I didn’t really read the blurb before starting this one. I just knew I’d like it since Alison Cochrun wrote it. So I was a little surprised when Here We Go Again was less a story about romance and more a story of grief, regret, and acceptance.

No big deal, just me crying while sitting on a cabana at a beach vacation. It’s not tears…it’s salt spray from the ocean.

Logan and Rosemary were best friends until they were 14 and had a major break-up, and were apart until four years ago when Rosemary moved back and started teaching with Logan in their home town. Their beloved teacher is terminally ill, and wants them both to drive him across the country. At first, I wasn’t sure Logan and Rosemary would be able to put aside their differences—they bickered SO MUCH, some of it downright mean. But they eventually declare a truce and it’s like a switch flips, their relationship immediately turns back to romantic and sexual.

I felt like the progression of their relationship moved quickly, but they did basically have four years of banter and foreplay. And I have to admit, I was more interested in Joe and his journey than the two leads. I knew—I KNEW— that he couldn’t have a happily ever after, but I adored reading about his happily for now, and him facing his regrets and saying his goodbyes.

Here We Go Again was a beautiful and heartbreaking story. I both laughed and cried and ugh, my heart is happy and sad all over again. Thank you to Atria Books for the review copy.

My, my, Alison Cochrun. How can I resist you and your devastatingly beautiful stories?

Read if you 🩷:
❤️‍🔥 Childhood Friends to Enemies to Lovers
🧲 Opposites Attract
✏️ Keeping up with your Favorite Teacher
🚙 Last Minute Bucket List Road Trips

Logan and Rosemary, former childhood friends turned bitter enemies, find themselves stuck in their small-town lives as teachers. Both women are grappling with their identities and past relationships, with Logan embracing her chaotic nature and Rosemary clinging to stability. When their dying mentor's final request leads them on a cross-country road trip in a fabulously gay van, they're forced to confront their shared history, navigate their complex feelings, and maybe, just maybe, find love and self-acceptance along the way.

This hilariously heartbreaking novel makes one wonder: should the reader be laughing or sobbing at Logan, Rosemary, and Joe’s adventure? The answer is most definitely both; that old man wouldn’t want it any other way.

Yes, there is a steamy moment in this enemies-to-lovers romance, but the plot kept me there for all 368 pages. Cochrun’s detailed and well thought-out writing style spoils every other romance novel. It is so realistic and raw in a way that one would think they’re watching a film. She’s not afraid to be poignant with her prose describing the American landscape while still sneaking in a pun-filled jab during an argument.

It can be difficult to convince someone to pick up a novel where they know the most ultimate ending will eventually occur, but Cochrun has discovered the secret formula. “Here We Go Again” doesn’t break your heart with a story of death; it fills your soul with a journey through grief, second chances, and soulmates.

Thank you so much to @atriabooks for the complimentary copy of “Here We Go Again” in exchange for an honest review. (Even though you know my preordered copy is currently waiting for me.)

Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Atria Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy of "Here We Go Again" by Alison Cochrun.

"Here We Go Again" delves into the complex relationship between Logan Malteis and Rosemary Hale, former childhood friends turned enemies after a fateful summer night before high school. Over a decade of animosity ensues, but when their old high school English teacher, Joseph Delgado, discloses that he is dying from his long term cancer, he implores them to embark on a cross-country road trip from Washington to Maine. The journey becomes a test: can this 3000-plus-mile trip mend their fractured friendship or deepen their hatred?

Alison Cochrun astutely captures the essence of love, both lost and found, in this compelling narrative. While ex-childhood friends turned enemies turned lovers may seem like a worn trope, Cochrun infuses it with fresh vitality. The dynamic between Logan and Rosemary is richly nuanced; their animosity belies a deep-seated affection, lending authenticity to their journey of reconciliation.

Beyond the central relationship, Cochrun adeptly explores themes of grief, betrayal, and queerness, adding layers of depth to the narrative. The characters grapple with their past traumas and present desires, creating a poignant and relatable exploration of human emotions.

