I LOVED Kiss Me, Maybe! It's very Never Been Kissed-coded, except it's queer (the love interest is bi, and the FMC is an ace lesbian who's never been kissed or done anything else intimate with anyone). I admittedly don't know much about the ace community even though I am an ally to all members of the LGBTQIA+ community, so it was nice to learn about what that looks like in a way that was equal parts educational and entertaining. Usually I don't like books where the characters are on TikTok or even mention it, but the FMC, Angela, is a librarian who accidentally goes viral on TikTok talking about how she's never been kissed even though she's in her late 20s. With the help of a bartender she's had a crush on for years, Krystal, she explores herself and her sexuality for the first time while juggling her Latinx heritage and the conservative values when it comes to sexuality and gender performance. There is also a focus on building platonic love and community here, which is often absent from contemporary romance novels. I loved the exploration of a character who is not sexual in a super sexed-up society, and the normalization of being later-in-life and not having intimate or sexual encounters with anyone.

I enjoyed the first book in this series (and loved seeing those characters in this book) but something about Gamez's sophomore novel felt very confident and bold. I found the spice to be wonderful, the angst angsty, and all of the almost-kisses made me kick my feet in the air!! I did have a small issue with how Krystal handled herself in the second half of the novel, but it wasn't enough to bring down my rating too much. This was nearly perfect to me (aside from Krystal being a Swiftie—I really, really need authors to stop with that) and I thoroughly enjoyed the narration as well!

Thank you to Hachette Audio, Forever, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an ALC and ARC!

4.75 ⭐️s
2.5 🌶️
🚨 Pub Date: 05/06/25

Title: Kiss Me, Maybe
Where I Read: ARC via @netgalley and @gabbywritesalot
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The RayView: ✨✨✨✨.5
The HeatRay: 💥
How It Be Spicin’?: 🌶️🌶️
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TW: Homophobia.
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Librarian Angela Gutierrez finds herself viral on TikTok after coming out and admitting she’s never been kissed. After the video seems to get positive feedback, she decides it’s time to step into the dating pool. And the best way to do it? A scavenger hunt with the prize being her first kiss. Krystal Ramirez, the bartender at the favorite local bar, volunteers to assist Angela with crafting the scavenger hunt. But there’s only one problem. Angela has had an unrequited crush on Krystal for five years. Here’s the kicker - Krystal is convinced that she isn’t destined or worthy of love and has sworn off the possibility entirely. So that only leaves one question - Kiss Me, Maybe?
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What an amazingly enlightening story! As someone who has gone through the process of figuring out who I am, I resonated hard with the characters and their struggles within the pages. I laughed, I cried, I awwww’d so audibly my husband looked at me like I was crazy. 😂 It was very empowering to read how Angela tackled every challenge. The narrator of the audiobook version did amazing! Ruby Corazon knocked it out of the park. I highly recommend reading this one!

This audiobook is a romance listeners’ ear candy! Ruby Corazon is a perfect match as the soft and fierce Angela, a queer librarian determined to take control of her love life. With emotional grace, this highly enjoyable listen should be next on your audiobook list.

Crystal and Angela completely stole my heart in Kiss Me, Maybe. Gabriella Gamez writes their story with such warmth and honesty—it felt like falling in love right alongside them. The chemistry is palpable, the emotions are real, and every page pulled me in deeper. If you’re looking for a queer romance that’s both tender and deeply moving, this one’s a must-read. I couldn’t put it down. I truly loved her idea of finding romance through a scavenger hunt i just wish we would of explored that a little more in the plot! I love a daphne. romance and loved to learn about the asexual spectrum through a steamy romance!

