Alison Cochrun is one of my favorite romance authors, and this didn’t disappoint! I actually read this right before going on the Camino myself, which I think made it an even more fun reading experience. I really resonated with Sadie and loved the found family in this book.

I didn’t think I would enjoy this book as much as I did. It started out slower for me but it really picked up. I loved the cast of characters, they were such a fun motley crew that you grow to love, just like the MCs did. I was fully expecting an awful third act break up but the author worked around that pretty easily. I felt the ending was abrupt, I was not expecting to turn the page and hit the acknowledgements. I feel like any newly out queer person or someone looking for positive queer representation would love this book. It’s a journey and I truly enjoyed it.

I got this an as ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, thank you!

Alison Cochran does coming to terms with sexuality so well, this one was no different. I loved the atmosphere and insight into the trail. Honestly, it was my favorite part of the book. The main characters dynamic was interesting but not one that I truly believed in.

This was a good one. Alison Cochrun is very good at making you love every character that steps foot in her books. Characters are complex but lovable. And the storyline is always smooth.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I really always enjoy this authors charming romance novels, they have a lot of heart and this one is no different

I love the way Alison Cochrun develops characters, and this book was no exception. I loved the courage the main character showed from the beginning- stepping in for her twin to walk the Camino, grappling with her sexuality, and struggling to figure out who she was in light of new discoveries about herself- it is a “coming of age” book for a character in her 30s. Many thanks to Atria Books, Alison Cochrun, and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book was fantastic! I adored these messy but sweet disasters and I loved the way the Camino journey played alongside their relationship. Alison Cochrun continues to write the best characters. After I finished it, I just wanted to pick it back up and start over.

(This was a voluntary review of a free advanced reader copy. Thanks to Atria Books, Alison Cochrun, and NetGalley for that privilege!)

“How boring would life be if we didn’t have anything left to discover about ourselves?”

I haven’t read anything by Alison Cochrun that I haven’t loved. She manages to create such beautiful, flawed, and captivating characters. This book is no different, and going in nearly blind made for such a great reading experience.

The story focuses on Sadie and Mal, who are on a group tour walking the Camino de Santiago in Portugal. Sadie is there in her sister’s place after making a snap decision, and she’s immediately unsure. Mal has walked the Camino before, but she’s there because she running from her latest breakup and her father’s death. They’re both at such a crossroads and using this tour as an escape, but it becomes so much more than that.

Sadie is grappling with the realization that she’s not straight, and Mal steps in to help her embrace her queerness. It revolve into such a deep emotional connection between them. Mal is trying not to let herself end up in another relationship so soon despite her clear attraction to Sadie. They have such honest and vulnerable conversations as the tour goes on, developing into what Mal hopes is a real relationship and not the pit stops she’s had before. Their struggles are real and relatable, and they’re dealing with internal issues on top of the external difficulties of walking the Camino.

Not only are Sadie and Mal great characters with incredible development, the supporting characters on their tour are incredible. The tour itself is queer, and it’s an eclectic group with such different experiences. They’re endlessly supportive and encouraging of each other, and it’s amazing to see their development in the background of Sadie and Mal’s. This is the kind of book that buries itself deep in your soul and reverberates.

I could talk about how incredible this book is for so long. It’s just excellent.

Beautiful exploration of self and love and being patient and generous with both. Nostalgic and hopeful in the familiar way that traveling and adventure always feels.

I went into this book, admittedly, a little hesitantly. Of Cochrun's previous novels, I only really liked the Charm Offensive, so I wasn't sure if I'd like this one either, but I was willing to give it a try.

And I'm so happy I did.

Because I loved this book.

Right off the bat I was swept away by Sadie and how much I related to her insecurities about being too late, too left behind, too inexperienced, too confused, too everything. I related to so much of what she was going through. Then we immediately met Mal and I adored her right off the bat. Then we met Inez and the rest of the Camino Crew and I fell in love with all of them. Then we started on the trek and it was everything I love about adventure stories.

I have a couple nitpicky things I wish were different -- no epilogue? How comes we're in Sadie's head for one momentous experience, but not the other one? -- but honestly, I wouldn't change anything about this movie.

It's my first five-star read of the year for a reason, after all.

I loved this book, the journey was raw and beautiful and so relatable as a queer person. The romance was spicy and enthralling to read about as their connection grew deeper. It was a really awesome read about self acceptance and the journey it takes to get there.

I have loved all of Alison Cochrun's books and this is no exception. I loved the plot and Sadie and Mal and the whole cast of pilgrims they walked with. This book made me want to walk the Camino! Which maybe wasn't the intended take away but alas, it did. Overall, it's definitely worth the read for anyone who loves romance with an interesting plot and deep insight into the characters.

Alison Cochrun’s Every Step She Takes is an emotionally satisfying, introspective novel that blends slow-burn romance, grief, and late-blooming self-discovery against the backdrop of Portugal’s Camino de Santiago. As a fan of Cochrun’s previous work—especially Kiss Her Once for Me—I picked this up with high expectations and found myself not only delighted, but deeply moved.

Part of what makes this book so powerful is its portrayal of queer identity as something that can be unearthed and nurtured at any age. Sadie, our protagonist, is a woman in her thirties reckoning with desires she’s only recently allowed herself to name. As someone who has also come to embrace parts of their identity later in life, I found Sadie’s emotional journey achingly familiar. Cochrun writes her with empathy and nuance, particularly in how she navigates family obligations, queer awakening, and sexuality—including aspects rarely depicted in romance, such as discomfort with penetrative sex and what I read as a possible demisexual identity.

