At the start I was questioning if Ellie and Andrew were going to be paired together which I wasn’t looking forward to but I’m glad I was wrong.

Jack and Ellie’s relationship shows how opposites do attract and it’s not a picture perfect relationship at any point in the story. The constant “will they won’t they” was the only reason I rated it 4 stars. Yes that is the point of the book so I understand why it was there but I wanted them to have more moments together. More “will they” instead of “won’t they”

I also loved the dynamic of the Kim-Prescott’s acting as a family for Ellie. It wasn’t just a story about falling in love and those difficulties which I enjoyed. Overall this book was a good read and I would recommend it to people in the future.

I received a free e-ARC from the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I adored The Charm Offensive so this was one of my most anticipated books of the year! Sapphic holiday rom-com?? Sign me up.

Unfortunately I think I was left a little...wanting? I can't figure out if it's because I identified too much with Ellie, but I didn't find her a particularly likeable character. The choices she made frustrated me, the 3rd act breakup was dumb, and I just...ugh I don't know. Second chance romances often employ the miscommunication trope as a reason for the initial breakup, and this book followed that outline which was really disappointing to me.

Overall I still liked it, I just wanted more out of it :(

After falling in love with Alison Cochrun's The Charm Offensive, I was eagerly anticipating her next book and adding a holiday rom-com element just exponentially added to that. Full of quick, witty and snappy language, Cochrun flips the traditional fake romance trope on its head for this one. It's such a cute, fun and indulgent holiday rom-com that I thoroughly enjoyed. It's also more than just a romance with added sibling dynamics and a found family trope.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cochrun's debut novel, The Charm Offensive, and so was looking forward to this second novel, and it did not disappoint. It helps that I loved the rom-com While You Were Sleeping, because this novel is directly inspired by that 90s film. I did have the same challenge that I usually do with characters with serious anxiety, which is that I overly identify with their distress and weep myself ill with empathy. There is a happy ending -- not really a spoiler, since it's essentially guaranteed by the genre -- but I thought that Ellie moved toward healing a little too quickly; I would have believed the ending more if there had been another 6 months in the timeline, although I know that such realism is not the way of most romance novels. I appreciated that only one person in the novel was drop-dead gorgeous and that everyone else was much more ordinary looking, and yet it was still a sexy novel -- I'm all for more averagely-attractive representation in the genre!

This book was simultaneously one of my highly requested reads of the year and a book that I was slightly dreading reading in case it didn't live up to Cochrun's debut The Charm Offensive which is one of my all time favorite books. That fear was completely unfounded, this book is wonderful.

Kiss Her Once for Me has a silly and frankly convoluted set up but don't let that scare you off cause just under that thin surface is a book about love, anxiety, failure, growth, family, found family, queer joy, Christmas, and falling in love in the snow. This book hits all the rom-com beats, had me laughing out loud and reading passages outload to my (mostly willing) roommate as well as made me NOT OKAY in the best way possible.

I loved all of the characters in this book and now with a sample of two I can confidently say that one of Cochrun's strengths is that she writes wonderful characters both as the stars of the love story but also to create a full life and support network for her mains. The community of Queer friends/family/confidants that both Jack and Ellie have for themselves by the end of this book is powerful and wonderful. Additionally, I love just how much queerness is in this book and as someone on the Asexual spectrum again LOVE the ace rep in this book.

I will also say this book felt quite a bit spicier then The Charm Offensive and I was not mad at it at all.

This book gave me the warm fuzzy holiday feelings even on a hot summer day and I cant wait to read it again in front of my Christmas tree (probably over and over for the next several years)

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a free E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kiss Her Once for Me is a gem. I started reading it on a hot Saturday morning and imagined those cold snowflakes falling softly and cooling me down. Meanwhile, I sang Last Christmas out loud, knowing those lyrics by heart. I immediately fell in love with Ellie and Jack, and from the first page, a smile started dancing on my face. Sometimes, the corners of my mouth almost reached my hairline, my body jerking back and forth from joy and my jaws hurting badly. At other times those corners fell down, causing a lump in my throat and an aching pain in my chest.

4.5 rounded down!

ALISON HAS DONE IT AGAIN!!! I was so excited to read this but also nervous at the same time because I LOVED The Charm Offensive so much but this did not disappoint!!

