Book Review: Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gamez
Rating: ★★★★¼ (4.25 stars)

Gabriella Gamez’s Kiss Me, Maybe is a heartfelt, queer romance that’s as validating as it is fun. Though I didn’t read the first book in the series, this story stood solidly on its own, offering a rich emotional journey through the eyes of a lovable, complex protagonist. I received an advanced reader copy, and I’m so glad I got to read it early.

Angela, our charming and anxious main character, feels like a breath of fresh air—real, messy, thoughtful, and deeply relatable. As an asexual lesbian myself, I found her portrayal incredibly affirming. Her emotional attraction, sexual craving, and the way she processes her identity felt like reading a reflection of my own experiences. It’s rare to find a character like her in romance—someone who’s not only navigating love but doing it while embracing an identity often left out of the conversation. Gamez doesn’t just include asexuality—she gets it. And that makes a world of difference.

The book also handles themes like compulsory heterosexuality with grace and nuance. Angela’s quiet realizations and moments of self-doubt are achingly familiar, and her journey toward self-acceptance is told with sensitivity and strength. The way Gamez writes about evolving identity—especially how it can shift over time—is one of the novel’s strongest emotional through-lines. It resonated deeply with me; at 25, my understanding of myself looks nothing like it did at 15, and that kind of growth is captured so well here.

However, not every part of the story hits perfectly. Krystal’s character arc, while compelling, leans a bit too heavily into familiar queer-romance tropes. Her internal conflict felt more like a roadblock than an organic struggle, and it became frustrating at times—especially since she’s the main obstacle to the relationship we’re all rooting for. Her sudden emotional pivot near the end (post-Isaac closure) feels a bit rushed, though it’s comforting to see Angela acknowledge the whiplash too.

The setting—my own city—adds a personal layer of joy to the read. The attention to graffiti art downtown is a gorgeous detail that made me smile every time it was mentioned. But oddly enough, for a book about librarians in love, there’s a surprising lack of library content. I was hoping for a few more cozy, bookish moments between the characters in their natural element.

One of the standout elements is the scavenger hunt. While initially under-explained and a bit confusing, it becomes a thrilling part of the story once it kicks off. From that point forward, I couldn’t put the book down. I needed to see Angela get her happily ever after. The stakes felt real, the pacing tightened beautifully, and the payoff was absolutely worth it.

The audiobook is also worth mentioning. The narration is fantastic—engaging, expressive, and a perfect match for the tone of the book. My only gripe is the long pauses between chapters, which occasionally pulled me out of the experience.

There’s a lot of internal monologue in Angela’s head, and while it makes sense given her character, it sometimes crowds out other perspectives. I wish we had seen more depth in her relationships, especially with Julian. For someone who’s meant to be a close friend, he felt sidelined, though I’m hoping that’s a hint he’ll take the spotlight in a future book (please!).

Still, Kiss Me, Maybe manages to be both emotionally heavy and delightfully lighthearted. The characters might dip into cliché territory now and then, but they feel real. Their joy, pain, confusion, and growth are written with such authenticity that you can’t help but root for them.

In the end, Kiss Me, Maybe is a cheesy, spicy romance full of queer joy and identity exploration. It’s a love story for those who want more than just romance—it’s about discovering yourself, embracing change, and finding someone who sees you, truly. And for me, that made it a truly beautiful read.

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A love story and cautionary tale of the double-edged sword of the benefits and perils of social media.

“Kiss Me, Maybe” by Gabriella Gamez @gabbywritesalot
Big thank you to @netgalley @readforeverpub and @hachettebooks for the advance listening copy of this spicy little sapphic surprise!

Okay, listen—I thought I was picking up a cute, lighthearted romcom… you know, flirty banter, soft moments, maybe a swoony kiss or two. BUT NO. This book said “let’s turn up the heat AND make you feel things.” And it did. And I was not ready. That cover is lying in the BEST way possible. 👀🥵😅

So here’s the gist:
Angela Gutierrez, librarian and total sweetheart, has never been kissed. After going viral for coming out as a late bloomer and sharing her ace identity, she decides to spice up her new influencer moment with a kiss-worthy scavenger hunt. And the winner? They get to be her very first kiss. No pressure, right?

Cue Krystal Ramirez—the ridiculously attractive bartender and Angela’s longtime crush who suddenly wants in on this little project. But as they spend more time together, sparks fly, lines blur, and Angela starts to wonder if this “first kiss” should’ve gone to Krystal from the start… (Spoiler: IT SHOULD.)

