This cover by Leni Kauffman and Daniela Medina is everything. I swooned when I saw it. I chose once again to read a book because the cover seduced me! What’s really great is there is a scene in the book where the characters are wearing these exact clothes with the hair crowns. (sigh)

Gabriella Gamez does a fantastic job of taking us through trying to label our identity. Everything that Angela goes through as she tries to figure things out I have been doing my whole life. I understood her confusion and emphasized her frustration and lack of knowledge. Plus, let’s face it, labels are being added everyday (it seems like) and you never know how you are supposed to label yourself.

Kiss Me, Maybe is filled with homophobia from family members. It’s sad that Julian gets ostracized from his father. Angela’s cousins were such bullies in high school because Angela needed to fit into their ideas of what cishet is. Then what happens later in response to Angela’s coming out. There are also mentions of what happened to other people when they came out.

Then we get to Angela’s TikTok world, and I get it. I did it myself after the coyote attack. I was alone and needed someone to talk to so I spoke to the internet. Angela is just trying to find her voice. She wants to find out who she is outside of everyone’s expectations.

I like the formatting of the book in regard to the conversations and TikTok videos. I think it could have been formatted better for the phone texts. I find this an issue with most books though as authors try to include it, but sometimes it’s messy.

The romance between Angela and Krystal is sweet and slightly angsty. There’s drama there folks and not what you expect. The flirtation is cute, and I just love watching them fall in love. Oh, and just because Angela is on the ace spectrum, she’s sex positive and there are some wonderful scenes that you will be bookmarking.😉

Kiss Me, Maybe is the romance pick me up that I needed. I loved going on the scavenger hunt setup, the flirting, and the missteps. It’s the happily-ever-after I needed right now.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read an early digital copy of Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gomez. There's a lot of amazing representation going on in this story, proving it to be a modern romance for our times. I enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters, and there was something so swoony yet innocent about their connection that made it so you couldn't help but root for both of them. I loved seeing Angela's journey, and Krystal's journey as well; I felt like they both grew not only individually but also together throughout the story. They were genuine enough that you can't help but feel like they're friends of yours. This one will be out soon- next Tuesday, May 6th!

This was cute! A little predictable but super cute and light. I loved the representation of ace people especially in the queer spaces.

Thank you Forever pub for the eARC!

Kiss Me, Maybe is a sapphic romance that offers a refreshing look at identity, self-discovery, and life in the spotlight. Angela, the main character, is figuring out what being on the asexual spectrum means for her—both romantically and sexually. Gabriella Gamez handles this exploration with clarity and care, making it easy for readers to understand what that journey might look like for someone in real life.

If you're into social media and influencer culture, this book gives a pretty honest take. It shows both the sense of community and connection that can come from being online, as well as the pressure and backlash that often come with it.

It’s also nice to see returning characters like Angela’s best friend Marcela and her cousin Julian. Their support adds warmth and familiarity, especially for readers who’ve followed the series.

There's an intimacy that develops between Angela and Crystal as they truly open up to one another and start to realize that they are the ones they truly want. Their relationship needs both of them to work through their own issues and claim their love for one another.

I thought the narrator had a great voice to listen to, but I would have appreciated a bit more difference in narration of the two leads voices to understand a bit better as I listened.

Thank you to Forever and Hachette audio for the eARC and ALC. All opinions are my own.

3-3.5 stars. There were some really great things about this book, and there were things that really didn’t work for me.

To start with the great: the representation and honest conversations of sexuality, asexuality, and the fluidness of labels as a person discovers more about themselves. I felt like I learned so much about the spectrum sexualities can exist on and about microlabels I wasn’t aware of. I liked the idea of Angela finding her community and people she could have in depth discussions with about everything she was feeling and feel understood. I also enjoyed the family bond between Angela and Julian. The conversations about their family dynamics after coming out were raw and honest. It made me feel even more affectionate to the family members who held unconditional love for them.

What didn’t work for me: the “first kiss” of it all. Zero shame to Angela for not having been kissed before nor for not being experienced. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I could understand the way it made her feel. However, when it came to the relationship between Angela and Krystal, with all they did experience together, I felt far less invested in Angela getting her first kiss than I would’ve wanted to be. Like, get yours girls, but also if the idea was that kissing was more intimate or more meaningful, that was lost in translation for me when it’s someone going from zero sexual experience to full-throttle.

Overall, this was an informative read, but not something I absolutely loved. Thank you to Forever via NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Gabriella Gamez, and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was happy to return to the Librarians in Love series! I rated this book 3.5 stars.

