I went into reading this expecting it to be a cute series of near misses that led up to the main characters finally getting together, which it was, but I did not expect to also find a powerful journey through so much trauma and grief. These girls went through so much and stood by each other through it all. They were so much more than friends or each other’s crushes, they were soulmates.

I really enjoyed the dual pov which allowed me to see their individual struggles and how their feelings developed on both sides. I also thought the use of text messages between their friends was a really clever way to give outside points of view on their relationship. I would have loved more of a peek into the moms’ minds too. Without giving spoilers, Penny deserved so much better, and I would like a long talk with Lottie to figure out what the heck she was thinking.

Overall, this was such a well-written, emotional story and one I won’t easily forget.

Thank you so much to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

For someone who hasn't read very many contemporaries this year, this for sure pulled me back into the genre and reminded me what I love about them. I mean from the first paragraph I was sold on everything about this book. Right away I could see clear as day, these girls don't hate each other at all, sure they clash a lot but you can see theres so much history there. it was almost comical to me, like they're fighting but its just obvious how much they still care about each other. Theres a lot of instances where when it truly comes down to it they show up for the other one no matter what, and even one of the side characters said it. Like it's just so heartwarming to see, I love them so much. Tate's got a big heart and is fiercely protective of her loved ones and is always trying to do everything all at once and just loved her overall. By the way I loved her mom too, they have sort of the relationship me and my mom have. Penny broke my heart just a lil bit, she's got a lot of emotions and feelings and trying her best to keep it all together at her moms insistence, but I was just waiting for her to catch a break honestly. Theres a lot more to her character that isn't mentioned in the synopsis so I wont spoil it but I loved the way her story was handled, her past, her complicated relationship with her mom, her trauma, her dad's death etc. Her gran was amazing though she might be my favorite character after the girls. Don't ask me to pick a favorite of the two girls, it ain't possible.

I loved the way this was set up too, they allude to a lot of different points they almost kissed and then at some point we finally flash back and go through the events that lead up to it. It also gives you a look into how the girls have grown between then and present day and whats changed. Like its just cool I dunno what else to say about it. The synopsis sets this story up as a fun cute contemporary, but you also get a whole lot more than that. It deals with heavy and emotional topics (Family relationships, PTSD, trauma, without overwhelming you and making it heavy and thats really cool honestly. I mean don't get me wrong you'll still feel all the emotions while reading, I read over half of it on a plane ride and it felt like a rollercoaster of emotions. I both didn't want it to end because I loved all these characters and did want it to end just to see them get their happy ending. The only thing Id wanted to see that we didn't get was more of what happened in the after, like to the moms and the girl's friends because I got just as attached to them too like I wanna know whats happening with them too. This is my second Tess Sharpe book and she really doesn't miss. I strongly encourage you to check this book out when it releases, its such a powerful one that you don't wanna miss.

Six moments, two girls, complicated histories, and how they fall in love. Penny and Tate aren’t exactly friends: they bicker and fight but they are always there for one another. Their mothers (life-long best friends) make their relationship even harder. When Penny’s mother offers to give her liver to Tate’s mom five days before the surgery both their lives are turned upside down. Now they will be forced to live together as their moms recover and they create a truce in order to keep everything in order from their jobs, the house, the finances, and their mom’s healing running smoothly.... the only problem is that they both have a complicated history of almost kissing each other. Penny and Tate have feelings for one another but they never talk about it, they make it a rule to ignore it... but they both can’t stop looking and caring for the other.

Tate’s life revolves around making sure her mom is happy, paying bills, swimming... and Penny. Tate will do anything for her and for Penny.

Penny’s life has been turned upside down. After a river accident that killed her dad and left her with an injured hand, her mother has completely checked out on her, lost in her grief. All Penny has is her Grandmother to look after her. Penny’s mother is consumed in her grief and Penny has to look after her, working overtime to pay bills, trying to make sure the house is running, and making sure her mother eats and sleeps. Penny is barely holding it in and it doesn’t help that her mother has stopped her from seeing her therapist and forbids Penny from doing any water related sport after the accident and has sold her father’s half of the company that Penny plans on owning. After springing the surgery on Penny, its just one more thing her mother is doing without telling her.

