Thank you Hachette Audio for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

3 stars

The audiobook narration for this book was good, but not one of my favorites. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish between dialogue being spoken versus internal thoughts. A bit more variation in tone would've helped with keeping my attention as I repeatedly took breaks listening to this book.

In regards to the story, I really enjoyed witnessing Angela explore and learn more about her identity throughout this book and I learned so much about the asexual spectrum. I liked Angela as a character and genuinely was rooting for her to have a happy ending. I think this book fell flat for me because of how it was executed versus the characters themselves. There were a lot of subplots that tended to be repetitive so the overall story felt like we were going in circles. I honestly could’ve done without the entire scavenger hunt aspect and mainly focused on Angela trying to choose between her existing feelings for Krystal and the new attention she’s gaining from TikTok. While this wasn’t my favorite read, I’d still recommend it for someone who enjoys reading about women loving other women, self-discovery stories, and sweet happy endings.

A pretty solid read overall. My main problems with this book were definitely how Angela prioritized Krystal over her other relationships and friendships, how Angela absolutely did not seem like a 27 year old to me, and how little real communication seemed to happen. Angela really makes choices and acts (especially on the internet) like someone much younger so to have her be 27 kept taking me out of it a bit. I love an older realization of sexuality, but to me it felt like melding her to fit whatever would please Krystal the most and not Angela. We really gloss over Krystal’s very real issues with Isaac and that past relationship which I think would cause problems down the line. Also, the smut was pretty good, but Angela’s dominance came out of nowhere and felt random (was hot though) and every time I heard “pussy” I was taken out of it. Overall, had some cute moments, but not really my cup of tea.

Gabriella Gamez’s Kiss Me, Maybe is a heartfelt, spicy, and thoughtful queer romance that strikes the perfect balance between slow-burn tension and deeply personal identity exploration. It’s a story about firsts—first kisses, first love, first steps into self-acceptance—and it unfolds with charm, humor, and heat.
Angela Gutierrez, a book-loving librarian and proud late bloomer, goes viral after posting a video about her ace identity and lack of kissing experience. Instead of retreating from the spotlight, she leans in, crafting a scavenger hunt with her first kiss as the prize. Enter Krystal Ramirez, the sexy bartender who has haunted Angela’s daydreams for years. Though Krystal claims romantic love isn’t in the cards for her, the chemistry between them is undeniable and only intensifies as they work together.
This story does a phenomenal job of showcasing ACE spectrum representation with care and nuance. Angela’s journey feels authentic and empowering—Gamez doesn’t gloss over the complexities of identity but rather embraces them fully. I especially appreciated how her ace identity wasn’t just a plot device but was interwoven into her character’s voice, thoughts, and choices.
The spice level is more smoldering tension than explicit heat, which might surprise readers expecting more steam, but the emotional build-up more than compensates for it. The only slight drawback for me was the underdevelopment of Angela’s non-romantic relationships—Marcela and Julian felt a bit sidelined, which left me wanting more depth beyond the romance and social media angle.
As for the audiobook, the narration was solid but not a standout. The pacing felt a bit slow with noticeable pauses, so I found myself speeding it up for a smoother flow. Not a deal-breaker, but something to consider if you're particular about audiobook rhythm.
Overall, Kiss Me, Maybe is a near-perfect romance that left me smiling, swooning, and eager to dive deeper into ace-spectrum stories. Gabriella Gamez crafts a romance that doesn’t just entertain but educates and affirms, all while delivering top-tier tension and an unforgettable pairing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advanced listening copy!

Wanted to love this one just as much as Book 1 but the storyline fell a little flat for me. I felt a bit lost with all the different characters at the beginning. This audiobook really helped me move along in the book. Wish we got to read/listen from Krystal's POV.

I did love Krystal, the way she was dedicated to showing "Angel" her love, their dates, all of it was super cute. Loved Marcella's mentions. Angela's storyline and the way she's comfortable/proud of who she is.

Can't wait to read more of Gamez's work! Thank you to Forever Pub, Gabriella Gamez, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Angela Gutierrez is a queer ace librarian that’s never been kissed. She comes out on social media and decides she’s ready to get some firsts out of the way. Angela plans a scavenger hunt where the winner will earn her first kiss. Needing help planning the scavenger hunt, Angela turns to her favorite bartender and unrequited crush of five years, Krystal Ramirez. Every time they hang out, the connection between Angela and Krystal gets stronger, until Angela isn’t sure about the scavenger hunt anymore. However, Krystal is convinced she isn’t capable of love. Angela soon realizes she is falling for a woman who may never love her back.

