I needed a few weeks to fully process what this book was. I have only read one other book by Alison Cochrun and it was quite a while ago, so I wasn't exactly sure what I was walking into with this. I was definitely NOT expecting to be curled up in my bed and desperately trying to finish this novel with my eyes blurry with tears.

These characters are at very different stages of life. Sadie is struggling to come to terms with the idea that she is not interested in relationships. Her sister is constantly trying to set her up and she just is not interested in any of the men she is meeting, no matter how "perfect" they are. Said sister, a travel blogger, ends up injured after one of her many escapades, and in order to escape, Sadie offers to take her place on her next trip.

This hike ends up being more than what she bargained for. Not only does it consist of many days of walking many miles, but she just-so-happens to be stuck with the very attractive queer woman she accidentally came out to on the plane ride, Mal.

Spoilers ahead:
<spoiler>When I realized this book had a third-act breakup, I groaned very loudly and needed to put my Kindle down. I think that the trope is very overused and unnecessary in most cases. After taking a moment to breathe and collect myself, I continued. And I'll be damned... If this novel DIDN'T have a third-act breakup (handled EXACTLY as it was) I don't think I would have rated it so highly. Mal, throughout the entirety of the story, displays a common stereotype with lesbians; which is that they cannot stand the part of the relationship that comes after the honeymoon phase. She loves the excitement of a new relationship and its "firsts." I think that with Mal it was crucial that she had her time away from Sadie to think and process what was happening in her head. Sometimes thinking every girl is "the one" is really damaging to the other party and I don't think it would have been fair to Sadie if she later realized that she was just repeating her patterns. AND I don't think it would be fair to readers if they got a false sense of hope from a very real issue (maybe I'll be the one she'll change for WITHOUT her putting in the effort with time and lots of therapy to see if she even wants to break that pattern)</spoiler>

In all, I think this book was really beautiful, powerful, and educational. Thank you, again, to Alison Cochrun, the pubs, and Netgalley <3 I'm excited to read more from you.

I loved this book from beginning to end. A lot of the adult queer romance novels I've read have main characters who are somewhere in their twenties, and so it was nice to see Sadie and Mal working on figuring things out in their thirties. I haven't ever read a novel that fits quite into the spot this one fills, and the Portuguese Camino de Santiago was the perfect setting to tell their story.
While Sadie and Mal were my favorite characters, all of the characters were well-written and had their own unique stories. I could have read a book about each of the characters and their journeys during the book, because the glimpses that we get from Sadie and Mal's perspectives are intriguing.
The only complaint that I possibly have is that I want more - more time with Sadie and Mal after they finish El Camino, and more time with the side characters to learn about their lives before and after El Camino as well. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and will definitely be revisiting it in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Romance — 4⭐️

When Sadie impulsively joins a Camino de Santiago tour meant for queer women, she finds herself walking alongside Mal—the woman she drunkenly came out to mid-flight.

This book had so much heart and humor, with a memorable cast of characters. I found Sadie so relatable—especially that feeling of being behind while everyone else seems to have it figured out.

Both she and Mal were compelling in different ways, and I really loved following their journeys of self-discovery and healing unfold across the Camino.

I also really enjoyed the destination setting! All in all, i definitely recommend. I liked this one even more than Kiss Her Once for Me but The Charm Offensive is still my favorite.

Honestly, I might need to plan a soul-searching trip of my own now.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

There are aspects of this story I didn't really fancy but the found family aspect was *chef's kiss*! I don't think I liked the romance though. I just didn't buy it, I guess.

There were also instances of dialogue that were basically Intersectionality 101 that took me right out of the story. I agree with the principles, not the delivery. There has to be a better way to express inclusive principles.

I'm torn between three and four stars. I'd probably give it 3.5 if I could to split the difference.

