Marvel's "Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous" is one of the better WLW romances I've read recently, featuring the popular queer trope of second chances/lost love.

Wilifred Greene and Katie Price were once inseparable best friends, but their lives that began in Wisconsin forked significantly post-graduation: Katie became a famous Hollywood actress while Wil gained her own fame as a TikToker with a quirky kissing project. When Katie returns to Green Bay after thirteen years, she and Katie find themselves reconciling with the unresolved feelings and challenges that kept them apart the first time around.

Katie and Wil's romance unfolds with a mix of tenderness and passion that's enriched by their shared history and the support of their families. I particularly appreciated the portrayal of their mothers, who were aware of their feelings as teens and allowed their relationship to develop naturally over time (even if Katie's mom seemed a bit too invested). The inclusion of elements like the cat buttons added charm and humor to the narrative, grounding the story in a sweet midwestern setting.

One of the strengths of the novel lies in its handling of communication and consent within relationships, especially given the characters' personal traumas and complexities. The author navigates these themes sensitively, ensuring that even intimate scenes are respectful and consensual, which I found refreshing and important. However, Marvel struggled a bit with pacing and length: the plot felt overly drawn out at times, with some pieces of characterization (such as Wil's TikTok project) provided interesting backdrops while also feeling unclear in their purpose.

Despite these pacing challenges, the novel shines in its portrayal of second chances and the power of reconnecting with a lost love.

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

4.5 stars
Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous feels like a future classic queer novel! The story follows two ex-best friends as they reunite and come to terms with new and old revelations. The romance feels so true to life. It's the classic gay love story of realizing your friendship with someone was more than that a minute too late. Except these characters get their second chance, and make the most of it. Additionally, this novel balances a really endearing and tension-filled romance with bittersweet, grounded themes quite well. While this novel can be sad at times, the characters and themes are always growing in a very authentic and moving way. Overall, I'm so glad I picked this up. I've read a lot of rom-coms lately, and I think I needed something with a little more depth like this. I highly recommend this novel, especially to LGBTQ+ readers who will find inevitably find something in it to relate to. (And on a more lighthearted note, I loved the gay cat mom rep, lol)

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I love a good sapphic romance and this one was a perfect read for Pride Month!

I would have loved to be able to provide a full review of this book, however, I am boycotting Saint Martin’s Press, along with over 75,000 other readers until they are held accountable for their racist actions. I was approved for this book prior to the boycott which is why I did not DNF the book. I made a commitment to read it.

I read the book and have a review ready for when/if the publisher decides to finally take action after over 260 days of this boycott. This is not fair to authors who deserve to have their work promoted and loved.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio for this ALC and St. Martin's Press (SMPRomance) for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Summary:

Katie Price is America’s Sweetheart. Will Green is YouTube’s It Girl. They were best friends in high school until Katie’s fame took her out of Green Bay, WI and into the limelight. When they reconnect 13 years later, Katie is on the precipice of redefining herself, and Will Green is ready to make changes of her own.

When Katie comes back to town for the holidays, they reconnect, but realize their friendship could have always been something more.

My main thoughts: This was a lot hornier and heavier than I was anticipating. Please check the trigger warnings, especially for grief and emotional abuse.

I was expecting a light Sapphic rom-com about kissing.

Instead, I got a deep, emotional story about people healing from trauma and finding each other along the way.

The audiobook narration from Mia Hutchinson-Shaw was fantastic - but was 13.5 hours. I sped it up to 2x speed to get the plot moving.
The writing in this book is also wonderful. The duo that forms Mae Marvel did each character’s emotional journey justice, but it got to be A LOT OF FEELINGS and much less kissing than you’d expect. However, the kissing scenes were pretty top-notch. I sincerely didn’t get the vibe that this was two separate people writing, which means they did a great job of working together/editing to get the feels right.

I’d definitely read more from Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for great narration.

Such a fun read, a little bit of pacing issues at first but I found this book to be a very sex positive, and a fun take on the celebrity comes back to their hometown trope. Even though the middle of the book did drag on a bit for me, the ending was extremely enjoyable and made up for it!

A slow burn...

A long slow burn, with kissing and more.
What I liked was that both Katie and Wils could communicate.
Very few books include their lead characters having the ability to communicate in a healthy, constructive, meaningful way. Yay.
Recommend.

