Ever since I devoured Alison Cochrun's debut novel "The Charm Offensive" in a day, I've been hungrily awaiting her next novel - and it did not disappoint. While a very different setting and vibe from TCO, "Kiss Her Once For Me" delivers a lot of the same elements that made so many of us immediately fall in love with her writing - lovably imperfect main characters, honest depictions of mental health, a supporting cast that is as richly developed as the romantic partners we follow, and a beautiful setting that acts as a character in and of itself.

Yet it isn't more of the same - Ellie and Jack's story stands alone with plenty of yearning and desire to carry them through. For those who love their holiday cheer with a dash of angst and a giant heaping of queer love, this will be the perfect story to snuggle up with this winter season.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. This book was so fun. I really enjoyed it. This book kept me interested and i enjoyed the book and this genre

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH LIKE SO SO SO SO MUCH OH MY LORD!! Ahh Alison Cochrun has zero flops. Like literally ever. The Charm Offensive? Bop? Kiss Her Once for Me? BOP!! Ugh this book is so amazing and adorable and ughhsdkfjadsklfj it's just so good. Like I really cannot (clearly) put it into actual , well-thought out words so this is what you are getting, but I loved this book so much!!

A quick festive read. A cute story with likeable characters. The story flips between last Christmas when main character Ellie had it all, to this Christmas when everything seems to be falling apart. Of course you get your Christmas romcom, but this book also talks about dream jobs vs reality and family trauma which I appreciated!

This is a perfect romance to get you in the holiday spirit! It is a fun, heartfelt love story with a healthy mix of heavier topics and romantic diversity. Ellie is a great lead character and it was fascinating to watch her grow and develop. This is a wonderful representation of love, I definitely recommend this title.

Thanks to Alison Cochrun, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

4/5 Stars

2.5/5 Spice

TW : Abusive/Toxic Parental relationship, Lying, Cheating, Biphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia (The author has a full list on their website)

Rep : Bisexual, Lesbian, Sapphic, Non-binary, queer, Latine, Korean-American, Trans side character, Generalized Anxiety MC

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had no expectations going into this book but I loved this book so much. This is a Sapphic Christmas book but it didn’t feel overwhelmingly Christmas focused and was more so focused on Ellie growing as a character. There is so much diversity in this book and I can only comment on the queer rep but I felt like it was so well done and amazing to read about in a normalized way. It wasn’t the main focus, it was just a normal world where people happened to be queer or some other branch of LGBTQ+.

Ellie Oliver moved to Portland a year prior to when the majority of this book takes place for a job in animation but when we met her she is making ends meet as a barista at a job she hates, living in a shitty apartment, and helping her grown mother pay her bills. One day at work the landlord of the coffee shop comes in while she’s complaining about her job and ends up at the end of the day asking her out for drinks. He explains to her that he needs to marry someone for his inheritance and wants her to be the woman, and they arrange a fake engagement and eventually a fake marriage over Christmas. When they show up at his family’s lodge, she learns that a one night stand she had a year ago last Christmas and never got over is actually his sister. When the attraction doesn’t relent, which does Ellie choose a marriage to save for plan or love?

I fell in love with all of the characters in this book but Ellie’s journey was very well written we see her go from pretty much a mess without a lot of a plan and believes everything will fail to someone who accepts failure but doesn’t think it everything is going to be bad and accepts that she can be loved and that plans change and you don’t always need a plan. The relationships between characters felt realistic and well thought out. My only main issue is we don’t see Ellie and Andrew, the fake fiance and landlord, get to know each other enough to seem like they would be convincing to a family who doubts that Andrew would get married without even telling them that he was dating. I like Ellie and Jack’s relationship and I especially love the flashbacks that show us how that one day happened the previous Christmas. I could feel their chemistry and tension and absolutely adored it.

I highly recommend this book for people wanting a cute fake engagement, sapphic, Christmas book, that has a ton of representation and just fun vibes.