Here’s what I liked/appreciate about this book:
The Latinx and LGBTQIA+ rep, specifically the sapphic and ace spec rep; the spice was really good! The family drama was kind of over-the-top but I found that to be an interesting aspect of this book apart from the romance. I liked her cousin Julian a lot!

What didn’t work for me in this book:
Though the book is adult in its spice level and age of characters, the overall plot with going viral on TikTok and then trying to capitalize on it to “date the internet” and make a scavenger hunt with the prize being her first kiss felt… immature? Angela, our main FMC, made some decisions that despite being inexperienced in the dating and physical intimacy world, still felt YA overall. I also wasn’t super invested in Krystal as a love interest, I feel like she kept her walls up for so long and then learning more about her past relationship and how she handled it… I understood why she is the way she was, but it was still difficult to read.

I would have liked to see more friendship moments between Marcela and Angela… she really kept her supposed best friend in the dark for a lot of the book.

Overall, I still had a good time, and I think a lot of people will enjoy this one!

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the eARC and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

Did Not Finish.

There are many good things in this one. The open discussions about the spectrum of sexuality and identity. The realities of growing up in a homophobic family. But there was a revelation about Krystal midway through the story and I honestly can't get over it. It changed how I view her as a love interest. And Angela continuing on with a scavenger hunt (with the prize being her first kiss) despite falling for Krystal made me feel icky. Sorry but I'm doneskis.

Honestly taught me some great things about A sexual and the LGBTQ+ community.
A super fun scavenger hunt storyline! I laughed out loud a lot as well.

💜 Romcom
💜 a sexual rep
💜 tiktok/ social media plot line
💜 super slow burn
💜 pining


Thank you @readforeverpub

Kiss Me, Maybe 🫱🏽‍🫲🏻 Casual of Chappell Roan
This was a fun one! Angela is a late bloomer who is ready to come out and embrace and explore her ace identity. After going viral online and choosing to "date the Internet," the fun begins to plan a scavenger hunt to win her first kiss!

But uh oh! She's got a crush on the bartender! *insert T-Pain song* Krystal is a cool girl who is down for helping but not for love. Cue yearning! Oh the yearning! Probably one of my favorite parts of this book.

I appreciated how at the core of this book Angela was looking to build community. While she had her parents, cousin, and best friend, she needed people in the queer community who could help her navigate this new stage of her life.

I know there is a discourse of this book not having a lot of Mexican representation even though it is marketed as if it had a lot. I am not the right person to say if its accurate or not, I just wanted to make it clear that I know about it.

Other than that, I loved this story so much. I thought it was so cute and I loved the conversations about asexuality and also the family dynamic of that one toxic cousin that you can still love and care for but just not want in your life. I thought these two ladies were just too cute and it took them a while but we got there.

I really love how Gabriella tells her stories.

Thank you to the Forever publishing for the advanced copy for a honest review.

Kiss Me, Maybe had me kicking my feet and squealing, while butterflies flew around in my stomach!

Gabriella Gamez’s second book in the Librarians In Love series was an absolute delight and a win for sapphic romance books. The whole time I truly was just so in love with Angela and Krystal, I mean who doesn’t love a long term pining situation turn to a romance that could rival our favorite 2000s romcom movies?

First off I love that Angela doesn’t have everything figured out when it comes to her sexuality as it was amazing to see a reminder that it can be fluid and sometimes we don’t find the label we feel we need right away. Or sometimes that label no longer seems to be the right fit. And for her to share that journey online to let others know they’re not alone and she even finds her own community was beautiful. Not to mention her journey of being a 27 year old who has never been kissed or dated was extremely powerful.

As a 29 year old who has never been in a relationship and has a lot of firsts still to experience I really appreciated seeing this in a romance book. I’ve recently come across many Tik toks of people in similar situations and I think it’s so important to be reminded there’s more of us out there than we realize. We also get a sense of community as well as be reminded just because we don’t live up to society’s expectations as to where we should be in our romantic lives doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with us.

Then we have Krystal who is learning how to let go of the past because she is allowed to make decisions when something doesn’t feel right, even if everyone tries to convince her it’s all her fault. Truly I love her and the way she supported Angela in every way she could, from the scavenger hunt to helping her stand up to her cousins. They definitely are both so supportive of each other and help each other overcome obstacles thrown in their way. And watching Krystal’s journey of healing from her past relationship and finding the confidence to let someone in again was perfection.

The two of them together truly create so much magic together. And their love story had me engrossed completely. I was truly falling for both of them the entire time.

Not to mention there were some amazing side characters who added so much to the story. And we also dealt with family dynamics, especially dealing with those who may not support your sexuality or may even treat you horribly due to being different. It was truly an amazing read and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Thank you Forever publishing for a free ARC and ALC copy of this book, I am always grateful.