This is a slow burn sort of friends to lovers story that mainly deals with grief and loss and healing. Penny’s Mom was the worst, there I said it. I completely understand where she’s coming from but the way she treated Penny? No absolutely not. It’s one thing to be dealing with grief its another thing to tell your child they are hard to love, completely ghost them, force them to pay for finances and become the parent, and barely even talk or care for them. I loved the romance but what I loved most of all was Penny’s healing, her journey through all of this and seeing her get to deal with her own grief for once. Told between past and present, we get to see various moments between Tate and Penny’s relationship and the way they both have had to deal with difficult things and how they are always looking after one another. This was a truly sweet story and I would definitely recommend it.

*Thanks Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I've only read one other Tess Sharpe work before — The Girls I've Been, which is a real 180 from this one, so I wasn't too sure what to expect. While I did enjoy Penny and Tate, I didn't feel a lot of "will they, won't they", nor did I feel a lot of yearning or pining from them — which is fine, just not what I'd expected. In a way, it feels a bit more grief-centric than what I'd been expecting. What really made this book, for me, was Penny's grief, and how her relationship with her mother was handled, as well as how Tate has always been there for Penny.

The premisse for this book sounded super cute, but this story was a lot more emotional than I bargained for. After Penny's father dies in a rafting accident, her relationship with her mother turns... complicated, and this is a central focus of the book. I thought this was done really well, but definitely don't go into this book expecting a cutesy story.

The romance is more angsty than cute, in a way that worked really well for me. I absolutely loved Tate and Penny's relationship - they're not technically friends but they always have each other's backs anyway because they grew up together.

Penny and Tate are sort of friends who sort of hate each other. Their moms are besties, so they've been pushed together their whole lives, which is a bit of a problem, considering they can't be in a room together without bickering--or wanting to kiss each other. It's never happened, though, although, as the title suggests, they've come close a few times.
When Penny's mom becomes a living donor for Tate's mom, it stirs up a lot of feelings in Penny-- mainly anger, that her mom can love Anna so easily while doing absolutely everything wrong when it comes to Penny. The family-- the two girls, their mom's, and Penny's paternal grandmother-- navigate the tricky waters of wading through grief, contentious family relationships, trauma, and lies that pull them away and push them together in various painful ways.
And through it all, there's Penny and Tate: always coming back together, no matter what pulls them apart.

6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) is one of the best books I have ever read. It's a beautiful, raw examination of the ways love can complicate our lives, for better or for worse.

There's definitely a strong undercurrent of grief throughout the book, dealing specifically with Penny's father's death (including the scene where it happened) and the aftermath of that; and Penny's mother is neglectful and just downright awful toward her. This book made me cry from frustration, sadness, and hope, and definitely stirred up some feelings, so know that going in. Tate's mom is also a cancer survivor who now needs a liver transplant. All these things factor in very heavily throughout the book.
The book is absolutely worth reading, if these are topics you can safely read, but worth knowing about these things going in in case you need to prepare yourself or skip this book. It's incredible, but it is a lot.

I love the author’s writing, but ultimately DNF’d this one because the topic of parental illness is just not one I can read at the moment for personal reasons. I don’t know how big a role it plays going forward in the story, but it might be worth considering a mention in the blurb if it’s an ongoing plot point as other readers might feel the same way? I appreciate the opportunity to read the arc and look forward to more from the author.

Darker than expected, but absolutely wonderful, nuanced, romantic read. I devoured this in a day and wouldn't change a single thing. This is definitely one I'll be recommending to customers. Thank you for the ARC!

A wonderful, quick read full of heart. It was an engaging read that delved into the complexities of childhood friendships, PTSD, complicated family relationships, and true teenage feelings. Highly recommend.

I love Tess Sharpe's other YA books, Far From You and Girls I've Been so much, I've lost count of how many times I've read Far From You. I was so excited to read 6 Times We Almost Kissed. Set in the same Northern California area as FFY and GIB, 6 Times We Almost Kissed follows the classic fanfic formula. It's something I've read many times in fanfiction before but never in a published book. Based on the cover/summary, I was expecting something a little less angsty than Tess' other books. 6 Times We Almost Kissed is A BIT less angsty, but it is still going to tug on your heart strings. It also has a lot of super cute moments between Penny and Tate, who have grown up together since their mom's are best friends. Penny has already suffered a traumatizing loss recently, so she is very apprehensive when her mother is going to be a liver donor for Tate's mother.

