Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

Genre: Holiday Romance
Rating: 4.5 ⭐️

This was sooo cute and I loved Ellie and Jack.
So many tropes I loved in this book too - a meet cute, love trapezoid, fake dating, holiday/queer romance... What more could you ask for?!?! It is the perfect holiday romance novel.
Alison Cochrun has done it again! I loved the Charm Offensive, and this is an excellent sophomore novel.
This book is hilarious, heartfelt, and ends w/ a perfect HEA. <3

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author for this arc!

This sapphic Christmas rom-com was everything I could’ve asked for in a book. From the Taylor Swift references to the main character being an anxious, bisexual perfectionist — I found everything to be extremely relatable and oozing with cozy vibes.
It also took me way too long to realize Alison Cochrun is a Portland local and freaked out every time I recognized a location throughout the book.

4.25 rounded down

I wouldn’t say either of the MC’s were sweet but this is such a sweet sweet story even so! I loved Charm Offensive and as broody, sassy, and filled with drama as that was, this was well, sweet. And snowy. I loved the snow setting and Christmas supplements but that it wasn’t a “Christmas” story. I really enjoyed the love “trapezoid” bit of a twist on the love triangle trope, and it was just the right length with buildup and representation in the characters.

I agree, people who like the Written in the Stars series will most definitely enjoy this one too!

Thank you for the eARC!

4.5/5 Stars!

Tropes:
- One bed
- Fake dating
- Forbidden love
- Miscommunication that is immediately addressed because "miscommunication is for the straights."

Be still my beating heart.

The Charm Offensive is one of my favorite romcoms of all time and when I got approved for Kiss Her Once for Me, I was over the moon. Then I let it sit on my kindle for a couple months to save it for a day when I really needed a good comfort read. (Today was that day.)

In her second novel, Cochrun covers many of the same topics we saw in The Charm Offensive, including battling mental illness, toxic relationships with the concept of success, and representation of demisexuality. She approaches each of these topics, as well as her character development as a whole, with the same raw honestly and emotion that made me fall in love with Dev & Charlie. Throughout this novel, I couldn't help but feel connected to each character in a deeply personal way. Certain scenes with Elle's anxiety felt like they could have been exact situations that I personally have experienced before and likely will again.

For this reason, please keep all this in mind when you decide to pick up Kiss Her Once for Me. While it is a happy, light holiday romance, it's also very much not light. This novel covers some heavy topics, such as anxiety, depression, fear of failure, fear of abandonment, absent parents, toxic parents, poverty and more. Please look up trigger warnings and take care before you chose to read this novel.

If you don't already have Kiss Her One For Me on your holiday TBR, add it now.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

“I don’t think I could stop drawing you if I tried. You . . . you’re the best parts of every character I create.”

Synopsis:
Ellie fell in love with Jack over the course of a snow day last Christmas in Portland. However, as quickly as things came together, they fell apart. Ellie has had a rough year; she is still hung up on Jack, she lost her dream job as an animator, and she is at risk of losing her dilapidated but affordable apartment.

Despite her hesitations, she enters a fake engagement with Andrew Kim- Prescott. Andrew is Portland royalty and the landlord of the coffee shop were Ellie currently works. He is a desperate for a fake fiancé to collect his grandfather’s 2-million-dollar inheritance and Ellie is desperate for money to keep her apartment.

Together, they set off to spend Christmas at his family’s cabin…. But things become even more complicated when Ellie discovers that Jack is Andrew’s sister. And so begins, a “weirdly incestuous love triangle, but it’s actually some kind of dysfunctional love trapezoid.” Andrew and Ellie are fake engaged. Ellie loves Jack. Andrew loves Dylan, Jack’s best friend. And everything is a massive cluster.

Will Ellie give up her share of the inheritance for a real chance with Jack?

My thoughts:
This book is full of those teeny, tiny moments that make your heart flutter.

I adored Jack. She is the perfect contradiction; tender but loud, gentle but clumsy. Through her openness, Jack teaches Ellie to be emotionally vulnerable and that deviating from plans can lead to unexpected joy.

I felt connected to Ellie’s character as she struggles with anxiety and her fear of taking risks. However, I don’t feel that I know much more about her than that. The book is from her POV and I expected to know her better by the end of it. However, I know Jack better than Ellie. I know that Jack likes praline mochas, her music preferences, about her freckles and the scar she has above her lip, but I don’t have as clear of an understanding of Ellie’s preferences.

This book is a romance but also has strong found family and fighting for your HEA themes. After being disappointed her whole life by terrible parents, Ellie must learn to lean on her community of friends and accept help. Additionally, Ellie learns that to have the life she wants, she needs to take risks and fight for her happiness.

I was a little disappointed we didn’t get an epilogue. I really wanted life updates on Ellie, Jack, Andrew, and Dylan.

Overall, I really enjoyed this witty, sapphic, holiday rom com full of hope, tender moments, and Christmas magic. Cochrun has a way with words and the writing in this book was wonderful; so many beautiful quotes to highlight when my physical copy arrives in November.

