Thank you to Netgalley, Forever publishers, Hatchette audio and Gabriella Gamez for allowing me to experience the AUDIO ARC of this book for my honest review. First I want to say that the narrator did an excellent job. I found her easy to listen to and it felt very natural despite multiple female characters she had to portray. Kiss me, Maybe was a good balance of sapphic romance, spice and emotional pulling of the strings. I am a huge fan of found family and also the complexities of family. Also love friends to lovers troupes! I thought this book did an excellent job of Ace representation, without feeling like you’re being educated, if that makes sense. There was SO much yearning, I loved it! And the scavenger hunt was a fun idea, that was the center plot of this book. Though truthfully, I rolled my eyes many times because SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ***** Last WARNING SPOILER ***** the premises of the scavenger hunt was winning a FIRST Kiss. The fact that the MFC had such a hard time with kissing, but was able to go through with other sexual encounters rubbed me the wrong way. So shes OK having sexual encounters, but isn’t OK with a kiss – felt unrealistic to me. But that’s a me thing! I understand it’s a “Ive never been kissed” competition, so shes trying to up hold that truth. But again, you’re sexually intimate with another person. If I were a competitor, and knew she was being sexually intimate with someone else during the competition, you better believe I wouldn’t even participate. Or if I won and found out – how betrayed and unmeaningful winning the competition would’ve felt. Alas, I digress because ultimately – she does realize this and the competition changes. Overall, I enjoyed the book and liked how it ended. I appreciated the background being told to gain a deeper understanding of how their actions were manifested. For me this was a 3.75 read and enjoyed this authors writing style. Thank you again!

Finally, a good romcom for the girls with actual well written spice. I personally don't even like reading spice, but this was incredibly well done, and I just know the lesbians are gonna love this one.

I picked this one up, even though I'm not really into romance, for the representation. An asexual sapphic main character is just too good to be true. And I wasn't let down. The representation is incredible. It is so well done and realistic. I deeply appreciate how it's such a major part throughout the story as well.

Besides the amazing Ace representation, the relationship itself is also fantastic. Their tension was so good, and I was rooting for them throughout the entire book. I love how healthy their relationship is.

My only critique is that I hated the entire tiktok scavenger hunt aspect. I'm sorry, but it was so cringe. Every time we focused on tiktok, Angela felt sooo young, and I personally couldn't get into the scavenger hunt. I found it cringe. However, that is entirely subject, and since it was still well written, it doesn't make it a bad book at all. So if you're down for it, I highly recommend it. Even if you're suspicious about the tiktok aspect, still give this one a shot. It was so well written, had great tension with an amazing couple, and even though the tiktok part gave me the ick, I still greatly enjoyed this.

I adored this book, everything about the story line and the character development throughout the storyline, everything was perfect in my eyes.
The narrator was wonderful very clear and easy to understand and made my enjoyment for the overall book even better.
I now need to go and read this authors debut novel and I look forward to more books from this author and narrator

Yall know I’m a sucker for a queer love story and this did NOT disappoint! I love the diverse representation and the journey of finding yourself and discovering your sexuality. The family members being the bully in the story was dangerously close to home but I really enjoyed the resolution! And the way Gabriella Gamez has a way of writing so we can see so clearly the love between characters and Ruby Corazon bringing the words to life! I really did love this book!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this arc!

Prefacing this as always that I am not a romance reader and only really picked this up for the asexuality! I generally enjoyed it though, I liked the characters and relationship and exploration of identity and desire for community.

I was definitely bracing myself about the silly tiktok scavenger hunt plot - it definitely is silly but I think it could have been a lot more annoying and drawn out than it was. I’m glad it stayed in the background for the most part.

