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!

This is my first Alison Cochrun, and it certainly won't be my last. I loved Every Step She Takes!! It was so refreshing to read about 30 somethings figuring out themselves. As a 30 something myself, I appreciated that both main characters didn't have their life all figured out. It its important to have representation of finding out you're queer later in life. Not one has the same timeline to queerness and life in general, and it is clear in this book that that's how these characters are. I loved the secondary characters who were on this tour with Sadie and Mal too!

This story is so dear, and I think many folks will relate to this story, but especially 30 somethings who don't feel like they have it all together. The setting of the story, doing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, was an incredible setting. I didn't know much about that going into this story, but now I want to go!

The growth these characters go through is heartwarming, and you can't help but root for them all. I can't wait for this book to come out because I'll be able to talk about it more. Be on the look out on 09/02/2025!

Thanks to NetGalley and Camino Atria Books for a copy of this ARC, all opinions my own.

I would probably consider this women's fiction featuring a late-bloomer learning to embrace herself more than traditional "romance" novel. Sadie and Mal are both 35+, experiencing a lot of inner turmoil, and they spend a fair amount of time in their own heads. Expect a lot of walking and ruminating. There are definitely sparks, a little spice, and cute moments, but this isn't the ring and a baby epilogue type of romance. The queer representation between the two FMCs and the side characters is robust, and there are a lot of discussions with Sadie, the tour group's baby gay that help her uncover a lot of repressed feelings.

A note about the cover—Sadie said she is not straight size, and that her sister is a fat influencer. At multiple points throughout the story Sadie's body is described as curvy, buxom, generous, etc. The cover art does not accurately reflect the way she's been described, and that feels like intentional erasure of a fat character that has openly embraced her shape.

4.5 ⭐️

I have never met an Alison Cochrun book I didn't LOVE, and Every Step She Takes is no different.

When Sadie's travel influencer sister gets injured, she asks Sadie to take her spot on a Camino tour. However, she forgets to add it's a tour for queer women and genderqueer people. Which is tricky for Sadie, because she's only just starting to realize she might be a lesbian. And that attractive woman she met on the plane? Is her roommate during the tour.

Alison Cochrun then does what she does best and has Mal help Sadie to practice being queer. The Camino setting, the mostly queer cast of characters and Mal and Sadie's shenanigans and budding attraction to each other make for a super fun story. There's also a lot of heart to it, with Sadie figuring out she's queer well in her 30s, Mal not really knowing what she wants in life after her estranged father's recent passing, and conversations about comphet and being on a different timeline than other people.

I am unwell, a puddle of tears, damn you, Alison Cochrun, for doing this to me again.

This book tackles a lot, from our millennial childhoods smothered in toxic heteronormativity to loss of a parent and the complexity of grief, to first loves and finding yourself and learning that it's okay to be vulnerable.

I highlighted so much of this book because so much of it resonated with me, I knew I was queer from a young age but I didnt have the words to say it, so I didn't come out until my early 30s and it was everything, and nothing, but life changing. Sadie's journey was everything to me.

I couldn't put this book down, I loved every single second of it. All the members of our rag tag queer adventure group, the descriptions of the food and the scenery, the chemistry, and the swoony romance. I loved Sadie and Mal so much, and I would totally appreciate a novella in the future to update where they and the group are now!

This ARC was provided by Atria books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7628056894Each Alison Cochrun book–and I’ve read all four now–starts with something pretty tropey–a dating reality show, a fake engagement and failing in love with your fiance’s sister, a road trip to fulfill a dying person’s wish, and now her latest novel, in which a woman replaces her sister on a trip (as well as loudly declaring on the plane that she might be gay. And, oh yeah, the trip is for lesbians (sister forgot to mention that). Sadie also declared it to her seatmate on the plane–and it turns out that Mal is on the tour, too. Sadie is a very easy character to like and empathize with; Mal, on the other hand, is a little more difficult to get into, which actually does work well with the character.

The trip and the many side characters are great. It is a fun read, which does somewhat lose the path just a little in the third act. Prepare for tropes, but if you’re reading an Alison Cochrun book, then you probably actually like tropes written well. And Cochrun does it extremely well (I described Kiss Her Once for Me as a Hallmark book that anyone could like). Much like The Charm Offensive, the ending scene is a bit eye-rolling, but I know from reading that book for a book club that my reaction is far from the norm (and that book was also a great read–seriously, although Here We Go Again isn’t my favorite, every Cochrun book is well worth the read). This is closer to a 4.5 stars, but I don’t quite feel comfortable giving it a 5, so I’m rating it 4–but it’s 4.5.

Having a gay identity crisis is hard enough—but having one mid-hike with a queer travel group on the Camino de Santiago? That’s exactly where Sadie Wells finds herself when she steps in for her travel-blogger sister on a sponsored trek from Portugal to Spain. And just to raise the stakes: the woman she accidentally came out to in a panicked moment on the plane? She’s now Sadie’s roommate for the whole journey. 😬🏞️
What follows is a heartfelt and hilarious walk of self-discovery—both literal and emotional—as Sadie navigates her own delayed queer awakening at 35.
Alison Cochrun delivers once again with a romance that’s fun, flirty, sexy, and full of heart. I adored how relatable the characters were—especially seeing queer, curvy, thirty-something leads front and center. As a 41-year-old romance reader, I’m always thrilled when the love stories reflect my stage of life, and this one hit all the right notes.
A breath of fresh air and a total travel-lover’s dream, this book is perfect for fans of Anita Kelly and Meryl Wilsner. 💕✈️📚

I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. I thought it was going to be playing off of the success of group travel phenom The Pairing (McQuiston), but in no way, shape, or form is Cochrun doing anything but offering an amazing entry into the travel romance genre. Truly, the book was phenomenal and I didn't just fall in love with the characters, but now I desperately want to complete a Camino. Great work.

A very sweet book by an author who I always love. You cannot help but become invested in the characters, their personal journeys and relationships, their fears and hopes, all while walking the Camino in Portugal/Spain.