What I loved:
The ace-spec rep was so beautifully done. Thoughtful, genuine, and totally affirming.
Older MC getting her moment to shine? YES, PLEASE.
Did I mention this book is SPICY? Because whew. Yeah.

This sounded like a nice rom-com, but I just couldn't finish it. DNFed at about 30%. The plot was not for me, and the dialogue between characters was simply boring. The only thing decent about this book is the narrator. I feel bad for having such strong feelings. For a reference, I read close to 500 books and only DNFed 6.

Gabriella Gamez has done it again! I loved this book! The FMC, Angela, goes on a journey of self discovery in this cozy romance. The book has incredible representation for people on the asexual spectrum and I think it will resonate with a lot of readers. I highly recommend this book!

I wanted to love this but I had to DNF at about 35% the two main characters barely interact and it was just a lot of inner monologuing about what asexuality is and trying to figure out what kind of asexual she might be. It felt like a pamphlet for figuring out how to be ace, and I just didn't care enough to follow her on that journey. I grew so bored for ANYTHING to actually happen that I started to zone out

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Hachette Audio for this advanced copy! You can pick up Kiss Me, Maybe on May 6, 2025.

This was such a cute queer romance! My first read from Gabriella Gamez, and I was really enchanted by her characters and their growth throughout the book. Angela, our recently out asexual lesbian, takes herself on a viral journey to find love (and her first kiss) with the help of her unrequited crush, Krystal. Together, they plan a scavenger hunt to help Angela meet the perfect "one" to share her first kiss with, but the two grow closer and closer as the planning continues.

What I love about this book is how much both Angela and Krystal leap off the page and FEEL like real people with real struggles. Angela discusses her struggles with her family (especially her cousins) growing up, while Krystal opens up about her failed engagement and subsequent icing from her family. Both women had to come to terms with their sexual identities over time, and within the book, we even see Angela's shift and change into graysexual as she explores her feelings and sexual attraction for Krystal more.

The only part of this book that could've been better executed was the scavenger hunt itself. It felt a bit all over the place plot-wise, especially since everyone KNEW Angela and Krystal would end up together, but they kept the scavenger hunt going for posterity's sake but then it was cancelled anyway then brought back? Then Angela ditched it anyway to confess her love to Krystal? At this point I was more invested in their relationship anyway and would've rather we ditched the scavenger hunt way earlier.

Also, having sex together but never having a first kiss is a WILD move LMAO.

All in all, this was a fun read, and I think you'll enjoy it if you love friends to lovers, great queer rep, and the song Casual by Chappel Roan!

Angela doesn’t realize what sets her apart when it comes to romance and relationships until her late 20s. After sharing her journey and self-discovery on TikTok, she unexpectedly goes viral. Enter Krystal—an old acquaintance and longtime crush—who offers to help Angela with a project: getting her first kiss. As they spend more time together, it becomes clear that the feelings are mutual. The story follows both women as they come to terms with their emotions and gradually find their way to each other. The book is full of heart, with strong themes of diversity and representation throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook. I found the narrator’s voice to be very pleasant and playing well with the story. The storyline itself did not resonate with me on the personal level, but it provided quite a few interesting insights.

𝟒 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 .𐦍༘⋆
a super cute sapphic romance novel that you won’t regret picking up! ❤️‍🔥
this was super cute and super easy to binge read

𐙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙:
i loved the conversations surrounding sexuality and exploring your labels, i also really liked that the book touched on family dynamics both good, accepting family members and also so homophobic members while also stating that you don’t have to let that bother or determine who you are as a person.

the author did a great job of bringing all the characters to life and making them feel like genuine people witch genuine struggles & personality traits.

Ruby Corazon did a great job of narrating the audiobook, her voice is exactly what i’d expect angela to sound like.

𐙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
Like in most books miscommunication always irks me because everything could have been solved or discussed sooner if they were more upfront (yeah i know miscommunication can be realistic but can we also normalise characters calling out miscommunication lol)

something about the whole scavenger hunt thing to get a kiss thing just felt a bit weird to me? especially with her work already having a previous issue with her one viral dance video. idk i almost wish our love interests bonded & got close over something different.

don’t get me wrong it was super entertaining still but just a bit random.

(𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦)

Audio specific:
I loved the narrator for this one. The story was heavily enhanced by it and made way more enjoyable. I was quickly sucked in because of it and unable to stop reading the book.

Review for story/book itself:
The set up here was so fun. I truly can not believe how much I enjoyed even the love triangleish element. The exploration of identity on the asexual spectrum was super intriguing as well. I honestly am just obsessed with this one as I was the first book in this series. An absolute blast.