Three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I don’t even know where to begin with this book. I have read so many incredible books this year, but I think this was the book I needed to read the most. I see so much of myself in both Sadie and Mal. This arc found me at a time where I am so lost in my own life and I’m discovering more and more about myself and this book showed that there’s no timeline for finding yourself. I’ve loved everything Alison has written and each of her books touches me in a different way, but I think this might be my favourite.

Full disclosure: I, an avowed couch potato, have been googling the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, trying to decide if I really want to set a goal for an upcoming trek, or whether I've just been swept away by this delightful story.

Sadie is a 35-year-old woman living in Seattle, running her grandmother's antique shop, enduring date after excruciating date, and watching her life pass her by. When Sadie's travel influencer sister breaks her toe just before embarking on the Camino de Santiago, Sadie impulsively volunteers to take Vi's place, desperate to break out of the monotony of her daily life. But when the plane experiences turbulence, Sadie confesses to her seatmate, Mal, details of her internal turmoil - her questions about her sexuality, her shame over her inexperience, and her overall sense of being unmoored. Mal, for her part, may be secure in who she is, but not where she comes from. The wealthy heiress to a wine fortune, Mal is dealing with complicated emotions over the death of the father who disowned her, only to leave her everything when he died. And when Mal and Sadie realize they are on the same Camino, as well as roommates for the duration of the experience, it soon becomes clear that they will both need to deal with not only their respective emotions, but their attraction as well.

This book is the perfect illustration of why I am a huge Alison Cochrun fan. Everyone in the story, from Sadie and her family, to Mal and her friends, to the members of the Camino tour, could very easily become caricatures in the hands of someone else. But with Alison Cochrun, every character is treated with care and respect, and they all have interior stories that feel lived in and relatable.

Sadie starts out at one point - embarrassed, ashamed, overwhelmed - and ends at a realistic point in which she doesn't solve all of her issues, but learns how to live with them or takes steps to change them. Her lapses into immaturity, which could be annoying in less skilled hands, make sense given what we learn about her background and experiences. It's easy to want to root for Sadie as she finds her way along the Camino.

Mal is interesting because she's not what she seems on the surface. As more of her story unfolds, her tendency to run from place to place (or person to person) makes sense as a character. I loved her relationship with Inez and Michelle, both of whom provide the tough love that Mal desperately needed to hear.

If I had one complaint, it's that I wanted more of Mal and Sadie in the post-Camino period (frankly, I would have loved a catch up with all of the Camino crew - that's how much the various members were fully-fledged parts of this story).

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is a high 4.5 for me, hence the 5 star round-up!

I enjoyed this ARC and found it to be armchair travel alongside a sapphic romance. I felt the ending was a little abrupt and would have liked an epilogue or something to wrap it up.

If Alison Cochrun writes it I will love it, and Every Step She Takes might be my most favorite read by her to date.

What to Expect
• Sapphic romance
• Self-discovery
• Late bloomer
• Found family
• Queer women travel tour

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC. All thoughts are my own.

I loved this book so much.

I loved following Sadie and Mal’s personal journey’s alongside their literal journey, the way each new place brought them something new, taught them something about themselves, whether they were ready to face that or not.

When Sadie cut all her hair off and thought, “I don’t look better, but I like how I look better” ??? That resonated so much with me. I know that feeling exactly.

I loved their relationship! There was so much chemistry between these two characters. Dancing to Madonna, icecream kisses, hiking just to see the sunrise, pickle juice and bueno bars. Every moment settled somewhere deep in my chest.

I also really enjoyed all the side characters. They all had really distinct personalities and I liked that we got to see glimpses of their personal journeys too.

Thank you to the publisher and author for the eARC of this book!!!

Alison does it again - her sapphic romances are simply the best and she writes sapphic like no one else. An instant 5 star read for me just like everything else she has written.

What you can expect
- sapphic romance
- a backpacking trip
- finding yourself
- familial loss
- a quirky group of LGBQTIA2S+ characters
- “teach me”
- coming out

Sadie and Mal are *chefs kiss* they are perfect messy characters that I wouldn’t change for the world.