I will start off by saying this book is so important in platforming identities that are often overlooked in readers spaces including ACE, Latinx, and a variety of queer identities are represented in this book. I also appreciate how integral these representations are to the story and are continually discussed through our main character, Angela’s, TikTok platform. Unfortunately, this was a “it’s not you, it’s me” kind of book. I thought the premise was interesting but I couldn’t really connect with the writing which led to feeling disengaged while reading. About 2 chapters in I switched to the audiobook which definitely was a much better experience for me personally! However, I struggled with our main character, I felt some of her actions and motivations were very immature for an almost thirty year old and I found the other characters to lack depth.

I chose to DNF this at 60%. I want to make it very clear however, that this was very much a me issue. This book will definitely be up someone’s alley even if that alley is not my own. I understand why this book has received the love it has so far and I think it is deserving even if it did not directly click with me.

At 27, Angela Gutierrez has just recently started to figure herself out - she's come out on TikTok as an ace lesbian who still hasn't had her first kiss. When she decides to make a scavenger hunt to 'date the sapphic internet' and ends up getting help from the hot bartender she's been flirting with for years, things go to 'it's complicated' for Angela quickly.
I LOVED Angela's exploration of her ace identity in this book - and that she has the space to grow and change and shape her identity over the course of the book was something i really appreciated. Gamez takes us on her journey so deftly, I really appreciated the nuance of who Angela was and who she was figuring herself out to be.
I also loved the family dynamics plot line explored here - the ways family can harm us and we're just expected to forgive for the sake of family and also that coming out isn't always an easy journey for people to go on.
And the chemistry between Angela and Krystal?? oo baby. i was living for it. Angela's first kiss may not occur until almost the end of the book, but she and Krystal certainly find the loopholes on their journey.
The main issue i had with the book was that the scavenger hunt played such a big role and then sort of fell flat for me by the end, and the third act break felt a little convoluted.
But overall this is a great ace-spec sapphic romance that i can't wait to recommend.

I love to see all sorts of representation in the books being written these days, and Kiss Me, Maybe features one that I want to see even more of: asexuality. I thought this rep was so well done, not just having an ace character, but having her question and grow into her identity. Gamez made sure to include a lot of the common discourse about asexuality throughout the pages and have that be something our main character, Angela, was grappling with, like sex revulsion, how attraction works, etc. I appreciated seeing Angela go through figuring those things out, and I think that this will be a great book to help asexual people see themselves and learn about themselves!

The rest of the book was really cute and quick to read (I love when I can just roll through a book without really wanting to stop). Though the tiktok premise was *almost* a little too far-fetched for me, it definitely is still something that could happen, especially how people react to things on tiktok. If I were to see what Angela was doing on tiktok though, I'd probably be judgy about it (i🙈 Angela feels a little immature for her age, and Krystal (a potential love interest) is just a little sketchy. I feel like to make it past some of their issues, we needed a little more depth. But regardless, it was a fun read.

In conclusion, I liked it! Probably like a 3.5-3.75.

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for the e-ARC, e-ALC, and gifted copy!

When Angela goes viral on TikTok for having never been kissed, she makes a plan to use her newfound fame to make it happen. She enlists the help of her bartender crush, Krystal, who becomes a contender for her heart.

This book has amazing ace spec representation and does a great job of providing really good explanations and information about different sexualities. Angela being a late bloomer in love was so refreshing to read! I don’t see many late bloomer stories in romance and this book did it well.

I had a hard time getting invested in Angela and Krystal’s story. Krystal wasn’t very likable to me. While they had great communication, Krystal was still very back and forth with Angela and it put me off of their connection. I enjoyed the tender moments they had but sometimes I just didn’t feel it. The inclusion of social media wasn’t a problem for me like I’ve seen it was for others. I think it added a fun element to the story and a great way for MC to try her hand at dating. Now the scavenger hunt was what fell short for me. It was supposed to be the big thing in the story but often times felt like it got pushed to the wayside. The ending is where it fully fleshed out and I enjoyed the way everything finalized. Overall good book with some fantastic representation.
Thank you to NetGalley!

I was so excited to get back to the Librarians in Love series!

Angela and Crystal were so cute!! I loved how their relationship blossomed. The slow burn was amazing and I really liked getting to know them, getting to the bottom of their reservations and what made them pause when it came to relationships.

I also learned so much about other identities as a cis-straight woman. I really enjoy reading for fun and to escape but reading books that also allow me to learn without it feeling like a lesson is a big part of why I enjoy reading.

Another thing I really loved about this book is how it explored those less than supporting families and how necessary it is to create those boundaries and go no contact when it feels right. I love when people stand on their beliefs and don't let things go so easily by the end!

