Elissa Sussman has done it again. I’ve never been famous, but somehow she always seems to portray fame in such a realistic light that I don’t doubt her for a second. This one is for the theater nerds, the showmancers, the friends-to-enemies-to-reluctant-coworkers and second-chance romance fans. Highly recommend!

The first book I read in 2024 and unfortunately it was a dud for me. I enjoyed "Funny You Should Ask" overall and was definitely interested by the premise of this one - especially the Broadway setting since I am a theater geek. I think the main thing I struggled with was how much of the plot centered around a big act of infidelity, which is something I just can't really look past, and made it difficult for me to root for either MC. I just found myself far enough in that I didn't want to DNF, but really looking forward to just being done with it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once More With Feeling is a second chance romance. I feel this story could’ve been better. This was a little disappointing for me. I think Funny You Should Ask was much better.

Loved the story and how the angst grew throughout. However the attitude of Kathleen really made it hard to root for her.

I loved this one so much more than the first book. It was amazing! I felt the chemistry between the two main characters. Also love the music aspect to the book. Highly recommend!

4.5 stars. Sussman has written another satisfying second chance romance, this time set in the world of a new Broadway musical. The story is engaging and I really wish the Rosie the Riveter-inspired show was real. I would love to see the author do something for her next book that doesn’t involve a “then and now” outline with alternating past and present chapters. It’s a formula that works, but it could start to feel too predictable after two books.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Cute story about second chances with love and how one moment can change the trajectory of your life. A fun, quick read for me!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the ARC!

Loved Funny You Should Ask and loved Once More with Feeling just as much. Elissa seamlessly transports you through 3 different timepoints and continues to build the story while slowly revealing all the truths. Elissa is easily becoming an author I will buy her new book without reading what it’s about because I just know I’ll love it!

i love this author! this was a good read, but i did find the chemistry to be lacking at times. i wish we saw more. however it was a cute book overall!

I didn’t enjoy the first book a lot and I thought this one was going to be better, it had potential but it didn’t give at all.

I forgot to write a review for this book, so here it goes.

As well as the author's previous book, this one was a second-chance romance and I very much enjoyed it.

Kathleen was not my fave, but the whole childhood (kind of) sweethearts aspect of it all, and the cuteness of the romance made up for it all (also the writing itself was very good). I was rooting for them and really relly wanted to slap her ex.

Would recommend anyone who likes second-chance romance to give this one a chance.

Despite generally enjoying the plot of Once More with Feeling, I struggled with the romance portion. Elissa Sussman wrote this book so that the past between Kathleen and main man, Cal, is a mystery that very slowly unfurls, or rather is dragged out. Instead of building chemistry, attraction, and heat, the novel focuses on musical theater, boy-band references, and Jewish summer camp nostalgia. Now, I do not take issue with any of these. However, when the two main characters finally get together, it feels more like a foregone conclusion than a natural climax to which the rest of the book builds. I do not require “spice” in a romance, but I do need to feel some desire, tension, and love. This book was lacking all of the above.

Okay.. let me first put out there that I absolutely LOOOVED this authors previous works. So I truly believed this would easily be a new favorite. That's not what I got unfortunately. I actually DNF'd it because it didn't work for me. I loved the idea of a book based on Brittney and Justin but I expected more 2000s vibes and drama that just wasn't there. I still definitely plan on picking up Sussman's next book!

This is a heartfelt romance novel that perfectly weaves the "enemies to lovers" and "second chance" tropes together as one. It tells the story of Kathleen and Cal as they navigate their relationship through time and I found myself rooting for them early on.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. Will be adding Elissa Sussman to the "must-read" author list. Two for two, she puts out lovely rom-coms! "Once More with Feeling" was a well written second chance, childhood sweethearts romance. Maybe since there has been so much hype for the Britney Spears memoir that is coming out this year, "Once More with Feeling" was giving me Britney / Justin vibes, but add in musical theatre and take out some of the crazy. While I enjoyed "Funny You Should Ask" more, "Once More with Feeling" was an easy digestible read that stuck to a handful of tropes.

Once more with feeling was so good! I loved Funny You Should Ask and was so excited about this one.

Some things I loved: friends/enemies to lovers, gaining confidence after a toxic relationship, and the celebrity vibes!!

The sexual tension in this book was amazing. You could tell the characters had feelings for each other the whole time and had SO many unresolved issues from the past. I liked how the story unfolded, and I anticipated what was coming so much that I couldn’t put the book down.

It was also interesting to see both Cal and Kathleen’s perspectives on how one night ruined their lives in different ways, realizing their misunderstandings and the possibility of reconnection.

Overall such a good read - especially if you loved Funny You Should Ask!

This was a good read but didn’t have me as hooked as Elissa’s first book Funny You Should Ask. Kathleen and Cal lacked chemistry and I found it hard to root for them. A quick read and still love this author but couldn’t help compare to how much I loved her first book!

As a washed up theatre girl, I wanted to absolutely love this book, but it fell a little short for me.

There were a lot of fun aspects to this novel -- the life of a pop star, the opportunity for a second chance, celebrity drama -- but I couldn't really get on board with the love story. My favorite parts were by far about the summer camp, which were very fun and nostalgic. That being said, "Memory" as the recurring song was a huge stretch for me.

🌟🌟🌟 -- All in all, I liked this book, but probably not one I'll read again in the future.

Kathleen Rosenberg was once a world-renowned pop star but has become notoriously infamous for cheating on her equally popular and beloved boyband member and boyfriend, Ryan, with the latter’s bandmate, Cal. Now, away from the limelight, she’s been approached by Cal to star in a Broadway show he’s directing and she reluctantly accepts. Long rehearsal hours follow with Kathleen struggling with her deep-seated feelings of resentment against Cal. Will they finally be able to forgive each other and get together without hurting anyone in the process?

At its center, Once More with Feeling is a story of how people can be so unkind to one who has made a huge mistake especially to a woman who has committed the same under the spotlight, and her journey towards redemption. Had it been committed by a man, I imagine people wouldn’t be so harsh in punishing him to the point of destroying his career (I was actually reminded of Kristen Stewart’s indiscretion during the height of the Twilight movies while I was reading this).

Such a great premise, but it’s unfortunate that I didn’t really connect with this book as I had with Sussman’s previous one, Funny You Should Ask. I felt that I only got glimpses of what happened in the past and the present, but was never able to get the whole picture. I simply wanted more particularly groveling on Cal’s part when he had everything easy after the fallout. It didn’t help that Kathleen was also sometimes hard to root for.

I did love everything Broadway-related in this book and the last two chapters were a delight.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell, NetGalley and the author for my copy. All opinions are honest and my own.

This book follows Cal and Kathleen two former popstars reuniting after a scandal that ruined Kathleen's career.
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I wasn't the biggest fan of all of the flashbacks and time jumps that we got but putting that aside I did enjoy the overall plot. I like both Kathleen and Cal as main characters.