Alison Cochrun is one of my fave authors so I was excited to get this arc. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved that it was a book about both an emotional and physical journey. It was fun reading about the adventures they had walking along the Camino de Santiago & also just appreciated each of the main characters' growth and their story arcs. I feel like when you share a unique experience with others, you really get this special bond/kinship and I think this story portrayed that well and also just felt like a good found family aspect. I did enjoy the romance, especially the new to queerness/experienced queer aspect of it. However, I did enjoy all the other aspects of the book better than the romance - the romance was just a bonus to the story.

Read if you like:
- Sapphic / Queer romances
- Traveling
- Wine
- Coming out late in life
- Found family
- Lots of self growth
- Books featuring a life changing journey
- Walking
- Other good LGBTQIA+ rep

If you have liked this author's other books as I have, I am sure you will enjoy this one too! It's not my favorite of her books (that still belongs to Kiss Her Once for Me) but I've liked all of her books including this one. I recommend picking this up when it releases on Sept 2.

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review :)

I loved this book! I really enjoy Alison Cochrun's writing voice and the care she takes in telling queer stories.

Loved:
*A focus on a late in life coming out, normalizing the confusion and the fluidity of it all
*The depiction of how the queer community responded on the tour to Sadie's experience was true to life and very empathetic and sweet. Really showed the range of life experiences and identity shifts of queer people outside of the typical gender and sexual orientation binaries. Refreshing and validating to read for someone who's experienced it.
*The sense of place and the experience of the Camino. I already wanted to do it myself and this book solidified it for me -- it felt like a travel novel and romance in one, which I enjoyed.
*Humor! Just the one-liner descriptions of what activity Stefano was doing in every scene were hilarious and kept me on my toes (much like he was)

I thought Sadie's family was a bit one-note -- was never quite sure why her sister was such a jerk, but maybe we didn't need to know that? Would love a sequel!

Well, now I want to do the tour of Portugal’s Camino de Santiago! I really loved the characters and their growth throughout. They felt so real and their struggles were so relatable, even the side characters were so well developed. And I loved how the end ties back to the beginning!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I have loved every single one of Alison Cochrun's books so I jumped at the chance to read this one and it was so cute! It's told from a duel POV.

Sadie comes out to Mal on the plane as a lesbian because she thinks she going to die but they in fact, did not and much to her chagrin, they are both in the same tour company together to walk the Camino in Portugal and Spain. She signed up for this tour because her sister was injured and she also didn't know it was a queer tour...

Mal is running away, again. From her ex and from the fact her dad just died and left her his whole company. But she can't fall again for this tourist that she calls Freckles.

As they both get closer throughout the arduous walk, will the past get in their way of getting together?

I LOVED that this was set abroad and the tour aspect. It's also refreshing to read a book about a woman coming out in her 30s, because everyone has a different timeline of when they find themselves. The chemistry between the characters was great and it was a lot of fun seeing them get closer. I also really enjoyed reading Mal's perspective too, the runaway heiress. This books was fantastic and I highly recommend it.

Huge fan of the author’s work. For a few reasons, this one didn’t work for me. While I found the premise to be immediately intriguing, the character development wasn’t there. I appreciated the queer representation, but the romance didn’t feel authentic. I didn’t buy into it. And I think that had to do with the character depth (or lack there of). Overall, a decent summer read but wanted more from it!

Read This Book If…you’re in your 30s and still don’t know who you are!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun

Genre: Queer romance
Spice Level: 3/5🌶, 1-2 explicit scenes
Setting: Seattle, Portugal, and Spain
POV: dual, 1st person, present tense
Tropes: sex lessons, coming out, virgin

My Thoughts:
This was such a great read! I loved the more serious themes of coming out later in life and dealing with not getting closure, but there was plenty of fun and steam to balance things out.

The Camino de Santiago made for such a great setting and really added to the journey (get it???)