Overall, I loved this so much and I am eagerly looking forward to reading the next Tess Sharpe book whenever it may come out!

This book had so much different emotions into it! Love, friendship, heartache, fear, loyalty…the list could go on! Penny and Tates relationship over the years was one truly unique and special to just them. The family aspect with two single moms raising their girls together, with their close friendship flowing down to daughters that were fighting whatever feelings are there. The loyalty they had, even with irritated by each other, but yet still showing up was sweet and powerful. Great easy ready.

The amount of perfect this book is....there are honestly no words. The way that the author deals with loss, and change, and illness, and difficult families, and love...there are honestly no words. I have never read a book that touches on so many different topics without being convoluted. This book deals with all of it so perfectly. I connected so much to the characters and their difficulty in dealing with loss. Tess Sharpe is truly a genius. She has always been on my top author list, but this book just confirmed that choice for me.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this advanced reader copy. This book will be released January 24, 2023.

This book was a solid 3.5 stars for me. I was pretty invested in Penny from the beginning and loved Tate over time. It was dramatic and fun and I enjoyed getting to learn more about the characters. The drama between mother and kid was really relatable to me as well.

This book was everything! I absolutely LOVED every part of this book.
6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) was literally incredible. you can tell Tess Sharpe put her heart into this, and I hope everyone gets the chance to read this amazing book!!!
A heart-warming and sweet story laced with self discovery and all the slow-burn magic that makes this book so perfect.
A joyful read full of likeable characters. Penny and Tate were the greatest.
They are relatable in their own ways, and I found myself just wanting them to be happy.
Sharpe had me all in my feelings while reading it. A true gem!
Overall, I absolutely adored this book and it will be one that I think about long after I have finished it.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my blog, platforms, BookBub, B&N, Kobo and Waterstone closer to pub date.

tess fucking sharpe i love you you evil genius. rtc cause it’s late and i’m losing my mind.

*＊✿❀　❀✿＊* *＊✿❀　❀✿＊* *＊✿❀　❀✿＊*

”& some things—like their kisses-can’t be almosts forever.”

GOD. this book was amazing. like i needed some sleep to comprehend how amazing this book was. i never knew i needed a 5+1 fanfic trope in book form until i read this but jesus.

i’m a fan of this trope, hell i AM this trope. this is for all the ones who spent their night scrolling endlessly on ao3, wattpad, tumblr, fanfiction.net, etc etc.

🛶👩🏻‍🦰📒: oh penny, my beloved. she was such a complex character and i love her oh so dearly. her relationship with her mother was probably one of my favorite parts of this book (besides the romance, ofc). no matter how heartbreaking it was to read certain scenes with her, it was done & handled so well and i didn’t expect anything less from miss sharpe. she deserved so SO much better. im hoping when this book officially comes out if we can get a little epilogue, i need to see how life is treating her, among other things <333

🩱🏊🏻‍♀️💟: tate tate tate, that’s my mf girl right there. there just so many scenes where i was just yelling about how much of a badass she was. she has such a big heart, and tries to take care of everyone & it broke my heart oh so slowly. it was a breath of fresh air seeing a less toxic relationship with her mother, but while also seeing the grief she suffers from all the times she almost lost her. i need a tate in my life, the way she always showed up (cough, besides a time we won’t mention) when penny needed her, just break my heart. she was like the sun to penny’s moon and you know i ate that up!

though this is a romance first, it’s so much more than that. it shows you a found family dynamic, walks you through grief in different ways, talks heavily about mental health. god it was just everything. the side characters were 👨🏽‍🍳💋. i absolutely adored meghan, remi, & marion. there just 0 complaints about this book. it’s a slow burn, oh so slow, but it’s a book you won’t want to put down. absolutely in awe of everything tess writes. behold the woman who’s the queen of writing sapphics!!!! 🤍👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩💗

5 stars. duh.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★/☆☆☆☆☆

<thank you netgalley, tess herself, & little brown books for granting me access to this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved the characters. Loved the story. There is not a single compliant I had.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

(This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy provided by NetGalley.)