Ellie and Jack are both wonderful characters, they feel so real and fleshed out and I genuinely adore them both. This book is obviously a romance BUT it’s so much more than that. It’s also about breaking negative cycles that don’t serve you, learning how to communicate better, and learning to not set yourself up for failure/being okay when things don’t go as planned.

Ellie really struggles throughout the book with certain patterns she has and I loved seeing her journey and her finally work through some of these patterns and understanding why she acts this way and how she can better herself.

I also think the way these more serious issues were balanced with lighthearted fun moments was PERFECT. The pacing was amazing and I was feeling all the feelings and literally stayed up til 4am so I could finish reading it.

This book is also very much for the Swifties!!! So many Taylor Swift references (so if you don’t like her, you might get annoyed because they do pop up frequently) and so many situations within the book clearly relate to her songs (all too well 👀) and I really liked that aspect of it.

I also think that the anxiety rep was extremely well done, just like it was in The Charm Offensive.

I really loved this book and the only reason I’m taking off .5 from the rating is because I had some issues with how the third act went The way things played out at the opening of the bakery didn't sit right with me. If Jack didn't want to accept Ellie's apology that's fine but to not accept it, see her be humiliated, and then immediately rush out after and change her mind didn't feel right. It felt like Jack just wanted to hurt Ellie and see her make a fool of herself and embarrass herself. The reason she gave at the bakery opening was that she didn't think she could take that risk again but then .5 seconds later she decided she can? It didn't make sense to me and it didn't make me feel good at all. I think it should've had a time jump where Jack comes back for Ellie or at least a few days should've passed but ultimately, all the positives outshine and outweigh the few negatives in the last 20%.

Thank you so much to Atria and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC!

A holiday second-chance romance with quiet Taylor Swift messaging? COUNT ME IN.

Kiss Her Once for Me is really a lot about finding your place in the world, navigating difficult families, and persevering through failure, all of which I can appreciate in a story. For the first few chapters, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Ellie as a protagonist—she's surly and disillusioned in a sort of off-putting way, but that's necessary for her place in life when we meet her.

The romance is actually more complicated than I expected and I had a hard time imagining how this story was going to go for a while, which was fun for a genre that is pleasantly predictable.

More than anything else, though, I was kind of obsessed with the Taylor Swift mentions in this book. The discussion of "evermore" as a great Christmas album was really wonderful, and while I can't be sure of this, I'm just going to say that the scarf left and returned feels like a perfect "All Too Well" homage that kind of made me freak out while reading.

I loved The Charm Offensive so I was excited to get this advance copy but I really struggled to get through Kiss Her Once for Me. Several things made it not for me, but it may still be for you!

First and foremost, it's written in the first person. I just... do not like that, and I hate this new trend of authors starting out writing in third and then swapping to first in later books (e.g. The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang, Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood). I trusted you to be writing in the POV I like!!! I also just do not believe in love at first sight / 24 hour love, so the foundation of the story (that Jack and Elle fell for each other over the course of a single day and have stayed in love while wretchedly pining for The One Who Got Away for an entire year) doesn't work for me. Like, do I believe that Elle has fixated on the story about Jack that she made up in her own head as part of her personal depression spiral narrative? Yes. Do I believe that's love or a stable basis for a happy ending? No.

And finally, the way Jack treats Elle about the money is... weird. Why should Elle have to grovel and publicly humiliate herself to apologize for accepting an offer for a LIFE-CHANGING amount of money? Why is this such a big deal? Oh noooooooooo you felt betrayyyyyyyyed that someone living in grinding poverty with none of the privilege and familial support that you take for granted was willing to lie to you for TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. Go touch grass. I believed in the happy ending of Elle setting a boundary with her horrible mother and her friends rallying around her and her finding her community and starting to claw her way out of the hole with their support. Jack didn't belong in it and I hated that grovel scene SO MUCH.

So, unfortunately, not the cute sapphic Christmas romance I was hoping for! For the folks who are in it for the demisexual and anxiety rep, I hope that this is good for you even though it wasn't good for me.

Kiss Her Once for Me follows Ellie, heartbroken from last Christmas and in the middle of a quarter-life crisis as she meets Andrew who offers her a deal she can’t turn down. The only catch? They have to get married.
Broke and not wanting to spend the holidays alone, Ellie accepts. Only once she arrives at the family cabin for the holidays, the woman who broke her heart is there. And Andrew’s sister.

