I loved this book!

I loved the then-and-now.
I loved the queerness.
I loved the audio narrators.
I loved the side characters.
I loved that the inheritance stipulation was actually believable.
I loved the theme of found family.
I loved how sweet and wonderful it was.
I loved the meaningful steamy scenes.

I loved everything.

This book cements Alison Cochrun as one of my favorite writers. She has such a way with words and created these magical characters. I absolutely loved the ending of this one and wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

This is a second chance queer romance. Ellie had a beautiful day with Jack last Christmas. We learn what happened throughout the story through flashbacks. This Christmas she is fake engaged to Andrew, not realizing that his sister, Jacqueline, is really her Jack. She figures it out when they arrive at the family cabin for the holidays.

This is a sweet romance. There is some clearing up of misunderstandings, but, aside from that, it really is about connection, second chances, and believing that you can have good things in your life. I enjoyed the story and the diversity of the characters. It was very inclusive.

Thanks to the publisher for a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for a chance to read for my honest opinion. This was such a cute holiday read. I found myself relating with the characters. I will read from this author again!

This book started out so great and I was loving it so much, but the ending. UGH. Ellie and Jack had so much more potential, but in the end, they were both so toxic.

With an ending rewrite, this would be the absolute perfect Christmas rom-com that I would watch every year. The family was cute and cozy. This was almost the perfect holiday read!

Kiss Her Once For Me is a holiday romance without being too much of a holiday romance.

I loved this novel, and considering I only started reading romance this year, that's probably not saying a lot. But this feels exactly like a Hallmark movie in novel form, which is exactly what I love about it. The characters are all so believable and their arcs are thought out and well planned. The plot twists and tropes fit perfectly, and I could see the novel being played out as I read it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria Publishing and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

When I got approved for the NetGalley ARC for this, I was over the moon excited. But I wasn’t ready to read a Christmas book over the summer, so it sat… patiently waiting… past its November pub date… past the initial excitement of binging Christmas-a books after Thanksgiving… and past Christmas. Being a mood reader, sometimes you can’t explain why a book just knows when you need to pick it up, but I guess, IYKYK? All that to say, I picked up Kiss Her Once For Me at the exact right time this week, and it hit that sweet spot of being the absolute perfect timing. It was just what I needed!

As Ellie Oliver cried alone in a Portland bookstore on Christmas Eve, she never expected to have such a strong, immediate connection to the stranger reaching for the same book. But she did. And she spent the next 24 hours falling in love with the woman. As any cynic knows, after the peaks come the valleys, and as soon as she wakes up the next day, her life starts unraveling. She loses the girl, loses her dream job in animation, and a year later, she’s broke and miserable working in a local coffee shop.

In a wild twist of fate, she agrees to fake marry the shop’s landlord–with plenty of benefits for each spouse. She heads to the family cabin and quickly realizes she’s marrying the brother of the mysterious woman she fell hard and fast for the year before.

Tinged with a dash of melancholy, the book still manages to leave you with enough warmth and fuzziness to feel satisfied. It’s a moving story with tender, funny, swoony moments that solidified Alison as a favorite author. Thanks to Atria books and NetGalley for a gifted ebook.

Kiss Her Once For Me is elements of all the best romantic comedies wrapped up like a gorgeous Christmas present. Vaguely based around While You Were Sleeping, it leans into the tropes of rom-coms while digging in deep emotionally with all the characters. There are so many opportunities to make the characters shallow or cruel or two-dimensional, and it bypasses all of them to give depth and heart to each one.

The book makes a nearly perfect Christmas romance. It balances ideas of the special magic of snow days or whether you're fated to meet someone with childhood wounds and letting fear, however earned or valid, control you. Ellie agrees to a ridiculous scheme not because she's a fool, but because she's desperate, and that gives her decision more validity than the mapcap shenanigans of a typical rom-com. She's written with great compassion and care, and a less earnest author might not have been able to pull off a character like Ellie. While you know some of her choices are bad, you understand why she makes them and you root for her to be able to make better ones in the future. And Jack, lovely, hopeful Jack, is absolutely a character you can imagine falling in love with in a day. She feels both magical and real, an apparition of a snow day and a firmly rooted person. How could you not fall in love with a 2000s pop-music obsession butch baker?

The arc of the romance was predictable in that perfect way rom-coms are — you know the general stops along the way, and the destination, but the emotional depth and chemistry of the characters is really what makes it worth the read. The city of Portland has such a big role in the book, and I love a story where the place matters and affects the course of the story. Even so much of the story being tied up with snow, which is incredibly rare and unusual for the area, sets the tone of the story as set apart and unique, even magical.

Last read of the year and it was a cute one!! I loved the cozy family Christmas vibes and the conversations on mental health/sexuality. Alison Cochrun wrote some lines that I just loved!!


I did think parts of this were a tad slow and I would've preferred if the flashbacks were shorter/in graphic format (I know why they weren't, but still). There also was a lot of insta love (not my fave), especially for a character that is demi!!

Loved it! Alison can write a damn book! Love all the queer and neurodivergent rep. This was a cute sapphic holiday-ish romance. Also included the fake engagement trope and had a little steam. I loved The Charm Offensive more than this book but still a very solid read! Alison will always be one of my fave romance authors!💕

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the complimentary book in exchange for my honest review!

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4/5⭐️⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝: I always love a dual timeline with flashbacks that line up with the current storyline—and found that the format really complimented this insta-love story between Ellie and Jack. It was a really well-balanced blend of sweet and spicy, and I appreciated the themes of honesty and talking through issues that came up (even though it…well, you’ll see).