Alison Cochrun does it again. This book is perfection. I don't really know what else to say about it other than everyone needs to read this and it's the perfect queer holiday book. It has all the elements you want in a holiday book, fun holiday activities, family shenanigans, drama, fun flashbacks, a steamy snowed in moment and more. You need to read this book this holiday season, or any season.

Super cute queer romance novel! All the characters are well written, and I like how Ellie’s mental illness is dealt with in a realistic way. Anxiety can turn cartoonish sometimes, but the author does it well. The love trapezoid between Ellie, Andrew, Jack, and Dylan is something I hadn’t read before, and I like how non-judgmental the family (besides the dad) was for their children’s choices in romantic partners. I would love to read a sequel about life after this book and how things turn out after the events at the end!

After reading and absolutely loving Alison Cochrun’s debut novel The Charm Offensive, I was so excited to hear about Kiss Her Once For Me, a sapphic Christmas romance!

Things I loved about it:
-I don’t think I’ve ever read a story with a demi-sexual lead!
-Lots of diversity along the LGBTQ specturm
-Great supporting characters
-realistic, flawed characters
-fake dating

Things I didn’t love as much:
-It got pretty repetitive.
-Ellie losing her job the year before was basically her entire personality.
-The flashbacks to the year before distracted from the present plot. The day was impactful to Ellie and Jack, but nothing really happened other than them connecting so it wasn’t super interesting to read about and took up too much time for me.

Overall though a solid follow up and I still look forward to reading more from this author!

Delicious, cinematic, artsy, and trope-y in the best way. For those of y'all who read and loved The Charm Offensive and wondered what Alison Cochrun would do next, here's the perfect follow-up. I relate to Ellie so much, what with having Generalized Anxiety Disorder, being afraid of failure, and lacking confidence in art. And ultimately this book boils down to FEAR. And that fear is something I feel on a daily basis. In contrast, Jack is completely fearless and poetry in motion. Add in a super elaborate fake dating plotline, a toxic parental relationship, and the CUTEST graphic novel and it's just... perfection. Take me to Portland stat!

*Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

The book was really interesting and fun to read, and the fact that it’s sapphic already made me happy to being with, but as always I still have some things to complain about (because what am I if not picky and annoying?)

1) I’ll have to be honest, I find the whole “everyone arounds me is obsessed with my dating life and all want to find me a partner” trope quite annoying. It often makes every character overbearing and it's just anxiety inducing for no real reason.

2) I’m not demisexual (I think, at least?) so I can’t directly criticize that representation in this book, but the fact that Ellie is demi and emphasizes the fact that she needs a deep bond only to then find Jack who’s the “exception”, left me a little torn.

3) I personally like stories where we go back and forth between past and present, but in this case that first chapter and the way it starts felt a little out of the blue (maybe a softer start would have been better). It also felt a little odd to read the memories of that day in an order that was not chronological.

4) [SPOILER AHEAD] I get that Andrew and Ellie aren’t REALLY together, but even after Ellie confesses to Jack that she doesn’t love him, they are still officially engaged. So yes, Jack kissing (and sleeping with) her after that confession is still cheating in my book, and it bothers me. Just like Dylan and Andrew kissing is very much still cheating.

I don't mind third act break-ups/conflicts if they're done well, which I think is the case here since it made me cry. The ending definitely made me raise the rating for the book again.

This is one of those books where I liked the second half better than the first. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the beginning premise and what we eventually learn about the female MCs first meeting.

I appreciated the awkwardness, however, and the romcom references, all the pop culture references, actually.

I enjoyed Charm Offensive and do like this one a little bit better. The mental health rep is fantastic and there is also non-binary and bi rep.

I adored the authors last book, The Charm Offensive and had super high expectations for this one. I’m so happy to report that this one more than lived up to my expectations and I enjoyed it just as much.

You have fake dating and instead of a love triangle you get a love trapezoid and that worked so much better for me than a boring triangle. The relationships between the characters are complicated to say the least so the entertainment value alone makes it worthwhile but it’s so much more than a sappy rom com with funny moments. It also has those too but the author does such an incredible job at representing a wide variety of people and handling their issues and problems in a delicate and sensitive way. The side characters don’t even feel like a secondary part of the story, every one adds value to the story and they were all so well drawn. Everything about this one felt thoughtful and combine that with a charming sapphic romance, a festive setting for a good portion of the book and Taylor Swift references and I was beyond happy. Loved this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the opportunity to read an eARC of Kiss Her Once for Me!