I think it did a good job at exploring asexuality in a way that felt personal, and also about her own identity not just revolving around her feelings about the love interest (re: figuring out she’s greysexual). I think the way it portrayed her not being exactly sure where she is on the ace spectrum felt authentic and relatable.
Alloace books are unfortunately very amatonormative or even arophobic a lot of the time. When the love interest was like ‘love isn’t for me’ ‘I can’t love’ etc and she’s like ‘noo :/ that’s so sad don’t say that’ I was like. oh boy here we go again. But that is unpacked a little, and there’s even a conversation about the fact that the LI isn’t aro, and it’s definitely for other reasons. Still feel a little iffy about it, but idk. There’s definitely still a lot of ‘I’m 27 and never been kissed i’m so lonely and tired of being single’ etc but I think she grows away from that a bit as the book goes on.
There’s frustrating moments but I found most of them were resolved/discussed pretty quickly.

I’m definitely happy for more books with asexual lesbians specifically, as well as by authors of colour! I think this is the only adult Latine ace book I’ve read, in fact.

I found it kind of vague about other aspects of her life - like her job at the library? did it mention she was studying something, but I don’t remember any details about what? I may have missed something in the audiobook. I like the exploration of her other relationships (friends/relatives) though I could have used a bit more of those!

Anyway - I thought it was pretty good overall!

I really struggled to rate this book. While it's not perfect, I loved reading from the point of view of an asexual lesbian. As someone who wonders if she might be ace, it was so refreshing to read a romance book with an ace main character that still has some sort of sex drive. I really enjoyed the romance aspect of the book- I love reading about late bloomers!
On the other hand, I was a bit underwhelmed by the scavenger hunt part of the book. I thought it could've been expanded on more and written differently. I also didn't connect with the audiobook narrator as much as I wish I would've.
*Thank you to both NetGalley and the publisher for an advance listening copy of this book!

as an asexual girl who spent most of her life assuming something was wrong with her because she was in love with the idea of love but never experienced the kind of attraction that she read about in books: this book meant the WORLD to me. i feel so seen and so understood 🫶

Thank you NetGalley for this Audiobook! I was such a huge fan of Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez, so this story was much anticipated!

This second installment in the Librarians in Love series brings us right back to Marcella and Angel, but this story takes us on Angel's queer journey. This is the first book I've read with a main character identifying as asexual, and I learned a lot. I was curious about how spicy a book with an asexual MC would be, and there definitely was spice!

I think the ensemble elements in this story were the strongest, I enjoyed seeing the large group dynamics.

Also the narrator did a great job at differentiating our two female main characters voices. It was always easy to follow.

Thanks for the advanced listener copy!

I’m saying outright I gave this 2 stars and this will be a very negative review.

This book bills itself as a romance about a Mexican ace lesbian entering the dating scene at 27 via a scavenger hunt held on TikTok, featuring a plus sized love interest. It fails to represent any of these to any degree of satisfaction.

The Mexican/Tejano elements that the author emphasizes so much on social media is barely there. It amounts to a handful of throw away lines and phrases: Angela’s parents go to San Jose, Krystal listens to Selena (but more words are spent praising her Taylor Swift vinyl collection), they go to a taqueria and Fiesta, and Angela says mocos once. Other than that, it’s basically a non factor, which is really disappointing when so much emphasis was placed on them both being Mexican. I struggled to find anything about either of their lives that is inherently tied to being Mexican. Angel’s family is big and has gatherings, but so do a lot of other cultures. Even the food they make are either Italian pasta dishes or Spanish rice(?!). Hell I would have settled for just calling her cousins as “primos” but we don’t even get that much.

The lesbian aspect was greatly overshadowed by the ace aspect, which itself felt very distastefully represented to me. There was an overemphasis on microlabels rather than the fluidity of the spectrum itself. Even when Angela specifically talks about the fluidity it’s only as a part of her journey down the rabbit-hole of microlabels, which are explained to us as copy/paste wiki definitions with basically no nuance or emotional attachment. Particularly the line “I may be asexual, but I’m not a prude” felt just really weird. Let’s not call sex-repulsed asexuals prudes, even indirectly please???

Beyond that, it felt very odd to have a queer character in general and an ace character in specific be SO OBSESSED with what is “expected” for her to want in a relationship. Her journey is never framed as accepting that it was fine for her to have never wanted kisses before and that it’s fine if she wants them now— it’s just about her finally reaching those benchmarks she’s always hated being held to? She laments all her years of comphet but never addresses her comp-allo (new word alert lol) ideals of a relationship, ie kisses and romance and such. To say nothing of how WEIRD it was to replace the standard virginity obsession with a kiss-virginity. Especially considering that while for many asexuals kissing may be as far as any are willing to go, that does NOT make it an analogue for sex????? Just. What?