In conclusion, "Here We Go Again" is a captivating tale that resonates long after the final page. Alison Cochrun's masterful storytelling and nuanced character development make this novel a compelling read. I wholeheartedly recommend it to readers seeking an exploration of friendship, love, and redemption.

This book was profoundly sad, but also sweet and hopeful. There were definitely some funny, lighthearted moments in this story, but I did not go into it prepared for the amount of ugly cry that would be involved. I flew through this one and was definitely invested in the story, but I have mixed feelings about it, and definitely waffled between a 3 and a 4 rating-wise.

While I enjoyed the story as a whole, it fell a bit flat for me as a romance. I was honestly a lot more interested in Joe and his journey than I was in Logan and Rosemary's relationship, which obviously isn't ideal when you're reading a love story. Third person POV isn't my favorite, especially with dual POV, and I think that had a lot to do with me not getting super invested in the romance aspect. There were a lot of elements to the story, and the style of story telling didn't lend itself to having the romance aspect being front and center.

That all said, I did enjoy this book, I just found Joe and his history, along with Logan and Rosemary's personal journeys more interesting than the romance.

I enjoyed The Charm Offensive and loved Kiss Her Once for Me, but Here We Go Again is Alison Cochrun's best book yet!

I loved so much about the story and cared deeply for both Logan and Rosemary. Joe reminded me of two high school teachers who are very special to me (my English teacher with whom I am connected on Facebook and my drama teacher, who sadly died from cancer before the pandemic hit), so this story felt even more personal.

The road trip sounded like a lot of fun, especially with the music choices and all the detours and sightseeing. It felt like an armchair adventure for me and I didn't mind not being outside in all the heat they were experiencing. However, there was even more heat in the bedroom scenes. Do not read this in a place where someone will see you blushing is all I'll say...

There is just so much love in this novel. I found myself laughing and getting teary-eyed many, many times.

My only concern is that I felt the parts where they were talking about diapers really took away Joe's dignity. I was aware that it went along with his terminal illness, but I wasn't comfortable with Logan and Rosemary talking about it so flippantly. I read an advanced copy, so I hope this was toned down for the final publication.

Overall, this is a must-read for anyone who loves a sweet and sexy sapphic romance!

(Trigger warnings below.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Logan: Brigette Lundy-Paine
Rosemary: Maddie Hasson
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TW: Death from terminal illness, mentions of addiction/alcoholism

I finished this book just this morning and omg 😭🧡🫶🚎 easiest 5 stars!!! Happy pub day!

GENRE: Romance/ Rom-Com
MY RATING: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)
#gifted @atriabooks — tysm!

READ IF YOU LIKE:
▫️Road trips 🚎
▫️Tropes: Friends—> enemies—> lovers, Takes care of her when she’s sick, opposites attract
▫️ADHD rep
▫️Laugh-out-loud funny 😂
▫️Drag shows 🏳️‍🌈
▫️Found family
▫️Cute pups 🐶
▫️Education/ teaching ✏️
▫️Dual POV

MY THOUGHTS:
Halfway through this book, I knew this was going to be a five-star read. I was lol’ing while swooning over Logan & Rosemary’s complicated, yet lovable relationship. And surprisingly, I was an emotional mess by the end!!! 😭💕 There is something so special to me when an author can find the PERFECT balance between love & pain. @alisoncochrun does just that! 🫶 This story was full of adventure, belonging, past memories, laughs, & heartache. It is a must read for this summer! ☀️

RATING EXPLAINED:
I’ve always been a big Alison Cochrun fan! I enjoyed her first two books, but WOW this book is by far her best work. 😭 From the start, I was in love with the premise of this story— two exes set on a road trip across the country to fulfill a dying man’s last wish. So sentimental!! I wasn’t sure about Logan’s character at first… but her personal growth was so. well. done. ❤️‍🩹 She took care of herself first in order to fully love someone else & idk what gets better than that 🥹

DETAILS:
▫️Published: 4/2/24 (today!)
▫️Pages: 368
▫️Format: E-book

This book was perfect and I’m not okay after reading it. It’s about second chances and found family and rediscovering passions. It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s steamy… like I said it’s perfect. This made me want to hug my loved ones so tight!