CWs: Panic attacks/disorders, toxic relationship, biphobia, homophobia, transphobia, infidelity, ableism, alcoholism, drug use
***
Listen. The Charm Offensive was my top romance read of 2021. I was nervous and exciting diving into Kiss Her Once for Me. Was Charm a fluke? Would Alison Cochran’s sophomore book not live up to expectations?! I am thrilled to report that my expectations were exceeding, blown out of the water, run over with a car, thrown into the sun, etc. I love this book with my whole heart. At times an absolute romp, and at others heart-wrenchingly vulnerable and relatable and romantic, it’s an instant add to my holiday feelings reread rotation.

Kiss Her Once for Me is a holiday second chance romance that proves snow magic is real, and sometimes One Perfect Snow Day is all it takes to find your person.

Ellie perceives herself as a failed artist, living in her depression den, working as a barista over the holidays with few friends and no family willing to visit. Desperate for money, she agrees to a fake-dating and marriage of convenience scheme with Andrew, the landlord of the coffee shop she works at. He needs a fake fiancée, and she has nowhere to be and bills to pay. When Ellie arrives at an honest to God mansion in the woods for a week of faking it to convince the family, she is confronted with a ghost of Christmas past… or rather someone she ghosted on a Christmas past: Andrew’s sister Jack. Jack, who Ellie spent one magical snow day and night with after a meet-cute reaching for the same Alison Bechdel graphic novel. Jack, who is a baker with a dog named Paul Hollywood who lives in a trailer but wants to live in the suburbs. Jack, who is the only person Ellie has felt truly romantically connected to, and who she ran from with no phone number and no last name when she felt rejected. A year has passed after that one perfect day, but the stakes are too high for their holiday reunion to be simple.

One week at Christmas. TWO sets of exes. A lot of lying. Holiday and snow magic. Drunk grandmas. Snowed in with one bed. What doesn’t this book have.

When it comes to media, you often hear people say that a certain book or movie or character made them feel seen. This has never really happened to me before until reading this book and connecting so deeply to the character of Ellie. I can’t tell you if there are any flaws in this book because I was too busy being wrapped in a warm hug of love and understanding.

I always appreciate how Alison Cochran tackles complex topics without it feeling forced or like boxes need to be checked. Whether a romance works for me or not is 100% vibes-based. If I don’t feel like the dialogue is how people I know talk, it takes me out of it. I hardly felt that I was reading a book but rather experiencing it with KHOFM.

What can I say except that this book is amazing! I had heard so many good things about Alison Cochrun's writing and I was so glad I got to start with this story. It is complex in a way that you don't expect a Christmas romance to be. Yet it still contains all the fun elements that comes with a Christmas romance. This is a sapphic story that has a demisexual main character and a lesbian love interest. It is hard to find demisexual representation, so I was excited to see it in this book! There are other side characters that are members of the LGBTQ community. Plus ADHD representation. I would recommend this book to anyone!

The Charm Offensive was one of my favorite books of 2021 and so I was SO excited to get an ARC of Kiss Her Once for Me. I was NOT disappointed. It was voicey, adorable, romantic, funny, sweet, and sometimes sad (but only the perfect amount of sad that did not bring down the general light "holigay" vibe of the book). I am a big fan of the third act breakup (I know others disagree) but I thought this one was done so well! It was not at all contrived. In general, I thought the conflict and stakes of this fake-dating romcom were brilliantly developed. Quite frankly, I loved this book! Cochrun is two for two and I can't wait to read what she has next.

I flew through Kiss Her Once For Me. It is full of romantic tropes, warmhearted family Christmas moments, loyal friendships, and finding community. Ellie's anxiety is stopping her in her tracks and twisting her own narrative of reality into one of perpetual misery. But fate intervenes and after a 24-hour romantic whirlwind the previous year, she is unexpectedly reunited with Jack - but this time has a fake fiance who is Jack's brother on her arm. Yikes!