I will be providing my review on instagram on the release day as well as amazon! My good reads review is up! :)

Kiss me maybe by Gabriella Gamez
ARC from Forever
Release date: May 6th 2025
May’s book club book ❤️‍🔥📚

-the authors note 😩🫶🏾🔥
-omg I love Angela she’s funny and quirky I feel like we’d be besties
-I’m not usually a fan of having TikTok or references of it in books but I like the way it’s done in this one
-I’m so quickly am intrigued and into her figuring out her dating life , I feel her when it comes to dating anxiety etc
-I love the scavenger hunt idea it’s cute
-Love the asexual rep, explanation and sexual orientation exploration
-I feel like if you’re trying to figure out your identity, dating, sexuality and more this might be for you 🥰
-I relate so much with her when it comes to love and dating wow I feel so seen 😩
-I can feel their connection in their friendship not me forming a crush too with Crystal while also rooting for her to find someone with the scavenger hunt I love Krystal 🥰
-I love their friendship so much they get each other and I love how supportive Krystal is
-“I’m so used to breaking my own heart before anyone else gets the chance to, to believing theirs something wrong with me, that I’ll never be enough , that I may never try falling in love if I’m not capable of it, I know who I am and no one can tell me otherwise” 😭👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
-the exploration talk has me hot and bothered oufff
-EATING UP THE TENSION ❤️‍🔥
-love the drama too
-the narration puts you right in the book , the voices are perfect I could truly imagine the characters and the scenes, I felt like I was in Angela’s head , loved the pacing I couldn’t stop listening makes it even better
-this book was so good juicy, hot but also heart warming when when it comes to Angela becoming her true self, learning about herself and sexuality wow 👏🏾
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have many mix feelings about this book. I think it is a really nice exploration of Ace identities and the spice scenes were very good and not over done which can be the case sometimes with adult books. Though my thing with this book was that it read a little like a YA book. No hate but it does feel like the audience is being spoon fed a lot of points and also it was very predictable. The story didn't have much of a chance to build tension within the main relationship because within the first part of the book, Angela was already daydreaming about Krystal and was already "in love" before the book even really started. And when the other subplot of her finding over sapphics or love interests were playing out, it felt very surface level like there wasn't much point in these characters which is a shame as I think it would've been a really interesting to dive into that part of the story a bit more. So I would give it a solid 3.5. I do like this book, some aspects more than others. I think for ace spec exploration and a coming of age story it is solid and if you like that kind of thing then I do recommend this book. I think if you want something with a bit more tension and depth this may not hit all the right places but it is a solid time (except I have my own grievances about the audiobook).

I was not sure if I would enjoy Kiss Me, Maybe. I didn’t really know what ACE was or many of the other terms in the book. I had to google but I am really glad I read it. I enjoyed it. I am not the biggest fan of telling the whole world all your life(Im not huge into social media) and kind of wish it went a different way. Loved the idea of a scavenger hunt to get to know people though. It’s the whole look at what is right in front of you situation.

I’m still not sure what I wanted to say in my review several days later but overall I did enjoy it.

I love when books with pretty covers have fantastic stories inside of them.

The asexual representation and awareness is incredible in this. The author writes about asexuality in a way I simply must applaud. So many people seem to be quick to assume they know everything about being asexual, & I love that this story showcases the asexuality spectrum. I really enjoyed that the characters played with their sexualities.
I think this book is going to be important for many people exploring their own sexuality. The sex toy exploration was so freaking cool too!!!!!!!!!! I am a SUCKER for that in books!!!!

Social media is always interesting in books, it’s not something that tends to bother me, & I didn’t mind it in this.

Ruby Corazon is a phenomenal narrator & deserves all the flowers for this performance. Easily a new favorite audiobook for me.

The overall energy from this story is a true delight with its character growth, representation, & pinch of heat!!

A major thank you to Forever, Hachette Audio, the author, & to NetGalley for the ARC/ALC in exchange for my honest review!

i wanted to like this book so much and there was a lot i did like! the representation in general was fantastic, it felt like such a colorful reflection across all spectrums were represented in here and i love this so much. unfortunately, i are more about the characters individually and outside of the main couple and was a little bored/underwhelmed with them.

i’d give this a 2.5, maybe a 3 if i went back to it.

thank you to forever for the ALC!

My Fav Contemporary of 2025 So Far

What a fantastic listen! I devoured this one in two days and enjoyed every minute. As an acespec late bloomer I related to this story on a profound level. As much as I love reading romance, it's not always a genre that makes me feel fully seen or represented. Kiss Me, Maybe was an exception to that in the best way possible.