4.5 rounded up. I love Alison Cochrun’s writing!!! This was so tender and sweet and funny. If you liked You With a View but wanted it to be gay, then this one’s for you. I related to both Logan and Rosemary and loved Joe and Odie. A beautiful cast of characters and found family and I may have shed a lil tear at the end even though I knew what was coming.

Once again, Alison Cochrun wrote an excellent book. I absolutely loved this enemies to lovers romance.

This is a fun I’m very heartwarming road trip romance that has second chance romance with ex childhood friends. Logan and Rosemary are both teachers at their alma mater, and both seem to be stuck in their lives. They have avoided each other since they had a falling out before starting their senior year of high school. When they’re mentor and favorite high school teacher is found to be sick. They go with him on a road trip that changes all their lives, I really liked how while they were traveling, they started to realize their misconceptions of each other and of themselves. The road trip itself was a wonderful backdrop for this beautiful story.

This is my second Alison Cochrun novel and once again it didn't disappoint. I'm usually not one for 3rd person writing but I didn't find it hard to get into this novel. I can't remember the last time I fully sobbed while reading but even from the synopsis you know how the story ends but I think even knowing the end you still fall in love with all the characters and their own quirks.

I loved that it was friends to lovers(ish) to enemies to lovers. Seeing how they went from best friends to not speaking to each other even while working together set a good foundation of tension for their roadtrip.

This is an emotionally charged road trip across the country to fulfill a dying wish, and a chance for love.

Here We Go Again is friends to enemies to lovers for two former best friends. These ladies have had one-constant cheerleader in their corner, their high school teacher, and NOW he's dying. His one wish, take him home to Maine. The girls embark on a cross-country journey, stopping along the way in unsuspecting spots for reconnection, found memories and new friends.

The star of novel is man called Joe. He' given his life to his students and the small town he's lived for years. Now faced with death, he decides home is a cottage he has in Maine, and that's where he'll leave this earth. He's a genuine human-being, seeing the world in its true state. I'd welcome a prequel of his story, especially his time in NY and Maine with his true love.

Thank you, Atria Books

Thank you to NetGalley, author Alison Cochrun, and Atria Books for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book emotionally WRECKED me!!! I have been so anxiously looking forward to this read, as I still think about Kiss Her Once for Me on the regular ever since first reading it. This was exactly up my alley being a queer road trip novel, filled with plenty of heart and life, even when dealing with the difficult topic of death. This book is very clear from the beginning that death would be a prominently plot point, so content warnings up front if this is sensitive for you. It doesn't shy away from it at any point and often is handled in a humorous way, yet I still found myself crying so much over it that I had to STOP READING IT at work and finish it in my car, so I could cry in peace. It is rare for a book to affect me to that extent, so you know there is something special here. I adored each and every character in this novel (especially Joe), and for as sad as it is, there is so much happiness too. Getting to see Logan and Rosemary's relationship rekindle and develop was a treat, and I loved their mutual and individual relationships with Joe as well. There are plenty of road trip antics that are described in such clear detail that it feels like I was there too, and it made me want to get on the road immediately. One major downfall for me though, that I would be remiss to not critique due to how much it bothered me, was the use of gay celebrity names as an exclamation. It is used SO often throughout the book by both Logan and Rosemary that it is extremely distracting and cringey. Once you get past that though, this is a lovely, lovely story that is SO much more than a romance and is instead a love letter to queer love of ALL types and ages that is going to stick with me for a long time.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

The perfect queer summer road-trip romcom! The dynamics in this book were wonderful, and exactly what readers have come to expect from Alison Cochrun. This book was sad yet hopeful, devastating yet funny, and explores the dynamics of friendship and grief so intricately. This book will resonate with SO many people, it's going to be a heart book for people out there and I hope all of those people find it and love it.

The blurb accurately sets up the story. Logan and Rosemary were fast friends till they were 14. Now they are both high school teachers in their hometown yet haven't spoken to each other in a decade. When their beloved mentor and former English teacher Joe asks them to drive him cross country they can’t refuse him his dying wish.

This sets up a close proximity, friends to enemies to romance adventure. Rosemary and Logan both have their issues. Rosemary is brilliant but has the need to control everything around her to keep her anxiety and ADHD in check. Logan is the opposite. She also suffers from ADHD but she is impulsive and unable to commit. Her mother leaving her when she was 11 has made her not want to get attached to others as a way to protect herself. The road trip is a chance for both women to learn more from their mentor and to let down their guards and find the feelings they once shared. Because the book is not only about the romance but is also about learning about their teacher and preparing for his death this falls more into a general fiction with romance category.

I loved this book more than I expected. The characters are memorable as are their adventures. It has a good mix of heart and humor even as they face a hard situation. I would have liked to see more intimacy on the page for Logan and Rosemary. Their romance is almost overshadowed by the relationship they each have with Joe. But this is an easy book to recommend. It made me think of teachers and others who have had great influence on my life and if I would take part in this kind of adventure for them.

Alison Cochrun is one of my must read authors and she really knocked it out of the park once again with her sapphic road trip romance about death. That's right, death is a huge part of this novel that made me laugh and cry at equal measure. Rosemary and Logan were childhood best friends when something happened in their teens to cause them to no longer be friends. The only thing they have in common is their beloved english teacher. Although now grown ups and working together, the two of them don't speak until brought together once again when their teacher tells them he's dying and his last wish is to drive from the pacific northwest to his cabin in Maine.

What follows is a funny and tender love story that shows how much joy can come from living life until the last moment you absolutely cannot. Rosemary and Logan are opposites while also having a lot in common and it is so much fun to go along with them as they make many detours on the road to enlightenment. I really loved this look at so many places in the country that are beautiful and hidden and how queer people everywhere still exist outside the major cities and communities we hear about.

I'm still on this journey with Cochrun and can't wait to see what she does next.

Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow 4.75/5 stars I loved this book. I love Alison Cochrun and this book just cements that for me. This is a sapphic romcom and queer found family and death road trip all in one. It made me laugh and literally sob and just made me feel all emotions in the best way. I felt so seen by Logan and rosemary both and loved Joe and Remy so much. I would recommend this book to almost anyone, but especially fans of Casey Mcquiston, Ashley Herring Blake, and Nina LaCour. The only reason I’m not giving this 5 stars is because the bit about using celebrities names as swear expressions was way overused. Otherwise, I loved this. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc!

Here We Go Again is a beautiful novel written by Alison Cochrun. So beautiful, in fact, that I couldn't finish it because it hit too close to home with my own husband's cancer diagnosis. While I felt that Alison weaved in a beautiful tale for all her characters, Here We Go Again was a bit too emotional for me and I needed to protect my mental space.

What I Liked:

I know that when I pick up an Alison Cochrun book that I am going to fall in love with the characters she has created. Logan, Rosemary, Joe, Remy, and Odie easily burrowed their way into my heart. The characters are flawed, layered, lovely and infuriating all at the same time, which makes them so very real.

I knew from the synopsis that this book was going to make me sob, and boy was I right. The discussion on grief, on mourning someone who is still in front of you, of the toll of caretaking on the caretakers, and on regrets was so poignant. A box of tissues was absolutely needed while reading.

While a lot of this book is heavier, there were so many fun moments that had me laughing, light moments that made me smile, and tension filled moments with Rosemary & Logan.

What didn’t work for me:

Absolutely nothing.

At this point, Alison Cochrun can do no wrong for me. This is the 3rd book I’ve read by Alison & all of them have been between 4&5 star ratings. This book was the most emotional of the bunch for me and I could feel the sadness and the humor that bled through the pages right into my soul.

I was extremely heartbroken for Logan, Rosemary, Joe & Odie as they navigated what death was going to look like for Joe, all while honoring his life and taking him on this road trip, which was both idiotic and necessary. Logan & Rosemary were the perfect balance of responsibility and fun that he needed. I loved the element of second chances for both the girls & Joe as they went along their journey and I wanted to squeeze them all so hard whenever times got tough on the road.

This book is both uplifting and extremely sad so please be aware of the content warnings & treat yourself with kindness if you are a caregiver of someone with a life-ending illness.