The dating the internet through a TikTok scavenger hunt also felt just incredibly off mark. People have called this a love letter to TikTok, but I felt that most of the TikTok elements were misguided and nonsensical. What was her content that kept people coming? It surely wasn’t a vague promise of a scavenger hunt spread out over TWO MONTHS. And though Angela said she was using TikTok as a way to document her journey, she never really used it to its potential? It was all about her trying to get a kiss rather than finding community in her journey of acceptance or discovering her identity. And it was never addressed why she felt the need to use TikTok as a buffer between her and the love life she was trying to build, which could have helped develop her character. Actually the TikTok and scavenger parts were picked up and dropped randomly, to the point that it might as well not have been there, and they only really served to make Angela feel way younger and immature.

The plus sized rep was NOT it. Other than the cover, I think it was only ever mentioned once that Krystal was bigger? I heard more about her dark nipples than her full figure or rolls or ANYTHING. The book overall lacked a lot of description, to the point where I didn’t know which girl on the cover was Angela or Krystal until the vague “full figure” comment. This is especially true during the sex scenes. They felt so distant and weird and were made even more so by the fact that Angela NEVER acknowledged what they were doing as sex. She only referred to it klunkily as “making Krystal orgasm” or “mutual masturbation.” I don’t know if it was weird in a lesbophobic “girls can’t have REAL sex” or an acephobic anti-sex way, but either way it felt incredibly disingenuous.

THE WORST PART THOUGH, the utterly unforgivable part! Was the blatant anti-aromantic rhetoric oh. My. God! Krystal repeatedly and consistently describes herself as being someone who isn’t capable of love, which is giving aromantic. Except of course she’s not cause it’s a Romance book so obviously she was just confused and once she got over her traumatic past relationship then she was ok to really fall in love, just like Angela said all along. Which is a GROSS thing to do and say, it reminds so much of the MANY DISGUSTING ARGUMENTS people make against asexuals and it was abhorrent to see it coming from an ace character. And God forbid we explore any of the queer relationship dynamics that exist between friends and romantic partners. All that microlabel research and we never came across Queer Platonic Relationships I guess.

I might be coming off a little harsh here, but as a 28 year old Mexican ace sapphic who just got into dating and spends way too much time making tiktoks, I truly thought this was going to be the perfect book for me. And the many ways this failed to be both an interesting story and decent rep was just so disappointing.

Super cute book! I started getting irritated at certain points with how some of the characters kept getting in their own way, but I suppose that's the point of a self-discovery type of story. This is also the first audio book where I actually LOVED the narrator!!

Thanks to netgalley and hachette audio for the arc!

Kiss Me, Maybe is not only full of representation but education as well. From queerness and sexual identity, to lack of experience and exploration in your late 20s. I absolutely loved learning right along Angela about labels and how they can be constantly evolving, growing and changing.

I feel like the story dragged a bit at times, but I can also see how both characters were figuring themselves out and giving each other room to explore without rushing into something given how complex the ace spectrum can be. To add to that, I’d like to point out the book was spicier than I thought it would be, but the scenes can be skipped easily and are more on the tension side than explicit.

As for the plot, the whole scavenger hunt idea didn’t fully click with me, specially the end prize. I find it hard to believe someone on the ace spec would kiss someone they truly hardly know. But I did enjoy social media aspect, as someone who is chronically online and has built a strong community, the connections she made were very well done and believable.

Overall Angela and Krystal’s complex yet heartfelt journey was a delightful listen!

*Thank you to Hachette Audio and Forever for this ALC provided through NetGalley!

