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!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was okay, like it was just fine. I liked the premise and the best friends-to-lovers trope with a sapphic romance but the writing was slightly boring. I kept getting distracted easily with other things which isn't normal for me when I read.

I do plan to try out other books by this author in the future but this one was just okay.

This was so much more emotional than I had anticipated, but I’m not complaining. It really delved into how hard relationships would be if you were insanely famous and the world had expectations that you couldn’t live up to.

There was such history between these two with so many years of longing and when they were finally able to get on the same page their chemistry was electric and the spice was definitely spicing!

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This was an excellent slow burn sapphic romance. I loved reading about Wil and Katie falling for each other and how they helped each other move forward in their lives and with their goals. The book was wonderful!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book, Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel. This is not a book I would typically have picked up, but I'm glad that I got the chance to read it. It's an interesting story about 2 women that spent their senior year of high school doing everything together, but have since spent the past thirteen years living very different and completely separate lives. Wil Greene is a newly internet-famous creator that posts videos twice a week of herself kissing random people. Katie Price is an award winning actress about to embark on building her own production company.

Katie finds herself back home in Green Bay to write the script she needs to launch her new company, and she is hopeful that her time at home will lead to her reconnecting with Wil. Both women have baggage. Wil lost her dad during college, and has found herself floundering in the life she's currently living. Katie has an abusive ex that still likes manipulating her from a far, and has some big issues that stem from the trauma he put her through. Neither woman knows what to expect, but it's instantly apparent that there is something more there between the two of them.

Seeing the two women work through not only their own individual problems, but also, the new ones that come with whatever is blossoming between them is so raw and emotionally charged. I do wish that the middle of the book had been condensed or that there was a bit more development with the relationship, it kind of seemed like they were on a repetitive loop there for a bit, causing not only the story, but the relationship to lose steam. I enjoyed the ending and the book overall, but I'd only give it 3.5 stars just because I lost interest there in the middle and really had to fight to keep going.

I know this one has received quite a bit of praise, and I was looking forward to reading… but I struggled to get through! I couldn’t connect to the writing, the storyline or the characters. That is unusual for me! I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but I really struggled. This book isn’t bad, I just didn’t enjoy it. It felt pretty immature and you could really tell the author wasn’t very experienced (I’ve read many debut novels before with various degrees of talent, and this one is probably in the middle - Marvel’s not an untalented author, just needs more time … though is this a cowrite from experienced authors?). The emotional abuse that one character suffered in a previous relationship wasn’t really handled or explored very well.

I picked this title up because the premise sounded like it was unique and I generally do enjoy sapphic romance. As it took me two weeks to get through and I had to keep coming back to it (if it wasn’t an arc, I probably would have DNF by halfway because I was so uninterested, and uninvested). I did make it through, but never managed to find any interest in Katie, the actress, and her terrible past and conflict with her ex, Ben, who after a decade was still trying to control her life in Hollywood… or Wil (Willifred), and her super weird tiktok show about kissing strangers (totally creepy). The pair was besties in high school, their mom’s are besties, and yet Katie’s mom would never let Wil near her or speak to her after she left for Hollywood… also extremely weird. After they reconnect when Katie finally comes home for Christmas and they realize they were really always meant to be… yeah - It never got better.

I think the narrator, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw, was the only saving grace for me. She is an unfamiliar voice but definitely does save what was otherwise a difficult, slow-going, difficult story that I had high hopes for.

I received an advance read and listen copy from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin) and Macmillan Audio, and this is my honest feedback.

idea was 5⭐️ but the execution was sadly a 2⭐️ for me

i had such a hard time getting through this book and not because it was boring but just because the whole time O was reading I felt like I was missing something. Thirteen years go by and Katie and Wil seem to solve everything in 1 conversation. this just felt hard to believe. There were no high stakes or any moments where I doubted their happy ending. And I LOVE happy endings, but I love the journey to get there more, and this one didn't do it for me.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC