I appreciate the representation, and I suspect questioning yourself is part of anyone's life discovery. I wish the book had spent less time with sort of will they or won't they AND the self questioning? It may be a better book for those who love slow burn, which is not my favorite. I did feel like the tension was well written and there were a few quite hot spicy scenes.

I don’t know why but I can’t make it past 5% on this one. I will probably try again later but at this time I’m struggling with the whole social media aspect. I do love LGBTQIA+ romances so I hope it resonates with others.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but it unfortunately fell flat for me. I didn’t realize how much I disliked the use of TikTok and other social medias within books and thought this would be okay, but I think it was too much for me. Despite this, I did adore the characters and cannot wait to read more by this author.

YES! I was waiting for this book and it delivered. I loved everything about this book. I felt so connected to the characters and their journeys. I highly recommend this book to anyone who’s questions they’re sexuality

I cried AND got goosebumps finishing this book. Angela and Krystal are both sorting out their very real shit from past relationships/lack thereof and figuring out their identities in real time. A very realistic, compelling, and beautiful romance. Highly highly recommend !!!!!!!

Also 10/10 recommend reading at a lesbian bar. Really ups the experience.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for providing this complimentary eArc in exchange for an honest review.

The second book in the Librarians in Love series, following an ace lesbian librarian and bisexual bartender. When Angela (librarian) accidentally posts a thirst trap, she ends up sharing more about her identity on social media. From here, she admits that she hasn't been kissed and thus leads to the central plot point: a scavenger hunt where Angela obtains her first kiss from the winner.

There was so much of this that I really enjoyed. The exploration and discussion of identity was one of them. This book actually made me ponder a few things as I was reading - especially the first half. The back half of the novel, I felt was stronger and the plot really moved. There were family dynamics at play, friendships, character growth with several characters (not only our two main characters). I loved the queerness of this novel. It was such a central theme - not only regarding identity and exploration, but being comfortable with who you are and owning your sexual identity. This was queer and a lovely sapphic romance. I loved the soft moments, and intimate moments that Krystal and Angela had throughout the entire story.

Now, I really struggled reading the first half. While I loved the exploration/explanation of identity, it took me days to even get to the half way point. There are a lot of things that could impact this outside of the book itself. So while I want to acknowledge this, I also recognize that this could been a product of my surroundings at the time.

Overall, this was a great queer romance that I think folks should consider picking up. And I'm looking forward to trying more of the authors work in the future.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy!

A diverse book with lovely queer representation, that is especially well researched on the asexuality community 🫶🏼. I found that representation especially lovely, but the rest of the book did unfortunately fall a little flat to me.

🏵️ Sapphic Romance
🌸 Ace-Spec Rep
🏵️ Latina Main Characters
🌸 Mutual Pining
🏵️ Family Drama

Angela, our MC, is a Mexican-American ace-spec lesbian who only recently discovered her queer identity and came out at the age of 27. She's a bit of a late bloomer, and has never been kissed. She is trying to change that in this book and turns to TikTok to help find the right person to take her “K-card” (yes Kiss card, and yes a very cringey term 🫣). In trying to set up a scavenger hunt on TikTok for people to be her first kiss, Angela enlists the help of her longtime bartender crush, Krystal, a Mexican-American bisexual woman.

I really thought this was going to be a smash hit (an ace-spec lesbian, and a bisexual woman in a sapphic romance... sign me tf up! 🙌🏼)

In the end this just wasn't for me 🥲. I really struggled to get through it, and found the TikTok scavenger hunt aspect to be really cringey, juvenile, and somewhat unnecessary. That whole situation really turned me off, and I struggled to even want to pick the book up because of it.

On a much more positive note, I will say the ace rep in this was lovely! The book really nailed the broad range of identities covered under the ace umbrella. I also liked the idea of giving people grace and the ability to be fluid with their identities while they are figuring things out (and that there's no time limit for doing just that!)

I also really liked when Angela, our MC, and Krystal were alone together. They communicated well in those moments and that was when the romance aspect of this story shined. I just wished we had more time with just them, and not so many other distractions.

Overall, not a bad book by any means! I again appreciated the ace rep in this (that type of representation is always lovely to see 🫶🏼). But the story did feel a bit monotonous, and very clear from the beginning I could see how this was all going to go.

I still would read from Gabriella Gamez in the future though! 💜 I remember really liking her debut The Next Best Fling, and I can see where the next book in the series might go and I'm really interested in those two characters stories. This particular book was just not for me at this time.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever Pub for the ARC in exchange for my honest review 🩷

Thank you, Forever, for the ARC!
I loved the representation in Kiss Me, Maybe, and the care that Gabriella Gamez wrote Angela with. This is why books with representation matter! Angela is having these life experiences to find out who she really is while having the added pressure of being a "late bloomer", so many others are getting a book where they can see themselves in a main character who has a HEA.

Thank you to @gabbywritesalot for the advance copy in exchange for a review.


My thoughts: I read Gabriella’s first book, and I was wondering if something was going to happen between Angela and Krystal. This is a fun and sweet book about Angela exploring her identity. It’s a bit of a slow burn between them, but it keeps you wondering who she’s going to end up with. I was happy that her traditional parents were accepting of her, and that she finally discovered what she really wanted and went for it. I was a little surprised that she set out to get her first kiss through social media when all she really wanted was Krystal.
I would recommend to anyone who enjoys scavenger hunts, social media, and ace reps.

An ace romance book about a girl who decides she’s ready for romance, so she decides to date the internet after going viral. The goal was to meet someone, not fall in love with a close friend along the way.
We need more ace books. That’s just my mantra for life at this point cause there just aren’t enough out there. This is an amazing book, even more amazing because it has ace rep written so well. This is going to help out so many people and I’m so excited for people to read and love it once it comes out.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an eARC of this book.

Late bloomer, Angela, has never been kissed and thanks to some viral tik toks the whole internet seems to know. After discovering her ace-lesbian identity, she is finally ready to have her first kiss. Except she is going to make the lucky lady work for it. With the help of her bartender crush, she devises a plan for a scavenger hunt around the city, with the final clue leading to her.

This book ticks off all the checkboxes to be one of my favorite books, but the pacing is slow. I found myself taking breaks from reading because I was hoping more would happen.

I truly believe this book will be appreciated by those in the queer community, slow burn lovers, and fellow late bloomers.

I loved this one! I’ll admit I was scared, because I could have sworn I saw people say she ends up with a person I was not at all rooting for her with. I adored Krystal. I really connected with her and I loved her arc. I really enjoyed reading Angela’s story and the way she learned and grew. Oh and the steamy scenes are 🔥🥵

Things I Loved:
-Slow Burn Romance
-Asexual Representation
-Latin Representation

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read Kiss Me, Maybe. As someone who knew little to nothing about the asexuality , I really enjoyed learning more about the ace spectrum and really found myself connecting to Angela's character and journey. While I understand I did not learn everything I need to know about asexuality in this book, I am so grateful for the knowledge that it shared so that I can do more research and have a better understanding. I really found myself connecting to Angela's struggle with finding her identity and loved watching her process all of the feelings.

I would have loved more exploration of the family dynamics within Angela's family especially with her cousin Julian. It felt like some of the stories that were brought up were unresolved. I was especially curious about how him and Leti ended up connecting again. I understand it was Angela's story though.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading more from Gabriella.

Kiss Me, Maybe, wow, what a beautiful story! I enjoy sapphic romance. In the second installment of the Lirbaires in Love series, this book is about Angela, who has never been kissed before but wants to find love, and her good friend Krystal, who tries to find her perfect girlfriend by planning a scavenger hunt. By planning this scavenger hunt, they realized they have feelings for each other, but were too scared to admit it. I giggle, cry, and smile when I watch Angela and Krystal get to know each other. Thank you, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley.

—librarian in loooove

—never been kissed

—asexual rep

Heat Index: 6.5/10

The Basics:

Fresh off accepting her identity as an asexual lesbian, librarian Angela goes viral for an accidental thirst trap. She decides to make the best of her newfound TikTok fame by using it to launch a scavenger hunt... and the winner will be her first kiss ever. Trouble is, the game brings her ever-closer to Krystal, the bartender Angela's longed for from afar. And Krystal has sworn to never love...

The Review:

I don't know that I've ever read a romance novel aimed at adults that tackles asexuality. For some reason (I suspect it has to do with the idea of asexuality as something that equals "no sex ever"), I've seen a few YA novels that confront it, but none about adults... while in contrast, there are plenty of late-in-life-coming-out books about adults on the other ends of the queer spectrum.

The thing is that because of the misconceptions surrounding asexuality (some of which I'm sure I've had at points in time, and by no means am I an expert on it now) I feel like I have to say... this book is open door, and it is romantic, and Angela's sexuality by no means stops her from loving and desiring Krystal. Like, I won't pretend that Angela coming to terms with herself isn't a big part of the book, because it is. She's still figuring out her identity, figuring out how her attraction to Krystal relates to her identity, and all the things you can imagine would come with it.

But ultimately, this is a really fluffy, gentle, and yes, sexy romance about a nerd and the woman she's been obsessed with from afar... finally happening. It's someone who's comfortable with her romantic desires while still grappling with her sexual desires, falling for someone who's really in the opposite boat. It's light, it's geeky, it's librarian-positive!

In terms of my personal taste, I found the book a little more intellectually engaging than emotionally engaging. Like, I was really into Angela's journey of self-discovery, but this wasn't quite as... Dramatic? Conflict-driven? As Next Best Fling. It's more of a character journey (not that NBF wasn't, but this is even more so) and because it's so centered on Angela, I'm not sure I got to know Krystal as well as I would've wanted.

On a somewhat more technical level, I found that this one was more driven by social media, which feels relevant to Angela's career... But nonetheless made the story feel a little more distant to me. That said, how you respond to the scavenger hunt is truly going to be depend on your relationship with social media, I think—it's not something I love to see a lot of in romance novels, but I'm sure tons of readers feel differently.

The Sex:

This book spends a lot of time on sex—it's a slow burn and its sex scenes aren't especially numerous or long (you get a few of respectable length, as it were) but there's a lot of intellectual weight given to it before Angela and Krystal get down and dirty. When they do, it's very much satisfactory—and you get some "anywhere but on the lips (the lips on my face)" action!

Conclusion:

I think this book is a big swing romance that at times got a bit bogged down by explaining its main character. More time could've been spent on our second heroine, for sure. But that being said, Gamez's writing style remains as charming and real as ever, and I'm glad I read this! I look forward to her next novel.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This one wasn’t my favorite. A lot of the novel came off a little too informative. Like the explaining overpowered the story.

I loved Gabby's debut, so I jumped at the chance to read her sophomore novel early. And I'm so glad I did as it's become my favorite of her books so far.

Gabby has a way of bringing attention to real-life issues through fictional characters and storylines and Kiss Me, Maybe is a perfect story of how sometimes people just need to be supported and love in order to be themselves.

Angela, who has recently come out as ace, unintentionally posts a thirst trap on social media. She becomes instafamous and decides to use her newfound status in order to have some firsts--first kiss, first relationship. She sets out to make a scavenger hunt in which the winner will become her first kiss, but learns she's going to need some help. Angela enlists Krystal, gorgeous bartender and Angela's crush for the past five years.

I loved watching Angela discover more about herself through the process of setting up the scavenger hunt and I loved how Angela and Krystal grew closer and closer as the story progressed. This is definitely a slow-burn romance and I found myself squealing at a certain scene (IYKYK). The banter is top notch, too. I also loved Angela's interactions with Theo (her cousin). I think he really helped her open up to being herself.

Thank you Forever for an e-ARC!

First, I'd like to thank Netgalley and Hachette Books for giving me the opportunity to read Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gamez. This opinion is solely my own. I enjoyed reading this story. It definitely gave me a bigger understanding of the Ace Spectrum. I learned things I hadn't known, which I really appreciated. The story follows Angela, who just came out to herself and a few family members, recently as an asexual lesbian. Angela has never kissed anyone, let alone date anyone. She decides to make a TikTok series following her journey into learning about her sexuality and letting others know that they are not alone. Angela decides to put together a scavenger hunt, and the winner of the hunt will win Angela's first kiss. Angela has had a crush on Krystal, the bartender at her favorite bar, for over 5 years but has been too afraid to do anything about it. Krystal wants to help Angela put together the scavenger hunt. Krystal thinks that she is incapable of loving anyone, which puts an end to Angela's hopes of possibly starting anything with Angela. The story was cute and decently written. I didn't realize when I first started the book, but it is a sequel. I had not read the first book in the series, and I don't think you necessarily need to. The first book follows Angela's best friend Macela and her journey to find love. Anyway, I gave it 3.5 stars and definitely recommend it.

“Kiss Me Maybe” by Gabriella Gamez is a queer romance about a late bloomer librarian that tries to figure out her identity.

Thank you Forever for an advance digital copy of the book. Opinions from this review are completely my own.

Angela is a 27 year old ace librarian that has never been kissed. After some online videos become viral she becomes an influencer and has the idea of creating a scavenger hunt to find a person to date and kiss.
Krystal is a bartender that helps her with this scavenger hunt, but doesn’t know that she is also Angela’s crush.

I liked that the characters were diverse and well developed and that you could tell there was plenty of research done by the author. The romance was slow burn. Angela and Krystal have a lot of chemistry, but both need time to figure out how they feel and what they want.
Even if it was frustrating at some times to see how they could not make up their mind, I also understand it.

I read The Next Best Fling, but Kiss Me, Maybe is THE ONE. I loved Angela and watching her discover herself and what she wants was great. As an ace myself, I didn't really understand myself until about 27 too. I also enjoyed watching Krystal allow herself to connect with another person and to trust again. While I skipped the spicy scenes, you could see how the couple grow and understand each other.