Thank you Forever for the arc!

I really enjoyed this book. There were so many different aspects of this book that I enjoyed. The found family aspect, the Hispanic family rep, the ace representation, which we don't see a lot in books, the TikTok relationship. It was all done so perfectly in my opinion.

Angela feels ostracized by her own cousins, so she's felt like she's had to form her own little group of people to feel safe with and she's been successful with that. The thing with Latinx families is that you don't truly understand them unless you're a part of them and that is what helps Gabriella write us so well is that she's part of one so she's able to write these relationships perfectly.

I really enjoyed the journey Angela went on discovering her sexuality. It shows how not everything is so black and white no matter how old you, it doesn't mean you need to have everything figured out. She handled that with such tact. It was just a really great book to read that didn't shy away from tough conversations.

Thanks to Forever for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review as always, all words are my own.

Kiss Me, Maybe had a lot of things I was excited about, Latina and LGBTQIA+ rep, but overall, it just didn’t totally work for me. I liked seeing Angela’s experience coming out later in life and the mix of family support and tension felt really real.

But the writing felt a little clunky, and I never fully clicked with Angela as a character. The scavenger hunt idea, which sounded super fun at first, ended up feeling really immature for a 27-year-old, and honestly, the whole thing just made me anxious. I kept thinking, "Girl, you’re gonna get a stalker!"

The way asexuality and labels were explained also kind of interrupted the story at weird times. Plus, I wish there had been more focus on Angela’s lesbian identity too, not just her ace-spec journey. And Krystal, the love interest, didn’t have enough depth for me to really care about their romance.

Overall, it’s not a bad book, just not my vibe. I think some readers will really love the rep, but I found it hard to stay engaged throughout the whole thing

Thank you Forever Pub for the eARC and ALC via Netgalley!

I've looked forward to this book ever since it was teased in the first one because as much as I loved the first one (and I did), I knew after hearing just a bit of Angela's story that it would mean a lot to me. She's another library assistant with Marcela from book one, and has been figuring out her identity the last few years. She knows she's somewhere on the ace spectrum, now in her late twenties, never been kissed, never really dated or done anything, but she's lonely and wants all of that; sex, maybe or maybe not, she isn't sure yet (she very rarely experiences sexual attraction but is sex favorable & open to exploring the idea). She goes viral on tiktok talking about it all & decides to do a scavenger hunt where the winner will be her first kiss.

Then the woman she's crushed on forever decides to help her plan it. Krystal is the bartender at Angela's regular hangout spot, & they've been flirty the last five years but as they get to know each other more she learns that Krystal won't ever want a relationship. The closer they get, the more Angela learns about herself & her sexual desires, the more she wants to kiss Krystal. But she has her followers & herself to think of since she wants a relationship & the woman she finds herself falling for doesn't believe in love.

I really loved this book. It has such a great exploration of different identities and micro labels ace-spec people have, how romantic attraction is seperate from sexual attraction, and how comphet can have people go a long time explaining things away because of how they're "supposed to be" before realizing they are queer, ace included.

Thank you to Forever for the ARC, Leni Kauffman for quite possibly the most gorgeous cover, and Gabriella Gamez for this beautiful story. I'm excited for what I hope will be the next one based on what was teased at the end!

•fat rep (plus-size love interest)
•Latinx rep (main character, love interest, and other prominent side characters)
•queer rep (ace-spec, lesbian, bisexual)
•some spicy scenes

Thank you to Forever for the free copy of Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gamez!

This was such a super cute (and spicy!) never been kissed type of sapphic romance 🙂‍↕️💕😮‍💨

I really loved how Angela and Krystal’s story played out 🫶🏽 It was so refreshing to read about a character who identifies as Ace, and someone who’s honest and open about their lack of relationship experience on social media. Even though Angela’s TikTok scavenger hunt ended up going way differently than she planned, it was still so cute watching her relationship with Krystal grow as they worked on it together ☺️

Lowkey thought it was kinda crazy how they managed to plan all of that before even kissing lmao 😅 but honestly, it made their slow burn will they won’t they friends to lovers relationship even hotter 😮‍💨

I also really appreciated the storyline with Angela’s beef with her stank-ass cousins. As someone who doesn’t have the best relationship with her own cousins, I loved seeing Angela confront her day one bullies and still grow into the person she always wanted to be. Because let’s be real, sometimes the people closest to you can hurt you the worst. But it’s all about what you allow to affect you, and Angela had to learn to rise above that to truly step into her real self 👏🏽👏🏽

This was my first read by Gabriella Gamez, and it def look forward to reading more from her 🫶🏽