The explanations of what it means to hold various queer identities were effortlessly worked into the story, cluing in unfamiliar listeners without feeling like info dumps. The story's message that there's no such thing as being "behind" in life and that it's okay to achieve milestones on your own terms-(or not at all) resonated with me deeply, as did Angela's journey of self-discovery.

Also, can we talk about the communication in this book? Angela and Krystal were open and honest with each other almost the entire time, which is something I want to see more of in romance! While this is very much their story, each of the side characters were well-developed and intriguing in their own right. And this book was freaking hot, y'all. There's so much tension and yearning, and when the spice finally hits, it HITS.

This is my first book from the author, but it won't be my last. As soon I get through more of my May ARCs, I'm planning to check out The Next Best Fling! (less)

This was a sweet novel with a late bloomer main character and solid asexual representation, which made my heart so happy. I liked the plot and I enjoyed the characters. I loved the audiobook's narrator (for context: I listened at 1.25x speed and it was perfect; I'm usually between 1.25 and 1.50x). I've learned by listening to this book, though, that I'm not a fan of using real-life social media/technology so heavily in fiction. I went into this book thinking, "I loved books set practically ON Twitter in junior high, so this should be right up my alley!" It wasn't, in that sense. But I still had a great time with these characters and would recommend the book!

Angela Gutierrez is in her late twenties, a librarian, a lesbian, oh and has never been kissed. But after accidentally going viral on TikTok, she realizes the perfect opportunity might be right in front of her. She just has to date the entire internet to get there. That’s when Angela launches an idea, THE idea to ensure success. A scavenger hunt about her, and whoever wins gets to be her first kiss. That way, she’ll know it’s with someone who really gets her. And it’s not as though Angela expects to find her soulmate, but at the very least, she can finally experience some romantic firsts.

With the help of her best friend, a local artist and a hot but emotionally unavailable bartender, she begins to think she can pull off the scavenger hunt. But something is growing between Angela and the bartender, Krystal. And though she claims she’s sworn off romance forever, Angela can’t help but feel their feelings are mutual. However, just when everything seems to be going right, Angela finds herself caught up in an internet scandal and a web of lies she might’ve accidentally spun herself. Can she salvage her reputation and still get the girl she’s been pining over for five years? Or will her internet fame and budding flame fizzle out before she can salvage them? All the late blooming gay panic and more in Kiss Me Maybe.

Now this is how you write a romance book. It sank its claws into me and never let up for a second. I was surprised by the representation the author managed to include without being preachy or crowded. It felt genuine, too, not as though the author was vying for diversity points. The main character goes through a realistic transformation, and her identities fit exceedingly well in the novel. The plot was fun and high stakes, but not overly stressful. The characters were relatable and complex. The writing style was detailed with realistic dialogue. And the audiobook narration added great characterization and tone to the story. If you enjoy late bloomer romances with spice, vast emotional depth, and relatable characters, you are in the right place.

The main character, Angela, embarks on an interesting coming-out story that puts a fresh twist on a tired trope. Going into the story, Angela is confident in her lesbian identity despite not being out to her entire family. So the novel focuses on her coming into her asexual/greysexual orientation. This added nuance to her journey and allowed us to grow with her as she attempted to sort this part of herself out. Her journey wasn’t linear; she backtracked, misspoke, and changed her label a few times. But this is often the reality of queer self discovery. It takes trial and error, and this book did such a great job of not chastising her. The main character also mentions comphet, which is all too relatable for many lesbians. Due to this, Angela flirted with lots of guys in her early 20s, and when her followers found out, many used it to discredit her identity. Even her family, which is the unfortunate reality of so many lesbians who came out later in life. And because of this, I think many people will see themselves represented in Angela, from comphet lesbians, to greysexuals, to late bloomers. Her journey is surprisingly easy to relate to, which makes her so fun to read and empathize with. Despite hitting quite a few bumps along the road.