I absolutely loved this book! Kiss Me, Maybe is probably the first book I’ve ever read with ACE representation. I’m not going to lie I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant before reading this. Yes I had heard of it but I don’t know what every sexuality means besides the more known lgbtq. So thank you for writing a character like this and also showing what it means to be ace. Not only that thank you for writing about a character who questions their sexuality and how they define their selves. I think a lot of us go through this sometimes. And things can change. Not only that but the chemistry between Angela and Krystal was so so good. This is probably one of my favorite lesbian romances. I also really really enjoyed the narrator.
Thank you NetGalley for an audiobook arc.

Kiss Me, Maybe is a lovely little rom-com following Angela, a lesbian, asexual woman who is seeking her first kiss. After gaining some traction on social media, she creates a scavenger hunt to find the one and enlists really cute bartender Krystal to help her. It doesn't hurt that there's an unrequited crush between Krystal and Angela and Krystal is more than happy to help Angela learn to...explore.
The story took a little while to get going and I wish we saw a bit more of Angela's relationship with her cousin Julian, there seemed to be a couple more side relationships thrown into the story but this one had so much more potential.
I loved getting to see Angela explore her identity and sexuality while recognizing comphet expectations and tendencies. The author handles the questioning and exploration in a fluid and delicate way.
Narrator was a bit slower than I'd prefer so I sped it up more than usual but overall, a really great read.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Thank you to Forever, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for giving me access to both the e-ARC and ALC in exchange for honest reviews.
Honestly, I really enjoyed this book, and it's disappointing seeing that others don't feel the same way. I personally have struggled with similar insecurities and catastrophizing thoughts like Angela for longer than I realized, and also didn't realize until more recently that those things I was/am struggling with could mean I'm on the ace/aro spectrum. I am of course going to do more of my own personal research into the community, but this book has made me feel really seen, and understood. And honestly, I like that the characters are messy and imperfect. It just makes them more realistic human beings. The supporting characters are good at moving the story along, as well as being simultaneously supportive and calling the main characters out on their shit. The narration for the audiobook was amazing as well. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and genuinely recommend it.

I just want to say thank you to NetGalley and Hachette for allowing me to listen to this audiobook before it is released. To start, I did not realize that this is the 2nd book in a series. After listening to the audiobook I will be picking up book 1. Kiss Me, Maybe follows Angela who has never been kissed before and after one of her videos goes viral on TikTok she decides to create a scavenger hunt where the winner will earn her first kiss. While navigating her online presence she is also talking to the beautiful bartender Krystal who Angela has had a crush on for years.
I enjoyed this story so much that I had to pick up a physical copy of the book. I loved that this book explores sexuality, identity, and influencer culture, which is very prevalent in today's society. The narrator also captured the vibes of both Krystal and Angela, and you can hear the difference in the characters' voices and tones. The narrator captured the story perfectly and I will be looking for audiobooks by this narrator in the future.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for this ARC!

I had mixed feelings throughout this book. Despite that, I learned important things about myself alongside the characters. It was educational for everyone involved.

I’ll start off by saying, the ebook was losing me at a rapid rate so I requested the audiobook and thankfully got accepted! I restarted the book from the beginning and I’d forgotten so many things from when I was reading the ebook. The narrator did an amazing job of keeping me in the story, especially for the parts I wasn't fond of before. I enjoyed it much more this time around and even cracked a chuckle at a few jokes. What was initially three stars got bumped up to four.

The most engaging parts of this book [for me] were the conversations around sexuality and the family connections. The former was repetitive at times, but I have no doubt readers will see their lives and identities in these pages. It won’t always be in the best light when it comes to family, but it’s worth seeing the story through. I love a good family drama, and online?! I’ve been reading so many contemporary stories lately, and social media is portrayed so painfully accurate. Seeing how Angel grew and navigated it all was *chef’s kiss*. I only wish we’d gotten more when it came to Krystal’s side. I was deep in her business but didn’t get as much as I wanted.