3.5 rounded to 4

I loved the premises of this and wanted to love it. I found myself getting lost and wanting to do other things while reading it. The pacing was off at times, and I felt like I couldn't really care what happened to the characters. It has some good scenes that make the book worth reading; however, I probably won't pick this one up again.

Arc received from the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Included as a top pick in weekly June New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous is Mae Marvel's best work yet. What a fun, upbeat, and raucous romance—I could've kept reading about these characters forever. Thank you for the opportunity to read an advanced copy!

2.5

I think this was a solid second chance romance featuring a celebrity who has taught her cats to speak via button and her childhood best friend/first love who is now TikTok famous. It's sweet and inclusive and there were some really hot scenes and other people seem to be really loving it but overall it didn't really work for me.

While I appreciated the lack of a third act breakup and I generally love a cozy good time, there never really seemed to be a driving plot for this book which made it feel longer than it should. I also struggled with some of the dialogue because honestly who talks like that in real life? I probably should have put the book down the first time the cats spoke via button (which to my surprise I ended up thinking was sort of cute) but I didn't and while I don't regret finishing this book, I also know it won't stick with me at all.

Other people seem to be getting along with this much more than I did so if it seems interesting give it a shot!

This truly adorable queer romance novel began with a premise I just couldn't get my head around - Wil and Katie were best friends growing up, due to their moms being best friends, but after high school, the two didn't speak for thirteen years, due to Katie getting famous, despite the fact that their moms continued to be best friends. And Wil's mom saw Katie regularly since she was best friends with her mom. The idea that these two women would NEVER see each other or speak in thirteen years - despite the lack of any real fight or falling out - made no sense to me. And then their first meeting after all that time was like no time had passed at all, which also lacked believability.

However, I loved almost all of this book! It was so sweet and the chemistry was fantastic, and it has my two favorite tropes - friends to lovers and famous person regular person. I wish the premise wouldn't have been so difficult for me to get past, because besides that, I truly loved this book. I enjoyed every moment I spent with it and with Wil and Katie. I also love that the authors are a married couple. Just so cute.

I tried multiple times to get past the first few chapters of this book, but I could not. It was not well-written, and the character's connection was sloppy. How could you be childhood best friends who fell in love with one another at a distance, but it's been a decade since you've even texted because one of the characters was "secluded in Hollywood" due to a controlling boyfriend while she was traveling the world, visiting the hometown that FMC1 still lives in - while their moms are best friends and talk all of the time. None of it makes sense.

DNF 6%. I hated the main character Katie. The way she was written pissed me off and I can't do the creepy pet buttons that make them talk. They weird me out. Also, who cares that your not so secret project got leaked. IDK I need to fill in words here, but Katie needed a therapist bad and I just don't have it in me to listen to a grown woman go through the "woe is me" vibe ever.

nothing really happens in this book, and i still don't understand why they didn't speak to each other for 13 years??

So much going on in this sapphic delight! You’ve got friends to lovers, slow burn and second chance all in one. Two main characters who are unsatisfied with different aspects of their lives, getting inspired to take charge and make changes, multiple settings- Green Bay, WI and Los Angeles ( and a bronco wink) and it’s taking place around the holidays. Captures you from the beginning, and stays great all through.

This was just fine. I wanted to love the story but had a hard time keeping up. A lot of the writing felt over embellished or over explained, where I found myself wondering what the heck I just read. The characters were funny but sort of bland. I just never bought into the full thing.

DNF @ 15%

This was just too slow to start for me, and there was too much happening during set up.

I really enjoyed this book. Both Wil and Katie grew so much as they reconnected and realized how they felt at 18 and now. They both had very unique situations but it really worked for me. wil’s TikTok experiment was pretty intriguing. I appreciated how the author handled Katie’s toxic ex. I also loved the friendship their mothers shared.

Pride month read #3 and Mae Marvel killed it. I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The miscommunication trope was thrown out the window, This allowed for the characters dialogue to shine. What a refreshing read. Smiles all day.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

A sapphic celebrity romance is always an immediate yes from me. :)

Thanks to the publishers for the advanced audiobook and e-arc. I enjoyed both formats!