While the scenario is convoluted the book is very much about the stories we tell ourselves, breaking those narrative cycles, and opening the door to new possibilities. It's about affirming one another's hopes and dreams, emotionally vulnerable communication, honesty as the best policy, and that a ragtag band of friends that suit you best is, in fact, best.

There is a large cast of characters and so few are built out past a few characteristics, but that didn't deter my enjoyment of the book. Ironically, Andrew is the least developed but as this is a WLW sapphic novel, I wasn't much interested in the male faux-lead anyway.

Fans of Delilah Green, Dahlia Adler, and Christmas romances will delight in this cozy winter read.

I loved this bookkkk. It was The Proposal but queer!! Truly such a joy to read, yall.

It was FUNNY and thoughtful in discussing mental health, anxiety and family of origin traumaaa. A book about deservedness and betting on yourself even when you’ve been let down in the past (by others, by yourself) and are deeply afraid of failing.

Admittedly, I haven’t read a ton of romance, but the romance I HAVE read usually consists of an imperfect main character going after a seemingly perfect, hot, albeit unavailable-for-some-reason love interest. That is not the case in KHOFM. These characters weren’t perfect. That guy exists, but he is ancillary to the two main characters, perfectly imperfect queer women dealing with their own unique childhood traumas and skewed perceptions of themselves. While the story concept was purposefully outlandish and camp, the characters were deeply real and grounded in Cochrun’s own perseverance through fear. I think it’s probably obvious that I’m a BIG fan.

Truly for this to be rated so highly is a big deal for me. I’m not a huge romance reader and I wouldn’t have EVER picked up a holiday romance if I didn’t love Cochrun’s other book, The Charm Offensive. All that said, this book was deeply touching and a breath of fresh air, and I’m so glad I read it. Cochrun’s officially an auto-buy author for me.

If you are into Season of love by Helena Greer, Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall and The falling in love montage, it is highly likely you will enjoy reading Kiss her once for me, an unputdownable novel written by Alison Cochrun that will leave you on tenterhooks.
This page-turner full of brillant moments of insight and an unparalleled depth feeling revolves around Ellie, an anxiety-ridden perfectionist whose dreams shattered after being fired from her dream job in animation a year ago. Year in which she also met Jack, a woman she spent an amazing day with, but then never saw her again. Little does Ellie know that a year later, she will see her again...
Not only is this book beautifully written, but also it is full of evocative passages that enables the reader to become one with the narrative. Moreover, the complexity of the characters' psychological backgrounds are well depicted. As a consequence, the reader can empathize with both the story and characters way too easily. Personally, I fell in love with most of the characters, especially the secondary ones who stood out and were not left aside throughout the progress of the story. What is more, I found interesting how Cochrun used some songs lines to make the plot progress. However, I believe the frequent Taylor Swift references in the book could have been omitted since it made me cringe in some ocassions.
If I could change some elements of this story, I would change the way the ending was tackled due to the fact that the last chapters' events felt rushed.
All in all, it strikes me that everyone would be delighted to read this compelling novel.

TW: panic attacks, emotional abusive parents.

Alison Cochrun does it again! Will she ever write a book that I DON'T cry at? Unclear.

After picking up The Charm Offensive a few months ago and absolutely devouring it, I was so excited to read the ARC of this book.

Kiss Her Once For Me follows Ellie, a recent transplant to Portland who's struggling to make ends meet, especially after an amazing meet-cute and heartbreak last Christmas. This year, however, she signs a contract into a fake engagement with her landlord, Andrew, to hopefully help her woes... only to discover that Andrew's sister is the girl who broke her heart last year.

I absolutely loved this book. I was honestly, quite nervous, since I had such high expectations after The Charm Offensive and it absolutely stood its ground. There is something about the way Alison writes that draws me in and makes me feel emotional.

As someone who lives just outside of Portland, I also loved the Portland references to really bring me into the environment.

If you're a fan of love stories and the holidays, you're not going to want to miss this one!