With all this talk about sexuality and getting into the details, I had an epiphany: I might be asexual. It’s a strong possibility. Reading about Angel’s sexuality in the beginning resonated with me so deeply that I swore I was reading about myself. I always wondered, and now I’m more sure about it.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of the scavenger hunt idea and what we were doing it for. Maybe I’m just not a lover! It was a huge part of the plot, and that dragged the story for me, so I wasn't having fun half the time. Then on top of that, we had Krystal helping out… I stopped caring for their romance halfway through because they were getting on my nerves (the book might’ve been doing its job well there). It wasn’t that Krystal was throwing out offhanded comments about helping; she was always there, step by step, both knowing they had feelings for each other. There’s only so much I can take from thirty-year-olds. By the end, I was all for Angela and that lady she met online—I really liked them together. I will say, I did like how Angela and Krystal showed up for each other and stuck up for each other when they both needed it. Maybe that’s contradictory, but I’m always for girlhood; it’s the romance that needs to be done well.

A perfect read to kick off May! I have never identified with a character more than I did with Angela. This hits closer to home as I am an ace spec lesbian, in her late 20s, who also lives in Texas lol. This also releases the day after my birthday 😉 This was a very sweet story and had a delicious amount of angst. I loved her and Crystal's relationship and the journey they went on. This was absolutely refreshing as you don't see many ace lesbians in literature. The realistic scenarios and questions Angela had. The reality of social media and what it opens up, both good and bad. I am team booo anti-esme and I adored and loved Julian. Overall, this was fantastic and I look forward to more work by this author. If this sounds up your alley this beauty releases May 6th, 2025

After reading Gabriella's debut, Kiss Me Maybe was immediately on my radar! I absolutely loved the aspect of Angela taking everything into her own hands an auctioning off her kiss! The scavenger hunt aspect was so unique and I loved hearing about all the things that Angela loved and what made her "her" and why she wanted to put them in the scavenger hunt. Hearing Angela talk about the artist she loves and the art they create was one of my favorite moments of the story too. The way it was described made me see it so clearly in my mind and ugh. I felt the emotions that Angela felt. The open communication between Angela and Krystal are what DREAMS are made of, truly! They're talks about sexuality and labels/microlabels was so enlightening and beautiful. And the tension between them?? It had me SWEATING. I loved them for each other and I hope they made appearances in Gabriella's future novels!

This book is FULL of sapphic pining! From the very start, it's clear that Angela has been crushing on the bartender she's been chatting with and drunkenly quasi-flirting with.

I loved how much discussion (internally and externally) there was about sexuality and micro-labels. While Angela largely knows herself, there are always little bits and pieces she doesn't necessarily have everything fully figured out, and she's open to continue learning about herself! Being on the journey alongside her is so special.

Another thing that really stuck out to me was the scavenger hunt. It was so fun getting to learn about Angela through what she wanted to feature, and what she felt connected to in her city.

The audio kept me in the story and I loved getting to experience Angela's thoughts in such a way. The pacing was perfect, along with the delivery of lines, and overall performance.

Read for:
-ace lesbian library assistant/influencer MC
-bi bartender LI
-queer side characters
-discussions on asexuality
-scavenger hunts

Angela has never been kissed. She's 27 and she knows who she is for the most part. It took her a while to realize she was an ace lesbian, but she still hasn't had her first kiss and she feels like it's overdue. After she gets some attention with her videos online, she posts about her identity and her lack of firsts. In opening herself up to the internet, she's able to grow a community that feels like a safe place for her to be herself and let out her thoughts.

After some thinking and more videos, she decides to host a scavenger hunt in her city. The prize? Her first kiss. She opens herself to online dating to the max, knowing that not everyone will be in her city, but feels like this is what she wants to do. She starts working through the idea with her best friend, Marcela, and the bi bartender she's been crushing on for years, Krystal. But as Krystal helps her with the scavenger hunt and they grow close, more unravels, and maybe there's something there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC!

When a book is set in my hometown during Fiesta, my favorite time of the year, and features amazing queer rep? Instant obsession. I was already swooning over the cover of Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gamez, but the story? EVEN BETTER.

Krystal agrees to help Angela complete a scavenger hunt to get her first kiss, but sparks fly, and suddenly it’s not just about the list. The chemistry was there from the start, and I was rooting for them the whole way.

Gamez captures different types of sexualities that don’t always get the spotlight and reminds us: love isn’t linear. Sexuality isn’t linear. And that’s what makes this story so special. 💖🏳️‍🌈🎉