This was my first book by Gabriella Gamez, and it definitely won’t be my last. I really enjoyed this story about self-discovery. Angela explores her queer identity and where she fits on the asexual spectrum. I also enjoyed the slow-build romance between Angela and Krystal. It felt authentic. I enjoyed the audio narration by Ruby Corazon. I highly recommend this one to anyone that enjoys sapphic romance! I give it 4/5 stars.

Overall 3.5

Chloe, a woman who’s a little wary of love after past heartbreaks, and Lucas, a charming guy who knows how to make a grand first impression. What begins as a chance encounter soon blossoms into a slow-burn romance that is sweet, funny, and full of heart. The chemistry between Chloe and Lucas is undeniable, making every interaction between them engaging and fun. The development of their relationship feels genuine, and the pacing keeps readers hooked, wondering when (and if) they'll take the plunge from "maybe" to "yes." The book also addresses themes of trust, personal growth, and overcoming fear of vulnerability.

I thought that it was just okay, I felt like it was doing to much. Angela has just come out as ace and is still discovering what that means to her, there's the scavenger hunt, the back and forth with Krystal, then there is the family drama, a side plot involving one of Angela's favorite artists and other shenanigans. But because there is so much to cover, there is not enough time to flush everything out as much as it should be. The scavenger hunt it supposed to be a central point of the book, but half way though it feels forgotten about and it keeps happening. that being said, I do feel like the author did a good job with the ace representation and did flesh out Angela's self discovery with what it means to be ace for her.

I wanted to love this so much more than I did🙃 I read the first in this series, which I really enjoyed and I think the difference was the plot for me. The queer representation is so educational and important, specifically surrounding identity exploration. I received the audiobook for this, so maybe if I had read it I would have had a different experience. I have enjoyed this narrator in the past, but I couldn’t get past how flat of an affect the FMC had even during intimate scenes. I was confused with the scavenger hunt plot line, I mean I get why it was used but I feel like we could have done something different to get to the end goal. I do think it’s important for others to read this book, especially for how much I learned about the ACE community!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this 🎧 ARC.

I had a pretty good time with this book. Overall I didn't find it as successful for me as the first book, but I still liked it. I thought the main character was well rounded and relatable. She was insecure and flawed and all over the place and just trying to adult in today's world. There were enough side characters that it felt like a full world but not too many that I needed a chart to keep up with them. I liked the juxtaposition of her relationship with her family members and her "found family".

Honestly, the part I struggled with the most was honestly the backbone of the whole book. I LOVED seeing different representations of people of all spectrums and identities, but sometimes it got a bit clinical. Some parts felt like it was straight out of a text book from a sexuality college course. I kind of glazed over listening to certain parts because I felt like I should be taking notes for an exam. But the personal parts of her exploring her self landed better with me than the technical descriptions. I understand why they were necessary, and maybe it would have been easier to digest if I read it in a physical format so I could reread certain passages to fully absorb it.

I thought the narrator did a great job. I listened at 1.5 speed and it felt very comfortable and naturally paced.

Firstly, I love the cover. The colors, the vibe, the design. The love literally jumps out at me. I could hardly wait to start the audiobook. After just a few minutes, I was thrilled by the story and the narrator. The story about Angela is modern, beautiful, heart-warming, steamy and so damn romantic. It's a search for yourself, your sexual orientation and, of course, for true love. I loved the idea of a scavenger hunt to find the perfect woman for Angela's first kiss. And there was so much tension and longing between Angela and Krystal - god! That was really perfect and so beautifully written.

Overall, I found the characters had a lot of depth with lots of backstory and great development. And the story was just as colorful as the cover. Great LGBTQIA+ representation, especially the ACE!

I especially liked the narrator who was very fitting and her voice reflected all the emotions that happened in the story. By changing the pitch and depth of the voice, I was able to distinguish well between dialog/characters and Angela's narration. She brought the story to life. I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

J'ai une relation hate/love pour les réseaux sociaux utilisés dans les histoires, j'ai grandit avec les livres sur les réseaux sociaux et leurs dangers. Je ne sais pas si c'est ça, mais j'ai eu du mal à entrer dans ce roman. Après ce petit passage difficile, j'ai beaucoup aimé nos personnages, tous avec leurs traits de caractères et leur humour, mais aussi leurs blessures. Je suis également toujours frustrée quand je n'ai pas les deux points de vues dans une romance, mais ça c'est ma curiosité naturelle ahah.
En tant que personne lesbienne et ace, la représentation est pour moi parfaite, il y avait de quoi contentée tout le monde et on s'identifie tellement à notre héroïne.
J'ai passé un bon moment avec nos personnages !!

