan of this one.

I found the characters quote “flat” and confusing. Not sure even if the couple made it in the end?

Was it easy to read? Absolutely.

But, I struggled to connect with the characters and root for them. Tbh I didn’t want them together.

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This was my second chance for this author and unfortunately her writing style is just not for me. Nothing in this book hooked me and I just found myself incredibly bored immediately into the book. I can see how others would enjoy it but unfortunately it wasn’t for me! I have several friend I would recommend this book too so still give it a try!

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There seem to be a lot of theater books this summer and I am not mad about it.

This one, is not the very popular Much Ado About Nothing, though. This one is an original musical written to take both a disgraced pop star and her songwriter best friend back on the scene.

I really enjoyed this book. In so many books these days, our main characters can have flaws, but they can't be too bad. If it looks like they made a mistake or did something they shouldn't have, it has to eventually come out as a misunderstanding. They can't have actually made a bad mistake or judgement call. This is especially true in second chance romances (like this book). There had to have been a misunderstanding or misreading of a situation back in the day. There can't be a straight up mistake.

Not in the book. Katee made a mistake. Was she young? Yes. Were there a lot of other circumstances around her? Totally. Was in typical media fashion, she treated much worse than a male in her situation would have been? 100%. Did she still make a mistake and there's no half way through the book magically explaining away that it was different than what it seemed? Yep. And I appreciated that so much. The ability to tell a story about a flawed character who has grown up and changed without explaining away the mistake she made in the past. This was helped tremendously by the the "Then" and "Now" chapter and story structure.

Friendships, relationships, growing up, navigating life and set backs. This book had a lot of great topics and addressed them well and had a fun musical flair while doing so. (Also I was bracing myself for a cringe last act breakup, but it didn't happen the way I was bracing for, thank goodness. And one other part that I thought was going to be super cliche and wasn't at all, although that did leave to one plot thread that I felt was left hanging. But at the same time, that's how life is. Everything doesn't get all wrapped up at the same time.)

I'm so glad I read this book and will be thinking about it for a while (and heavily considering grabbing the B&N Exclusive Edition so I can have the list of Broadway songs to go with each chapter 😍).

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for an advanced reader's copy of this book. All of the opinions are my own.

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Sussman is a great second-chance romance author, and she delivered another great summer read. I love Kathleen & Cal’s live story and the sweet, enduring friendship between Kathleen and Harriett. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

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I really expected to not like this, but I was proven wrong. I wasn’t the biggest fan of her first book, but still liked it fine. This one being about the musical theatre world and actors and pop stars? Not usually my thing. I fully expected to hate it, but ultimately it was decently written, had a compelling story, flawed and real characters, and felt a little bit like smash (not glee). I think MT / Acting people will be icked occasionally, but it’s fun, a little sexy, and I loved it! It's a refreshing take on the romance genre and fans and non-fans alike will love it.

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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy. All opinions are my own. This book kept my attention and made me want to continue reading. I ending up starting and finishing in 1 day. I didn’t really love the FMC or MMC as much as I wanted to and felt like their relationship needed more depth. It was good, but not my favorite and not as good as the author’s previous book which I adored.

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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions are my own. This book kept my attention and made me want to keep reading. I ended up reading it in one day. I didn’t really love the FMC or MMC as much as I wanted to. I felt like their relationship wasn’t fully developed by the time they had the first kiss. I wanted more. It was good, but not my favorite and not as good as ES’s previous which I adored.

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Another great second chance celebrity romance from Sussman!

I love when authors use the then/now format when writing second chance because it really lends itself well to drama and build up. Not only did we get a "then", we also got a "then then" timeline–when our MCs first meet each other at theater camp, way before they both become famous. That really added depth to the story by showing us just how intertwined Cal and Kathleen were.

I found this book to be very entertaining and totally binge-worthy. Highly recommend it when of you're in the mood for a celebrity romance, or if you love musical theater!

Thank you, Random House Publishing, for the ARC.

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Oh boy, I positively adored this book. It’s the second of Elissa’s that I’ve read (after “Funny You Should Ask”) and I feel confident in saying this will be one of my most recommended in 2023. Witty, smart, sharp, romantic… I just loved it all. I’ll read every book Elissa writes forever now - the feels she evokes are unmatched! Bravo!

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* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

Once More with Feeling is a really quick read and would probably make for a good summer read. Unfortunately, I really didn’t connect with any of the characters and it seemed like the story just jumped around too much. Kathleen was just kinda of sucky to me. I didn’t care to root for her. We didn’t get enough details to really understand each character which was a bit disappointing. I enjoyed it enough, and it didn’t feel like it was really dragging, so it’s not below a 3 star read for me, but it just didn’t feel super special.

Probably wouldn’t recommend. I think there are much better short romance books out there.

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Thank you for the advanced reader copy!

The first part of this book was slow for me, but it picked up! I loved Funny You Should Ask and was dying for the 2nd book by Elissa to come out but this one just didn’t hit the same with me. If you are a theater fan, I think you may feel different!

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I loved the author's first book so i was excited to read this one as well. It used elements in the first book like the Then and Now scenes but made it even better if that was possible. I really loved this book and how well it does enemies to lovers. There is a valid reason to them being enemies in the beginning and the way the author progresses their story to being lovers flows very well. As someone who's not a theater fan and didn't understand any of the theater references, this book was still enjoyable and fun so don't let that be a reason you don't read this book! This author excels at writing time jump chapters and I'd pick up any other book this author writes!

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