The side-characters in this one were a highlight for me, but my favorites were Ellie’s best friend Meredith, and Andrew’s grandmothers Meemaw and Lovey. The family dynamic was so charming and it was heartwarming how Andrew’s family welcomed Ellie with open arms as one of their own despite the strange circumstances of their engagement.

This book was so Christmassy and was a perfect December read. I’m really glad that I picked it up before the end of the year—this is definitely one that you have to read in the winter, preferably with some snow falling outside.
⁣⁣⁣
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞: You definitely need to suspend reality a bit for this one, because the romantic “love trapezoid” is just too unfathomable for family members with as much love and respect for each other as the Kim-Prescott siblings.

I related a lot with Ellie, but found that the constant pity party became irritating as the book went on. The writing was repetitive at times, and there were parts that were a bit immature for my preference (e.g. the constant talk of “snow magic”).

"Snow freezes time, so the constant pressure of life is briefly suspended in a blanket of snow, and for one day, it’s like you can catch your breath.”

The ultimate cozy book to me. I can't get over how cute this is. The stakes seemed high at the beginning, but everything settles very nicely and it becomes the book equivalent of a warm hug. All the best tropes, all the most likable characters. It wasn't complex or surprising, necessarily, just good vibes all around. Maximum charm.

This was one of my most anticipated romances of the year. I ended up with multiple copies (yay sharing with friends), went to a signing event, and had this set as my book club's holiday pick as we all loved The Charm Offensive desperately. So, when I say this book missed the mark, I say it with tears in my eyes, a sob in my chest, and a belated review because I have been trying to convince myself that *I* am wrong. Although I have seen so so much love out there for this book in the world and am so incredibly happy it does have its audience!

First, the things I really struggled with in this book kept me from being fully enamored in the romance. It was too instalove; we had Ellie all wound up and pining a year later and... I did not get it. The fake dating trope was so fake I am concerned for Andrew's family (Jack included) for believing it. We saw almost ZERO interactions between Ellie and Andrew once they got to the cabin. Bro didn't even TRY to pretend he wanted to help teach his fiance to ski (this could also be tied up in... there were too many romances going on and maybe we needed more from Andrew's side or none). But I think the part that really just nailed in the coffin of "this romance was not for me" was the freaking line that Ellie's fear of failure was why she left Jack's van after MEETING JACKS WIFE and that she should have stayed to HEAR JACK OUT. Nope, no thank you, not happening.

Those were all relatively small things that made a big impact on my enjoyment. There was also a lot I really did appreciate about this one. The web-comic as an asynchronous flash-back tool was creative and engaging. The characters introduced as Jack/Andrew's family were really fun and felt distinct (the granny's were, obviously, the best). Ellie's relationship with her parents and fear of failure was something incredibly relatable and nice to see her growth. Jack's drive for independence and frustration with her family for not supporting her how she wants/needs to be supported. Individually I really enjoyed reading about Ellie and Jack. The writing was fabulous and funny.

Kiss Her Once for Me is Alison Cochrun’s latest smash hit, following on the heels of her debut novel The Charm Offensive. This is a marriage of convenience plot for the books (pun intended!) with a “trapezoidal” love circle twist!

I absolutely loved the dual timeline with flashbacks to the prior Christmas, as well as the zany cast of characters around Ellie. Other notables include a great list of mentioned songs and artists, a love-at-first-sight at Powell’s Books and a shocking grand gesture!

KISS HER ONCE FOR ME by Alison Cochrun is a complete delight. Indeed, for fans of holiday romance who have long wondered: where on earth is queer "While You Were Sleeping?" Superfans of Cochrun's debut, THE CHARM OFFENSIVE will not be disappointed.

Thank you to the author, publishers, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!

Unfortunately, I choose to DNF this book about 70% through. I was excited to read this book because I love The Charm Offensive and saw a lot of good reviews for Kiss Her Once for Me. I did not feel the initial connection that I had felt with The Charm Offensive, and over the course of a month, I gave this book several tries to no avail.

I think the premise is really interesting, but the love aspect of this book fell flat for me. I did not believe the love that Ellie had for Jack was real. We learn of their love story through Webcomic entries, which I initially thought was a clever way of revealing that aspect of the story. Unfortunately, the Webcomic entries did not convenience me that they fell in love in a day and even a year later that they were still in love,

I officially decided to stop reading when a big plot point that had been hinted at for a long time had been revealed, and I did not feel anything towards it. There is an audience for this book, but it was not me. I will continue to keep an eye on the author and their future work.

Another great romantic read by this author who has so much representation in her books! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Another EXCELLENT book by Alison.
WOW! I loved this story so much.
really well written
She is an incredible storyteller.
THANK YOU

Alison Cochran is an incredible author. Her books are full of heart, realness, and optimism. Kiss Her Once for Me is a book I’m going to reread every year.

Have you ever loved a book so much, you just want to live inside of it ?? This book was it for me. I was immediately hooked and fell completely in love with the characters from the very beginning. It’s a cozy holiday sapphic romance, with “While You Were Sleeping” vibes. There is so much that I loved about it, but especially the cozy PNW setting, a meet-cute in Powell’s Books & the unique marriage of convenience trope. The heroine falling for her fake fiancés sister ?! SO GOOD & kept me very invested. Aside from the swoony romance & laugh out loud moments, you also get very raw & emotional moments. The characters are very relatable with their flaws and struggles, & anxiety being a big part of it.
I love the PNW, Oregon, & I absolutely love & recommend this book !