This book gave me all the feels. It was so deep, like anything Cochrun writes and yet very entertaining. Would you pretend to marry a man, specifically your boss's boss if it meant solving all your money problems?

What if you say yes, only to meet his sister and find out that she is actually the woman you fell in love with after meeting once last year?

Talk about a complicated scenario. This book will make you laugh and cry and feel all the feels!

CW: anxiety, grief, dysfunctional family dynamics, parental neglect.

"I guess that's how it works in families that love each other unconditionally. You can fight without fear of losing them, and be honest without consequences or repercussions."

Last Christmas Elle spends one perfect day in the snow with a beautiful woman, Jack. A year later and Elle's life if falling apart, she's lost her job and is about to be evicted. Then, she's offered an opportunity to make some money, she just needs to marry the landlord of the coffee shop she's been working in so he can receive his inheritance. What could go wrong?

I loved this book. I love when I can relate to the characters and I see a lot of myself in Elle. She needs to have a plan for everything and doesn't deal with major changes that affect said plan. The main characters are great but I especially love a book with great side characters and fell head over heels for the whole Kim-Prescott family (the grandmother's especially, I think we need a book just for them). This book has plenty of LGBTQIA+ rep (trans, bi, gay, demi) and speaks highly of taking care of mental health as well. There is some family trauma here but also really loving family relationships as well. This is a romance but is also about what it means to be part of a family. I started this book just after Christmas and finished it after the new year and it was the perfect end to the year and a wonderful beginning.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author for an advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

This was a perfect book for me - it had all the makings of a Hallmark movie, with a healthy dose of trying to figure your life out and dealing with the fear of failing, heartwarming family holiday traditions, a love trapezoid, ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS after some serious miscommunications, and a lovely bite of spice. This was the best holiday romance I read this season and I am very interested to see what Alison Cochrun plans next for her readers!

SAPPHIC ROMANCE READ YES YES YES. A marriage of convenience story with a twist, she falls for his sister who she has some history with instead. This was so romantic and sweet, I wanted more. There was drama, there was angst and yearning and maybe some insta-love but it didn't take me out of the story.

Thank you #netgalley for an early read of #kissheronceforme

I really loved this even though some parts were hard due to second hand embarrassment or the anxiety of it. I thought the story was unique and honestly even though I knew a key detail from the description of the book, I was still shocked when it was revealed. I enjoyed the fun references to the different songs and of course my favorite Taylor Swift.

I loved this book so much! The perfect holiday rom-com that has messy family moments. I will always love the pop cu sure references throughout Alison cochrun's books (aka Taylor Swift)

📖 REVIEW 💭
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Kiss Her Once For Me by @alisoncochrun
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Genre: LGBTQ holiday romcom
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
This book in emojis: 📘🏫🌨️🛻❄️☕️🧑🏻‍💼💍🏠🥂🍪🎄🎹👵🏻👵🏻🌿👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏻🪵💔👩🏻‍🍳🍞🌨️🌉❤️‍🩹
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💭 As you can see from the emojis… this book was a RIDE. I snagged the audio for this one & couldn’t stop listening—I had to find out what was going to happen between these two beautiful, broken characters thrown into this seemingly impossible situation. I’m in awe of Alison’s ability to craft characters that are complicated & emotional & oh-so-easily loved. I felt in love with her writing in The Charm Offensive, and Kiss Her Once For Me was more of the same poetic writing & raw characters that you can’t help falling for.
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👉🏻 This is another “holiday” read that really could be read any time. But it definitely was the perfect audio companion during my long drives in the snow!

This was a fun queer romance!! I've never read an adult Christmas book before but I highly recommend it while the season is still a little Christmas-y. My only complaint was that the main character could be a little annoying (what do you expect to happen when you post your fictionalized life online to thousands of people and then tell someone about it) but I can overlook that for the fun of it. I also enjoyed the dual timeline of this Christmas vs. the year before. A win for me and a super cute cover!! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

One year ago, Ellie met a woman at @powellsbooks . They really liked each other and ended up spending the night together, but the next day something happened and they never saw each other again.

One day, Ellie’s landlord tells her that he needs to marry someone in order to get his inheritance so he offers her a sum of money if she agrees to marry him. Ellie is still single, she lost her job and she feels lonely, so she agrees. But when they arrive at his family's home for the holidays, Ellie sees Jack again and she discovers that her feelings for her are stronger than ever.

I love Portland, Lake Oswego and Powell’s so I really enjoyed the setting of the book. I also loved Andrew and Jack’s family, especially their grandmas, and Ellie and Jack's chemistry.

Kiss Her Once for Me is a nice, fun and very festive read full of holiday romances and traditions. Thank you @netgalley @atriabooks and @alisoncochrun For the gifted copy.

I will reach anything Alison writes. This book was phenomenal. Sexy. Extremely sad. But if you love books with a found family, this is the one for you. It;'s a perfect, cozy winter read!

I like my romances cute, queer, and chaotic, and Alison Cochrun's KISS HER ONCE FOR ME delivers on all those fronts. If you're looking for some holiday shenanigans, I'd definitely recommend it.

The book's premise was immediately compelling, as it's exactly the kind of ridiculous mess that I think romance novels are so well-suited for. The characters were, on the whole, well-developed and charming, though I would have loved just a little more development from some members of the side cast (like Dylan!). Some of them, though, absolutely shone – the grandmothers in particular were wonderful! The central relationship was wonderful: Jack and Ellie were both really well-written, and I felt invested in them both despite the single-POV.