Tess Sharpe just so reliably delivers good books. I don’t think she’s capable of writing a bad book. Even though this isn’t a thriller like most of her other books, I still finished it in a day.

Come for the slow-burn f/f romance, stay for the ride-or-die friendships and the complicated mother/daughter relationships. The character work is so carefully complex and nuanced: my reaction to Penny’s mom was basically “This person is capable of profound kindness and also she’s appalling and I hate her, and also I feel bad for her because she’s been through some terrible things BUT ALSO SHE HERSELF IS TERRIBLE but also she donated her liver to a friend so like….what do you even do with that.” And Tate’s mom is one of my favorite fictional parents.

The romance is pretty great too! It’s not marketed as a fake-dating book, and it isn’t exactly, but it does have the “we’re not dating but everyone thinks we are” trope (which I love), including a hilariously awkward safe-sex talk from a parent who’s convinced they’re dating. And there are many romantic lines that I hope end up on the @sapphiclitbot Twitter: “It’s like being cherished for the first time.” “Kissing her is like waking up after a hundred years. It makes everything new. (I feel new everywhere she touches.)”

One quibble: There are occasional text conversations, which I enjoyed, but the texting tone/style didn't quite feel realistic to me. There are too many periods! Even millennials don't use that many periods, and these characters are Gen Z (if we assume the book is set in or near the year of publication). Also probably too many capital letters for Gen Z, and one teen character uses the cry-laughing emoji with the teardrops (which, in my understanding, most teens consider outdated) instead of the one with the tears streaming down the face.

Rep: Dual-POV, both queer cis white working-class girls. Tate describes herself as bi; Penny neither claims nor explicitly rejects any sexual orientation label, though she has dated at least one girl and at least one boy. Both POV characters are out and their sexual orientations are a non-issue. Penny also has (according to her therapist) undiagnosed but possible anxiety, OCD, and/or PTSD. Tate’s mom has a liver disease referred to in the book as “Alpha-1,” presumably Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe is a beautiful young adult novel that follows the lives of Penny and Tate, two girls who have always clashed but whose paths constantly cross because of their mothers' epic friendship. When a long-awaited surgery forces both families to live together, the girls can't ignore their reluctantly shared past… including all those times they've almost kissed.

This book was so refreshing. It's brave, bold, and honest. I loved the characters and the story was heartwarming and touching. Penny and Tate are both very full characters with rich histories and complicated relationships with each other, with their mothers, and with their circumstances. I loved watching them grow closer as they got to know each other better.

The writing was engrossing, the story flowed beautifully, the story was poetic, it's the perfect coming of age story. There were some great funny moments in the book, but it also dealt with some heavy themes in an honest and thought-provoking way. This is a great story on trauma and identity (sexual and otherwise) packaged as a ''simpler story''.

I really wish I could share some quotes on this review because there are a ton of really thought-provoking ones. I could have highlighted the entire book, that's how well it was written.

In case it is not extremely clear with my review, I highly recommend Six Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) to fans of contemporary young adult fiction.

Dare I call this book perfect? Because it certainly felt like it was for me. Tess Sharpe has such an intricate way of telling stories that could make me fall in love with literally anything, but 6 TIMES WE ALMOST KISSED especially found its way into my heart, and for many reasons!

Penny and Tate's love radiates off these pages. They care so deeply for each other, even if they are reluctant to admit that, and their romance is one of my favorites I've ever read. But besides that, they are also just such three-dimensional, real characters that deserve the world. The rest of the cast was also just incredibly well-developed!

Now, there's a lot of love tucked into these pages, but I would say there's also so much hurt there along with it. I really, really urge everyone to look up content warnings before diving in. The themes were explored with lots of care and hit really close to home for me, which was both confronting and comforting to me, but I wouldn't want anyone to get triggered by the heavy parts of this book.

But I do want to say that, despite those heavy themes, this book was also fun! It had me captivated until the very last word and I laughed so, so much, even if it was through tears sometimes.

6 TIMES WE ALMOST KISSED is a book I could never fully capture in a review, because it simply is so special to me. Tess Sharpe once again proves herself to be a masterful storyteller, and I can't wait to read this one over and over again. Absolutely an all-time favorite!