The plot wasn’t as good as the characters, but it was still interesting and gave great external conflict to contrast with Angela’s internal conflicts. The scavenger hunt aspect had potential up front, but I think it fizzled out a bit as her romance with Krystal continued. Although it made for a great ending, it didn’t impact the plot or characters as much as I wanted it to after the halfway mark. Which surprised me because I thought it was a clever plot device. But it also didn’t detract from the plot in a way that would impact my rating or enjoyment. The family and TikTok drama, though, was what hooked me. It is so risky being an influencer, especially given Angela’s situation, and although I saw the big twist coming, the catalyst and extent still shocked me. It came at the perfect time, though, because the pacing was well done. Every scene had a purpose and never lulled, but without having too much “action”. There was a great balance of “doing” scenes, where things happened and the plot was furthered, and “context” scenes, where the reader could breathe and the characters reflect on everything that has happened up to that point.

The writing style was great, although I did listen to the audiobook. As most romances do, it leaned into descriptors and “telling” rather than showing in the beginning. However, once the characters and settings were established, it did a great job of transitioning to “showing” more. It felt juvenile at first, but it grew into a more mature style as Angela came into herself, which was impressive and fun to read. The dialogue was also great and felt like real conversations. The audiobook narration was fantastic, too. It gave real life and body to Angela, as though she were reading it to me. There were also no weird voices, and it had a consistent tonality. The pacing was most likely good too; however, I always listen to books at 2.5x speed, so, in that aspect, I am not a great judge.

All in all, this friends-to-lovers romance is a must-read. From the TikTok antics to the will-they-won't-they tension, you will not be able to put it down. Not to mention wishing you could join in on the first kiss scavenger hunt. If you love complex characters and diverse identities, you are in the right place. Happy reading!

CW: Anxiety, alcohol, bullying, lesbiphobia, misogyny, queerphobia, homophobia, and slut shaming.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for sending an eARC audio for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

For more sapphic reviews, follow @the.lesbian.library on Instagram, StoryGraph, Substack, and YouTube.

There are so many layers to this, I don’t even know how to start unpacking it

“𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦”

This one is for the people who put themselves online or out there to be perceived by strangers in any type of journey, self discovery or self mastery they embark on. This one is for the girlies that don’t think they are capable of love, hell they’re not even sure what that is and how it’ll look like for them. This one is for the girlies that have never experienced romantic love before and feel set back, “not normal” or less than because of it. This one is for the lonely ones, the girlies that feel lonely in their hearts because there is so much they’re yet to discover about themselves.

Oh how I love all the meaningful parts of this story, i was over here screaming “girl the love of your life is right in front of you!” Even while appreciating the journey it took both MC’s to find themselves. I received the ALC on NetGalley and the audiobook narration is perfection. Very engaging, very revealing, leaning into accents and emotions in an easy flow that completed the story so well.

I will admit, with the plot itself, I felt stuck sometimes.. lowkey bored cause the pacing struggled to keep me entertained 100%. I kept coming back tho for the knowledge, the beautiful quotes, the diversity, the real edge the story had. I wish from the bottom of my heart I was reading an ebook so I could annotate because the prose SPOKE to me.

3.5🌟final rating

I really liked the audio book, listened to it within three days and really didn't want to take my headphones out to do other things during that time.
The narrator had a really nice voice which helped to amplify the generally cozy atmosphere.
Even though it was a rather simple story, the characters all were very layered and seemed relatable.
On the whole the story was very close to life showing the pros and cons of social media, a rarely portrayed perspective on (first) love and other firsts and how complicated but also beautiful relations between humans can be.
To summarise I can definitely recommend listening to everyone who just needs a chill and heartwarming but also realistic story and to everyone who often feels like an outsider not portrayed by the media a lot.

Let me start by saying that Kiss Me, Maybe is super cute!

Angela was very believable as a late bloomer with her own flaws while she figured out her identity, and that journey was relatable to me as I didn't fully explore my own sexuality until I was in my mid-to-late 20s. There was so much representation (Mexican-American, ace spec, bi, and lesbian) included in this story, and I hope it resonates with its intended audience. And the spice??? It was perfect. Overall, I did enjoy this book, particularly on audio. The narrator, Ruby Corazon, was perfect for this audiobook! Her narration was engaging and fun.