My only gripe was a huge part of this story was the sex lessons and there were a few fade-to-black scenes. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some spice on the page, but we didn’t get the virgin’s first time fully in bed with a woman?! I just wanted a little more.

But overall, this was a very moving romance and I will recommend to everyone heading to Europe anytime soon!

Memorable Quote: “There’s no such thing as too late. We all get to where we’re going when we’re ready. Not before.”

Thank you to the publisher for my advance copy!

This was my first book by Alison Cochrun! I'm always here for a sapphic rom-com and this one delivered a blend of heart, humor and self-discovery. Sadie is a 35 and feeling stuck in her life and routines when she suddenly finds herself on the cusp of a big change that she didn't see coming. I think the Camino de Santiago was such an interesting backdrop for this part of her journey. This has travel adventure while having intimate exploration of identity. The Meet-Cute? The dynamic is very sweet and gives the vibe of tentative hope. This one has you rooting for the characters as individuals and as a couple. Thank you to Net Galley, The Publisher & The Author for an ARC, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

✈️ Bookish Thoughts
Every Step She Takes is a sapphic romcom set on a queer women’s tour in Europe. Our FMC Sadie is in her mid-thirties and questioning her sexuality. And Mal is ready to step in as her sapphic mentor.

The book starts off so strong. The airplane scene had me laughing out loud and totally gave me secondhand embarrassment. But around the 30 percent mark, the pacing really started to drag.

Even though both FMCs are supposed to be in their 30s, they felt very young and honestly immature. I couldn’t fully buy into the romance either. There was just something missing. Some of the side characters also felt cringe and overly forced. I had to push myself to finish the book.

💛 What to Expect
• Sapphic romance
• Self-discovery
• Late bloomer
• Found family
• Queer women travel tour

📅 Pub Date: September 2, 2025
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Every book I’ve read by Alison Cochrun has been a beautiful description of self discovery, gentle yet poignant, sweet and sensual, and this book was no exception. Every Step She Takes takes the idea of the journey to a literal level as Cochrun describes the Santiago pilgrimage (camino de Santiago) in ways so vivid, I could feel the exhaustion and exhilaration of the travelers and had I not been planning my own camino already, the story certainly would have inspired me to. If only there was a way to book the camino with the same group of queers from every life journey! Thank you to Alison Cochrun for another book that breaks and heals your heart and gives you hope in a world that needs it.

Alison Cochrun does it again 🎉

As a self-proclained indoor person, I can safely say I'll never hike a Camino but I feel like I did though Sadie and Mal's story.

first up, we have Sadie who is 35 and impulsively says she'll hike the Camino for her social influencer sister when she can't due to an injury. little did Sadie know that the tour she's going on is a queer tour. Sadie has been thinking for awhile that straight isn't the best term for her but being thrown into a group of out and proud queer folks stuck together for two weeks doing a physically grueling task is her version of a nightmare.

that is, until she asks Mal to help her experience queer adolescence.

Mal is the heir to a wine fortune that she never wanted. when her estranged father dies and leaves the fortune to her, she does what she does best and that's run away. she wasn't expecting to end up next to a woman full of freckles crying out about being a lesbian virgin during turbulence on a flight then to end up on the same queer tour.

As Mal and Sadie hike their Camino with their very fun and unique group of queer buds, they start to go on an internal emotional journey as well as a physical one. they get introspective about what they want and how to go about it. they also do some practice flirting and dating and kissing. but for real, it's just practice, seriously.

While not my favorite of Alison Cocchruns books, it's still a fantastic read and one that I loved reading. I even read the ebook instead of waiting for the audio and if you know me, that says a lot about the story.

I'd also like to give a brief moment for the fat rep. Sadie is fat and it's fairly decent rep from a non-fat author. there's one specific scene that brought me such immense joy and it's how I want all authors (and people in general really) to handle the conversation when someone says they're fat. its solid representation and I'm here for it.

questioning fat maybe lesbian, definitely queer MC, lesbian MC, multiple secondary queer characters including trans rep

4.5 ⭐