Almost a painfully real depiction of the best and the worst sides of social media, of figuring out one’s own identity, and finding out who really are your friends. Angela's path to figuring out who she really is, what her sexuality is, and what she is looking for in a relationship was depicted in a way that felt realistic, with inline resources readily available and a lot of us learning more about other people but also ourselves through social media. Some parts of the story were a little difficult to listen to, because I just wanted to scream at Angela that just because someone is family, they don't get a free pass for everything, but other than that, I enjoyed the story a lot.

I requested this audiobook the moment I saw the cover, the vibrant Papel Picado absolutely screamed Mexico, and I couldn’t resist.

This story follows Angela Gutierrez, a late bloomer and proud ace librarian who goes viral after sharing her never-been-kissed status. Determined to finally get her first kiss, she launches a creative scavenger hunt that brings her longtime crush, bartender Krystal Ramirez, into her orbit. As the hunt unfolds, so does undeniable chemistry, challenging both Angela’s expectations and Krystal’s belief that love isn’t in the cards for her.

This was a heartfelt, fun listen with great rep, but what truly elevated it was Ruby Corazón’s narration, she brought the characters to life and made every moment hit deeper. Huge thanks to Gabriella Gamez, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to enjoy this gem!

This has a great narrator, but I had a hard time connecting with the book..while I enjoyed some of the story, I struggled with the miscommunication or resistant trope between the love interests.

What a lovely book! I feel like there needs to be more shouting about how lovely this book is! When I requested it, I simply liked the cover and title. It made me think of a RomCom and did not disappoint.

The book became a lot better as I went on a journey with Angela as she explored her A-Spec identity. I'd love to see more about how this romance book features an a-spec Lesbian. That's what truly needs to be shouted from rooftops because we don't always hear such a fun romp with such rep as well as the idea that identities are always evolving and changing.

Angela's journey to find her first kiss was funny, emotional, and informative in the best ways. It has such shocking scenes, I gasped out loud.

The audio quality was perfect. The narrator pulled me into Angela's mind and held my attention. I was able to hit the perfect pace for my own brain to fully love the book.

Asexual representation, Mexican American women falling in love, a viral TikTok scavenger hunt—all of this can be found in Gabriella Gamez‘s new novel, Kiss Me, Maybe. This is the second in her Librarians in Love series, and even if you haven’t read the first book yet (I haven’t), it works well as a standalone romance.

What I Liked:
- Asexual identity. As someone who is on the asexual spectrum, I’m always happy to read romances that highlight ace people finding love on their terms. This is one of only a handful of ace-led romances I’ve read so far, and I appreciated how this one dives into discovering your identity, determining what your specific sub identity is, and exploring Angela’s particular experience with asexuality. In contrast to ace characters in other books I’ve read, Angela is more sex positive and does explore what sex with a partner means for her—so there is open door spice here!
- Queer identity and coming out. In addition to being ace spec, Angela is also a lesbian. Much of her journey is about coming out to her family and dealing with homophobia (her cousin, who is already out as bisexual, unfortunately had a more difficult time with his family).
- Connecting online and finding community. Since it can be hard to find fellow aces in the wild, Angela fosters community through her TikTok videos, hoping to connect with other ace spec people.
- Being a late bloomer. Hey, not everyone has their first romantic or sexual experiences in high school. Some of us don’t have our first kiss until our 20s (yes, another way I relate to Angela), and there is nothing weird or shameful about that. I enjoyed seeing Angela, 27, being so open about her lack of experience and desire to change that.

What Didn’t Work for Me:
- The scavenger hunt kind of fizzled out for half the book. A major plot line at first was Angela’s TikTok scavenger hunt for someone to win her first kiss. Cute idea, but the whole middle of the book it seemed like this idea was quietly dropped as other (kind of unnecessary?) themes emerged. I wish the book had stayed more focused on the scavenger hunt and how bartender crush Krystal would factor into everything.
- Angela’s first sexual experience seemed advanced? Unrealistic? Maybe I’m naive or just a different type of person, but Angela’s very first time doing anything sexual with someone else seemed a little off to me. It took me out of the story a bit.

Audiobook:
Ruby Corazon does a great job of narrating Kiss Me, Maybe. She captures Angela’s personality and excitement without over-acting.