At first, I struggled to warm to Mal, Sadie’s love interest, who encourages Sadie to take risks she doesn’t always feel ready for. But Cochrun patiently unpacks Mal’s motivations, and I grew to understand how grief, self-doubt, and people-pleasing have shaped her. Her arc is just as compelling: one of learning how to stop running and start sitting with silence. That idea—of stillness, of shared quiet—hit home in a beautiful line toward the end: “You make the silence bearable.” It’s a simple sentence, but it captures what I treasure most in my own marriage.

I read this book while on holiday with my wife, often with the ocean in view, the sound of waves soft in the background. It was the perfect setting for a story like this—quiet, contemplative, full of love. It also made the found family of Camino travelers even more affecting. Some felt a bit exaggerated at first, but by the end, I cared for them the way you care for travel companions who’ve shared something transformative with you. Cochrun clearly drew on her own Camino experience, and it shows.

I’ll be purchasing a personal copy of Every Step She Takes, not just because I loved it, but because it feels like a book I’ll return to when I need a reminder that it’s never too late to become who you are. It’s the kind of story that lingers, and I’m already imagining a tattoo—a strawberry and a pistachio—as a tribute to Sadie, Mal, and the pieces of myself I see in them.

Here’s hoping Cochrun gives us a sequel. There’s a character introduced late in the book who I’d love to see get her own love story.

This one was entertaining and sweet - I'm a sucker for any sort of travel romance and I loved that this one featured lgbtq+ representation. The tension was palpable, the pacing was perfect (not too fast/not too slow) and the characters were likable. Thank you so much to the publisher for the gifted copy!

DADDY MAL!!!!! That could be the entire review, but I will elaborate.

This book was the perfect combination of everything I love. Forced proximity? Check. Later in life discovering your sexuality? Check (because who else discovered they weren't straight in their 30s?). Trauma dumping in a scary experience? Check. Gorgeous, stunning, beautiful, amazing LGBTQ+ characters? Check.

This story centers around Sadie, a 35 year old woman who has been unlucky/uninterested in dating and who somehow found herself going on a crazy long expedition across multiple European countries. She quickly meets Mal, a sexy, androgynous, confident person, to whom she dumps her deepest, darkest, most repressed fears in a vulnerable moment. I won't go on for fear of spoiling the story, but you NEED TO READ THIS!

Alison Cochrun wrote so beautifully that I felt like I was trekking right along with this dynamic group of people, feeling their struggles, celebrating their wins, and aching for the slowest burn most passionate moments. 5 stars, no notes, thank you very much.

Every Step She Takes was overall too earnestly sweet for my preferences. It was very, very online and leans a bit too strongly towards feeling like being lectured than I like. On the positive side, the cast of characters surrounding Mal and Sadie were charming, and felt like potentially real people. The "late bloomer" thesis was sweet and the Camino journey as a setting worked well. The chemistry between Mal and Sadie was believable and I understood why they were interested in each other. However, a lot of moments were so, so overtly sweet that they landed as cringe. There was a lot of sponcon, which I know is realistic in terms of writing the blog posts, but felt odd in context. The name dropping of current pop culture never works for me in books, but "gay Italian Rob Lowe" did make me laugh. Overall, this was not a book for me, but I'm sure it has a wide audience that will love it.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy of this book—it’s out 9/2!

4.5 stars rounded down

Alison Cochrun is one of my favorite romance authors and might be the only person to make me think that I should go walk the Camino de Santiago!

As always, her books have a queer love story at the center, but there are so many other layers that enrich the story, like friendship, family dynamics, and mental health. In this book, Sadie is a 35 year old who’s feeling stuck living someone else’s dream job and has never been able to find the words to articulate her sexuality. When she unexpectedly finds herself on a Camino tour for queer women, it’s an opportunity to experience the queer adolescence she never had, with the help of her roommate Mal, who’s also falling hard for Sadie…

I always appreciate that Cochrun’s books explore mental health in a very nuanced way, and while I don’t think I related to this book as much as I did to Kiss Her Once for Me or Here We Go Again, it’s a reminder that it’s never too late to discover who you are and what you want (and to visit Portugal!).

Alison Cochrun has become one of my favorite authors this year. I've read all of her books. Every Step She Takes is a wonderful new addition to her titles. I loved joining Sadie and Mal as they trekked across El Camino. Not only did the characters go on a physical journey, they also experienced emotional journeys as well. Sadie finds herself with the time and space to question her sexuality and her life's path. Mal is forced to confront a traumatic coming-out experience from decades ago. I loved seeing these characters learn and grow along the path. This book was absolutely a five-star read for me! Even though this book isn't out yet, I'm already longing for Cochrun's next book!

I’ve never read anything by Alison Cochrun but will absolutely be doing so now. This was funny but emotional, reminding me of my own coming out experience and first love. Will be buying a physical copy as soon as it comes out!

The character chemistry is always phenomenal. These books always feel like returning home. If I had a nickel for every book with a queer couple walking a trail I’d have two nickels. Each character made my heart happy. I love queer joy. Finding yourself is an amazing feat and I’m so happy for those championing self love. Thank you so much for this arc!