However, I do feel like the plot didn't satisfy me like I'd hoped. I wasn't quite sold on Angela and Krystal as friends-to-lovers because there wasn't much depth to their friendship; I would've loved to see it developed more before the scavenger hunt. Additionally, the scavenger hunt became an afterthought and quickly fell apart. It felt strange that Angela wanted to do a scavenger hunt with strangers on the internet but also wanted to have a connection with whoever she kissed.

Thank you to the publisher (Forever and Hachette Audio) as well as Netgalley for the ALC! I also received a physical ARC at B&N Book Fest, which was signed by the author.

NetGalley can we please have a DNF option instead of a star rating. I do not like giving star ratings to books I DNF.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this audiobook @25% I could not vibe with narrator or the story. After over two weeks I found myself avoiding picking this back up. I also did not like the premise and Angela came off very juvenile in my opinion. That being said, I love seeing Latine representation in publishing, as well as Sapphic stories. The narrator did not bring this story to life for me and I found myself confused at times who was speaking. Although this audiobook was a miss for me I could totally see it working for others. This was my first novel by Gamez, but I will checkout her previous novel. I greatly appreciate the publishers and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 ⭐️

This is a review of the audiobook.

I really enjoyed this story and love all of the different types of representation. However, I think it ran a little long for my taste. After about the halfway point, I was kind of expecting the story to be over but then looked to see I still had half the book left. The chemistry between Angela and Crystal was great and I was definitely rooting for them from the first time they met.

I had a little trouble differentiating between the 2 main characters. The voices used were very similar and sometimes if I wasn't paying 100% attention, I wasn't sure who was speaking. But otherwise, I loved the narrator and think they did a wonderful job narrating this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend to lovers of books with great LGBTQIA+ representation and very lovable characters.

If I first comment on the narration, I have to say that at times I felt there were too few differences in the different voices.
Otherwise the pace was good.
The story itself had interesting aspects.
Asexuality is not new to me, but it is not that well known either.
That's why I liked it and I learned a lot.
As a romance, however, it really didn't grab me for a long, long time.
Because I didn't know how Crystal and Angela were supposed to work. I liked Crystal, but Angela was difficult for me to understand as a character.
It was an up and down and the scavenger hunt was a bit unnecessary, but oh well, that was the story.
Unfortunately it didn't grab me til the nearly end. But it could be an interesting story for people who are interested in asexuality and an internet presence as an influencer with insecurities.
Thanks very much to Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the ARC

*Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for early copy for review*

4.5 rounded up

Amazing ace rep is demonstrated in this book. Especially the fluidity of being ace and sexuality in general.

"I've never felt lonelier in my whole life, than when I realized I was ace spec."

This quote felt like it had reached into my own experiences to smack me in the face. There was many more moments that had me feeling like that as well. The romance between our characters was really fun and filled with many cinematic moments. I really could see them falling for each other. Also I loved their flirting throughout as well.

I definitely need more ace character to fall in love and the epilogue definitely hinted at another book!

Thank you for providing me with the ARC audio version of this book. It was my first audiobook experience, and it presented several challenges. I had no prior expectations, but the experience was different from what I anticipated. I believe that if I had had a physical copy of the book alongside the audiobook, I might have been able to better follow the story, characters, and plot. I spent a significant amount of time rewinding sections to comprehend certain aspects. Additionally, the concept of having a single female narrator narrate a sapphic novel with two female protagonists made it difficult to distinguish between the characters. The narrator also narrated the male characters’ voices. The lack of realism in the book hindered my ability to fully immerse myself in the story. Nevertheless, I completed the audiobook and found it heartwarming and enjoyable. I particularly appreciated the build-up between Angela and Krystal. I loved the dynamic between them, where they alternated between taking control and grappling with deep secrets that brought them immense shame. The heartwarming part was witnessing their efforts to overcome these secrets and finally embrace their love for each other. The book beautifully explored the concept of self-love, flaws and all, while also delving into the complexities of falling in love with a friend. I was particularly drawn to Angela’s character as a librarian who enjoyed herself and deviated from the typical image of an older, stern librarian who shushes children throughout the day. In conclusion, I intend to reread the book to enhance my engagement with the story, but overall, it was a delightful listening experience.