Final Thoughts
Kiss Me, Maybe is a delightful novel that highlights the asexual spectrum, late bloomers, and women finding love. While there are a few things I would have liked to see more or just portrayed differently in the book, it was overall enjoyable and honestly made me feel less alone in my own ace journey. It’s also the second in Gabriella Gamez’s Librarians in love series, so I’ll be going back to read Marcela’s own romance in The Next Best Fling.

I received an Audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Hachette Audio and Forever publishing for this ARC.

Firstly, I want to say that I really enjoyed the Narration by Ruby Corazon. I think her voice was very pleasant and easy to listen to. My only critique is I would have liked more distinction between the main characters voices but it did not diminish the performance.

Now, onto the story itself. I enjoyed this story a lot. I grew up in the city this book takes place and I loved the snippets of the city i got to see through out the book. I think Angela and Krystal are very relatable in their stories. Angela’s search in finding the right time and the right person to meet all these “traditional” miles and the pressure your friends and family can put on you to meet those things and the ostracization of not meeting those things is very relatable. Krystal’s belief that she is incapable of love because of an experience with a relationship moving too fast and turning sour is also very relatable to me. I think this is a story for late bloomers who may still be looking for the “right” labels and are figuring out what they want in relationship but I will say that I wish there was a more openness to the micro label situation. I think that Angela spent so much time trying to figure out this label that it felt like she was trying to force herself into a box and i would have liked to see her accept that things may change and that labels are truly fluid and not every person is going to fit within a label forever.

I love the narrator's voice, she sounds great! Only a few times where something sounded weird....kind of like there should have been a comma or a breath taken....but it just kind of runs on. (Like you know how when AI is reading something, it sometimes doesn't sound QUITE right....) The other minor thing that aggravated me was that this book very heavily centers on TikTok, and when she is reading the comments or DMs, she just reads the abbreviation as opposed to what it actually means. For example, she would say the letters "LMK" rather than say "Let me know." Not a deal breaker, just kind of weird when you are listening to it.

Also, the intimate scenes are ridiculously long and detailed. (which will be good or bad depending on how you like your stories!) I mean, those things go on FOREVER. For me personally, I'm more into the actual story and less into the open-door scenes. When I read the description, I was thinking it was going to kind of be like a Hallmark movie, where it's generally clean, and the whole time is spent building up for the first kiss that happens at the end. WRONG. Well, the first kiss DOES happen at the end....but by that time the two main characters have already fully "done the deed" more than once, in great detail. (Just without kissing on the mouth.) Which, to me, kind of cheapened the experience...because when the first kiss finally came at the end, I wasn't cheering that they finally got together, I was kind of like, "meh, they've already done everything else....soooo......" I don't know. It was kind of anticlimactic.

One character I really liked, that came out of nowhere, was Natalia. I really liked Julian as well; and of course, Angela's parents were fantastic. I wish we could all be so lucky to have parents so loving and supportive.

All in all, I liked it enough to go back and try Marcella's and Theo's story.

I loved so much about this. I learned so much about the Ace community through this book, and I'm really grateful for that. I also appreciated the time and care the author took in building relationships between characters, not just the love interests but everyone.

This was perhaps a touch too long, and I got a bit tired of the will they won't they and the indecision about doing the scavenger hunt, but I love where this ended up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook!

From the moment I saw the cover of Kiss Me Maybe, I knew I had to read it—and I’ve been showing it to everyone at work ever since. The papel picado and the vibrant flower crowns perfectly capture the warmth and joy threaded throughout the book. Luckily, the story inside is just as charming.

Angela Gutierrez, a librarian and self-described late bloomer, finds herself unexpectedly in the spotlight after a vulnerable social media post. What follows is a heartfelt, sometimes spicy, and often hilarious journey of self-discovery, queer joy, and complicated crushes. As a demisexual reader and aspiring librarian in Florida, I saw pieces of my own experience reflected in Angela’s: navigating identity, the consequences of being online, and trying to carve out space for authenticity in a world that doesn’t always understand.

One recurring frustration I have with books that center ace characters did crop up here—namely, the pacing slows a bit when the narrative over-explains asexuality and its various facets. While I appreciate stories that illuminate underrepresented identities, I wished the book had trusted its readers just a little more in those moments.

Still, this book checked so many of my boxes: thoughtful representation, a creative (and chaotic!) scavenger hunt, a crush dynamic that made me smile, and a romantic arc that kept me turning pages. It’s not a perfect book, but it is a joyful, queer, sometimes steamy, and genuinely fun read that I’m glad to have in my reading life—and one I’d happily recommend.