This book was so sweet and fluffy while being very grounded in the fear of failure and anxiety. The story was dramatic and the characters were all so loveable.

One part I am disappointed to see was the use of the word ‘dem*nted’ which is ableist in nature. However, hopefully with final edits this will be changed.

Overall, it’s a great Christmas romcom to help you feel a little less alone and believing a little more in the magic of snow.

I didn’t realize this was Christmas based until I started reading but never the less I enjoyed it. Super cute characters and a plot that will give you all the feels

Thanks to Atria and NerGalley for the ARC. I loved all of this book. The cast of characters is wonderful, and their interactions make the book so delightful. It reminds me of my weird, wonderful friendships and I love the reality of it. Ellie’s anxiety is also very relatable. Overall, I really appreciate this book for being a cozy queer romance read while also tackling really big emotions.

The sapphic Christmas tale of my dreams that healed my little broken heart of that-movie-we-shan't-speak-of from a couple years ago. THIS is a dreamy happily ever after that I will come back to again and again when the weather starts to cool and the Christmas wreath goes up on the door. Join me in my Ellie fan club and never look back to a time when you didn't know her.

Cute and cozy, a fun winter romance! Another hit from the author of the acclaimed "Charm Offensive".
I love that she focussed on two queer women, a sub-section in romance books that has been amazing to see grow and flourish!
With a warm wintery and holiday vibe, I was quickly immersed into the world of Ellie, a women in her 20's working as a barista after losing her dream job in animation. Close to the holidays Ellie is struggling financially, at what she sees as a dead-end job when after a drunken night her landlord poses the idea to fake an engagement to help with his own tricky inheritance. He will be able to seamlessly inherit his family's wealth, and Ellie will get a big enough cut to help her leave her job and be financially secure. The twist? Her landlord's sister is a women Jack, who Ellie met last Christmas and fell in love with during a wonderfully romantic day spent together, only to part ways the next day and not speak for a year.
Ellie is stuck at her landlord, Andrew's, family Christmas chalet, she must navigate coming face to face with Jack who broke her heart, Andrew's tension-filled family dynamics, and falling for his family while lying to them about her and Andrew's "relationship".
Taking place during the weeks before and after Christmas, this atmospheric and fluffy novel had me squealing and anxiously anticipating what would come next.
Delving into themes of family, self-confidence, success, and following your heart, this story is much more than a cute, queer, holiday romance.
The writing is modern and funny, and the sex scenes are perfectly steamy. Fantastic use of enemies to lovers. trope.

This one hurts. Y'all I simply adore Alison on a personal level and loved Charm. I think she definitely has a future in the industry, but KHOFM fell very flat for me and I hate to even say those words. After days of thinking about how reading this left me feeling, overall I've determined that it was just very put-down-able.

Look. I did not HATE this book by any means, and there were parts that I really enjoyed (Meemaw and Lovey were absolute perfection; the Butch Oven had me cracking up; and I related hardcore to the failure-to-launch plot), but there was just a lot trying to happen that ultimately left a number of plot points lacking (Alan's story-line added nothing; Ellie and Andrew's relationship needed more; the demisexual rep felt forced and unnecessary). Then the ones that weren't lacking, were so repetitive that it felt exhausting because you were just beat over the head with them so much, and nothing had changed, so it was just the same issue complained about over and over again (Ellie getting "fired"; Ellie's family dynamics).

It just did not all work together. I will absolutely be looking towards Cochran's next release but I cannot say that this is a recommended read from me.

Alison knocks it out of the park yet again with this one. Ellie’s story is one you can’t help but tumble into - and to get out you have to work through a bit of your own shit too. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

This book is such a charmer- it perfectly captures that fleeting sparkling holiday magic and gives us characters with so much heart and just the right amount of sizzle. I truly could not put it down. Ellie and Jack are so special and seeing their love start to bloom is a gift; and Cochran tosses in a really healthy dose of messy human stuff- every character you meet feels so real and every moment draws you in until you too feel like a part of this family, biological or chosen thought it may be! I truly can’t wait to buy this for everyone I know this Christmas!

This book is a queer christmassy romance that follows Ellie and Jack. It starts off with Ellie reminiscing on the perfect snow day she spent with a stranger from a book store, and how they went their separate ways after. Fast forward to a year later where Ellie has lost her dream job as an animator, and is working in a coffee shop. Her manager is awful, she’s broke as a joke, landlord has raised her rent, and her toxic mother is calling for money.