3.75⭐️ rounded up

A deep dive into identity and being ace-spec set against the backdrop of the "it's complicated" relationship status.

Disclaimer: I read this book as a ALC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The narration for this book was decent. I don't know that the narrator is a native Spanish speaker because some of the words were pronounced a little different differently. Also, I felt like the narration was a little disjointed. There was definitely pauses that took a long to recover from throughout the narration, and that threw me off a little bit.

I liked this second installment of the Librarians in Love series more than the first for sure. While I still think there could be some more inclusion of Latinx rep throughout the book in order to really solidify it as being marketed as such, there was definitely an uptake in the representation that made me very happy. I felt that representation was definitely included in the family dynamics as well as in various discussions between Angela and her cousin Julian when it comes to being a no Sabo kid and assimilation.

Not only was this a compelling story, I felt like I learned a few things about being ace-spec and the various identities that fall within that spectrum. While sometimes the information felt a little bit too much like an info dump, it was still very interesting and explained well. The tension in this book between the two FMC's was definitely tantalizing. But it started to border along the lines of being too drawn out for me towards the end. It was very clear they both knew what they wanted, but for some reason, were having a hard time admitting it to each other.

The spice was done really well and didn't feel cringy or overdone in my opinion. I enjoyed their interactions and it did heighten the tension in their relationship for me. That being said, I was not a very big fan of the whole scavenger hunt premise. I did not really enjoy the way she was choosing to embrace giving away her first kiss. I'm not saying there was anything wrong with the decision, it just wasn't my favorite decision.

Overall, this was definitely an improvement to the debut novel for this series for me. I will definitely be checking out if there's a third novel.

Audio Narration: 3.5/5 - Overall a solid performance. Good narration but not my favorite. This was definitely one I needed to speed up as the narrator pauses quite a bit at each punctuation break. Nothing unbearable but it doesn't flow quite as well as I prefer.

my goodness it’s hard to breathe after reading this.

Gabriella Gamez writes some of the BEST tension. I was sweating reading that almost kiss, and don’t even get me started on Ch. 18 🥵

I’m calling it now, Gabriella Gamez is only going to continue to get better with each book. Her debut, The Next Best Fling was one of my top romances of 2024, an absolutely phenomenal debut novel - Kiss Me, Maybe is even better, and I’m confident it’s going to be one of my top romances for 2025.

She’s officially an auto-buy author and I cannot wait to read more by her!

I absolutely loved watching the FMC explore her identity and sexuality - the author does a fantastic job handling a sensitive topic. She presents information on ace spec and queer identity in such a fluid and careful way. One of the best things about reading books with characters of different identities than your own (imo) its getting to experience a bit of what it’s like in someone else’s shoes - I loved learning more about the ace spectrum. For me, a mark of a good fiction book, is that it has me wanting to learn more about the information presented within and this book did exactly that! I leave this book with a better understanding of the ace spectrum identity and with the motivation to learn and explore that topic even more!

What’s to love…
- ACE spec representation
- identity and sexual exploration
- lesbian and bi FMCs
- Grade A++ tension
- medium to slow burn
- friends-to-lovers
- found family AND family forward story
- Mexican-American FMCs
- set in San Antonio Texas
- spectacular pacing
- bookish book (FMC is a librarian!)
- panty burning spice

What’s not to love…
- honestly, not much… this is nearly perfect but I do wish we got a bit more of the relationship with Angela and Marcela/Julian - the focus was strongly on the online presence and Krystal and while that was fine I did feel like I wanted to see more from the non-romantic relationships.

🌶️ - super freaking hot in terms of tension but mild in terms of explicit nature. Also fairly easy to skip if needed. Ch. 18, 32, 44.

I liked the romance and the sweetness between Angela and Krystal and I loved the ending. The found family trope was nice to see as it developed, as their friends became friends with each other. I thought the tiktok plot line was intriguing to read but it wasn't what caught my interest the most. It was the moments. Overall, it was a good read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, Gabriella Gamez for this ALC!

After listening to this book clear that it cannot be easy to be asexual or as Angela realizes later in the book that she probably is graysexual (first time I heard that term so had to Google it). When the book starts Angela has not even been kissed at the high age of 27 so something must be done.

I liked the story overall that was very sweet but the use of TikTok to try to find a relationship is beyond me when it is Krystal that may be the one she may find a sexual attraction to and nobody else. Krystal is not open for another romance though, so the struggle is there.

I enjoyed listening to this book and can recommend it.