The central conflict was done very well and realistically, and I loved that the plot did not hinge on any major miscommunications. I also thought that the handling of Ellie's mental health was compassionate and careful, and really appreciated Ellie's personal growth arc through the book.

In all: a good read, a charming romance, and definitely recommended. Thanks so much to Netgalley and Atria Books for the digital advance copy!

I had high expectations for this and was not completely sold. I have really enjoyed Alison's previous book so was looking forward to this one but could not get into this one sadly.

Kiss Her Once For Me

Author: @alisoncochrun
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
•sapphic romance
•marriage of convenience
•forced proximity
•LQBTQIA+ romance

This was a delightful read! It was a really good mix of funny, emotional, and swoony.

The highlights:
+ bookstore meet cute
+ the love trapezoid
+ found family
+ snow day vibes
+ magical holiday charm
+ mental health rep
+ neurodiverse characters
+ flashbacks
+ taylor swift references
+ Portland setting
+ quirky grandmas

Overall, this was a great rom-com to get you into the holiday spirit. Thank you @netgalley & @simonandschuster for the ARC & finished copy!

BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: Kiss Her Once For Me
AUTHOR: Alison Cochrun
FORMAT: Audiobook
GENRE: Holiday Romance
DID I CRY: No
PUB DATE: 11/1/22
RATING: 9/10
4.5 stars

Thank you so much @atriabooks for my #gifted copies of KISS HER ONCE FOR ME, out now!

MY THOUGHTS

This is my first Alison Cochrun and I am obsessed! This book truly nails the holiday romance with the most heart-warming and empowering LGBTQIA+ and mental health representation.

The writing was fantastic & translated very well on audio, and the narration was great. I loved the characters in this book so much as well. They were quirky and unique but so confident in their identities. I found myself laughing out loud at times with the banter and dialogue. My favorite part for me was the representation laced through the whole book. There was a lot of subtle education about sexuality (demisexual, bisexual, etc) & also about gender & pronouns! I wholly believe this is the first fiction book in which a character has used they/them pronouns, or a character has asked another character their pronouns. It was such a beautiful part of this book and I highly commend Alison for how she so naturally embedded this into the book. The mental health rep was also subtle, sometimes when it’s so glaring it can feel forced and like authors are just checking the box but that is far from the case here. It was truly wonderful.

The plot was fine, not a super love for me but I definitely didn’t dislike it. I know romance is generally predictable and readers aren’t really looking for that surprise aspect, but i felt even the side plots (which were heavily focused on in the book) were predictable. Again not the worst thing. My real only qualm was a me-problem and it’s that I do not like instalove tropes & this is really intense instalove. I don’t love fake dating either, as that feels like a gimme for a third-act conflict, but this was done pretty well so i wasn’t mad.

All in all, definitely a book that should be on your radar if it isn’t. I know the holidays are coming to an end but this is definitely one that would feel appropriate to read all winter long.

I don’t quite know how to put my love of this book into words. The writing is achingly beautiful, the flashbacks via webcomic a unique plot device, and characters to cherish forever. I truly adored every single one, except for Lynds because obviously she is a garbage human and doesn’t deserve Ellie.

I loved the representation in this book, I loved the gramma’s, I loved Andrew. I loved how Jack and Ellie opened up and admitted their fear and how they took the leap anyway. I just really loved every single word.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for an honest review! First I have to say that this book what right up my alley, a sapphic rom-com + Christmas? Those are my favorite things! But for some reason, I struggled with this book. The premise was cute and I think that the execution worked for most people, but I was unable to connect to the story. I'll probably give this book a re-read in a few months, maybe I'll love it then. Kiss Her Once For Me will definitely be on the shelves at my library; the patrons + staff will love it.

LIKES:
📝 fun, relatable, emotional writing
⏳ dual-timeline
❄️ cozy winter cabin setting
🏳️‍🌈 lgbtqia+ representation
👩🏻 Ellie is a shy, anxious, caring artist
✍️ graphic novel & comic writer vibes
🧑🏻 Jack is a hopeful, steady, & loyal baker
🎄 Christmas energy
🥸 fake dating (4/5 steam level)
🪝 just a hookup
🔺 love triangle (or trapezoid lol)
🛏️ only one bed
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 examines family dynamics
🌱 personal growth themes
😊 cute & heartwarming
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DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ dm me for TW!
🧀 Jack felt a little too cheesy for me at times
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VERDICT: an incredibly sweet & heartwarming fake dating, love triangle, sapphic romance w/ graphic novel vibes, an exploration of family dynamics + personal growth themes - just know it’s cheesy!

Alison Cochrun is back at it again with another delightful queer love story! While not as strong as The Charm Offensive, Kiss Her Once for Me contained all of the things Cochrun does well: excellent banter, endearingly-flawed protagonists, and background characters that steal the show!

A warm and cozy queer holiday novel that celebrates found family and love in all its forms. Also full of delightful pop culture references!

I really enjoyed this read! The authors first book, The Charm Offensive was one of my favorite fiction romance I read last year. So I was very excited to read her new book!
The characters were very diverse and complex, and the story line was put together beautifully. I loved the ending as well, really well done!