Enter millionaire, Andrew Kim-Prescott, who offers her a cut of his 2 million dollar inheritance…if she pretends to be his fiancée, because it turns out that in order for Andrew to inherit, he must be married.

What follows next is spending Christmas with Adam’s family, and fooling everyone. Except..someone from Ellie’s past comes back, and Ellie just can’t seem to stop thinking about her.
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The Charm Offensive was one of my favorite books of last year, so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it! This was sooo good. I loved the representation, the found family aspect, and Ellie’s huge character development throughout the book. Ellie and Jack were perfection. ♥️💚

4.5⭐️

TW: emotional abuse, parental neglect and abandonment, panic attacks, divorce, death of grandparent, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, infidelity

The Charm Offensive was one of my favorite reads of last year. As such, I was very excited to read Kiss Her Once For Me. It started off really strong and I felt emotionally invested in the story; however, by the end of the book, I felt it was not as great as TCO, especially in terms of mental health representation, but still a solid sophomore, cozy sapphic holiday romance novel by Alison Cochrun that portrayed an interracial relationship between a white bi-sexual and biracial Korean-American butch lesbian.

Tropes:
- marriage of convenience/ fake fiancé
- forced proximity
- one bed
- insta love
- miscommunication
- found family
- dual timeline
- single POV

What I liked:

- I appreciated the bisexual, Demi sexual and non-binary representation and the representation of anxiety caused by a paralyzing fear of failure.

- I loved that Ellie was an animator and used her comic strips as a way to escape reality and developed a knack for perfectionism as a coping mechanism of her parental neglect and abandonment issues. I haven’t read a romance novel before with this choice of profession, which made it unique for me.

- I also admired Ellie’s character growth, where she learned to develop boundaries with her awful mother, become more vulnerable, and work towards overcoming her fear of failure.

- I loved the Portland setting and the banter between Andrew and Ellie was fun.

- The meet cute between Ellie and Jack was at a bookstore, which is a book lover’s dream!

- The celebration of the Christmas traditions of Andrew and Jack’s family was enjoyable to read and gave the story the perfect cozy holiday vibes.

What I wished for (these are not flaws, rather personal preferences):

- I wish there had been redemption for Ellie’s toxic parents especially her mother but maybe there are some relationships that are irreparable.

- I would have liked to see a more in-depth exploration of therapy.

- While I think the cover is beautiful, it would have been so cool if it portrayed Ellie and Jack standing outside an Airstream with a dog!
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**SPOILERS AHEAD**

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Ellie and Andrew slept with other people while they were in a fake fiancé arrangement. I’m not sure if this would be considered infidelity given they were fake dating; however, some readers may feel conflicted about this or may not like it.

The book also uses the miscommunication and insta love tropes, which may bother some readers as these tropes seem to widely unpopular.


Edit Review

This was a very sweet sapphic romance set during 2021 and 2022 Christmas. We have a lot of flashbacks in the form of Ellie's web comic about how she met Jack. So we get to see through Ellie's eyes what happened last year and where she is in her life this year. The entire book is told from Ellie's POV. This is a re-telling of While You Were Sleeping. Like I said, this was very sweet. I thought all the main plot points were cute and a lot of creative foils and forced proximity situations caused our heroines to be alone together.

Favorite part of the book: Andrew and Jack's family, specifically their mom and grandmas, Meemaw & Lovey. Their dad can go away, he's the worst.

Okay, the not so glowing thoughts... I thought it was very repetitive. The verbiage, the descriptions, the mental circles Ellie keeps going in. The characters keep circling the same emotional circles too often and I don't feel like we actually make progress until the end of the story.

Also, I worried about Andrew a lot and I know he was just there to be a plot device that delivers Ellie into Jack's life again, but I was weirdly invested in what was going on with him. I kept thinking "Where did Andrew go?" "How is Andrew doing?" "What is going on with Andrew and Dylan?" it made the scenes with Jack felt weirdly like cheating, and I knew it shouldn't but it all felt deceptive. I guess I was hoping for some more Ellie and Andrew interaction and more communication between those 2 characters.

I absolutely loved Alison's first novel The Charm Offensive and maybe I used that too strongly as a measuring stick for this book. It just felt like it was missing some of the deep character exploration that we got from her debut novel.