Thank you so much to Atria Books and Net Galley for the e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Highlights:
• Set in Portland
• An adorable meet cute
• Snow day magic
• Bi & Demi rep
• Mental health representation
• Found family

Trigger warnings: homophobia,. Parent abandonment, cheating (side character), generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks

The humor in this book is top tier. Within the first few chapters I was hi lighting laugh out loud moments on my kindle constantly. I love romcoms that are actually at least a bit comedic

I could not get into this book. The premise seemed enticing at first but then in actuality I found the fake dating boring.

I had a hard time finishing this book. It was a little boring and I felt like the pacing was off. The flashbacks dragged and threw off the momentum of the book, in my opinion.

I thought that Ellie and Jack’s relationship was missing the za za zing that I need in my romance books. It was a lot of them claiming their deep connection to one another after one day together but I didn’t feel it. The Honesty Game made it feel contrived and forced. The two of them bonded over their crappy parents which was nice but I wanted their love to be grounded in more.

Miscommunication is my least favorite trope and the major conflicts in this book are based on miscommunication.

A lot of people are loving this book and so I think maybe I wasn’t in the right mood for this one? I loved Cochran’s first book and this one disappointed me.

Steam level: 🔥🔥🔥
⚠️: homophobia, biphobia,transphobia, anxiety, infidelity, mention of cancer.

Thank you Alison Cochrun, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for this eARC. I read this book as part of the HoliGays22 team.

Second books can be so tricky, but Alison Cochrun really landed this one! The tension between Ellie and Jack was just perfect. The dynamic with Andrew was also wonderful- I loved that the fake dating/proposed marriage of convenience didn't go the standard route.

It took me a little while to get into the flashbacks, but once I did- I was super invested. If you liked The Charm Offensive, you'll definitely enjoy this book!

This is actually my first sapphic romance! And it was amazing. I laughed, cried, and gasped many time throughout this book. I feel like I would become friends with Jack the same way she and Dylan became friends for sure. Dylans characters was amazing as well, I would’ve wanted them as my teacher. And lets not forget Meredith!! She’s a real one. I would love to be friends with the grandmas!! The author wrote this amazingly!

Ellie and Jack meet on Christmas Eve when they both reach for the same book at Powell’s. They wander from place to place in Portland, having a great time. Jack shares her dreams of owning her own bakery, Ellie talks about her plan to make it in animation. All told, it seems like the most perfect day two people can have in the midst of a snow storm. Until it ends with Ellie running out of Jack’s airstream at the end of it.

Fast forward a year and Ellie is Going Through Some Shit - laid off from the career she moved cross country for, passed over for a promotion at the barista job she settled for, rent for her terrible apartment about to jump, and a deadbeat absent mother constantly hitting her up for money she can’t afford to keep giving. Fear of failure and anxiety dialed to eleven. And socially? Since that perfect day last year ended in heartbreak, it’s safe to say there is so social life.

So when Andrew, a customer who also owns the property her work runs out of, offers an obscene amount of money to fake marry him so he can get his inheritance, what does she have to lose?
After all, it’s a no feelings involved temporary arrangement. What could possibly go wrong?
Well one thing (or two…or more…) but not the obvious!

The first step in selling this engagement is a trip to spend Christmas with his family. Things start to really get interesting when Ellie meets Andrew’s sister Jacqueline. Aka Jack.

I don’t want to give away anything more, because you need to read it for yourself (you will not regret it!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

Such a good book! After reading this and the Charm Offensive, Alison Cochrun is now a must read author for me! Similiar to The Charm Offensive, Kiss Her Once for Me was an adorable novel with lovable characters. Highly recommend!

KISS HER ONCE FOR ME is a queer holiday romance that addresses mental health and brings on the laughs. I could see the inspiration from While You Were Sleeping, but instead of a coma, down-on-her-luck, failure-fearing Ellie agrees to a marriage of convenience with rich Andrew for a cut of his inheritance. However, Ellie is still pining for the woman she met last Christmas who she only knew as Jack. When Ellie finds out that Jack is Andrew's sister during a week-long family get together during Christmas, she's conflicted to say the least. I thought the family was instantly hilarious and lovable, which is such a draw for Ellie who has a difficult relationship with her own parents. Jack also jumped off the page as a perfect foil to Ellie, making this fake engagement difficult to carry on. I thought this was a fun read and perfect for holiday romance lovers.

Thanks Netgalley and Atria for the ARC!

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦.”

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: ellie fakes an engagement so she can get two hundred thousand dollars. turns out - she’s in love with the sister of the man she’s supposed to marry.

𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: unfortunately i don’t think this was the right book for me. while i liked some aspects of it, i think there were more things that didn’t work for me than did work. i will say that i liked the underlying message of fear of failure and liked ellie’s development in this area in the end of the book. i also adored the family characters - andrew, meemaw, lovey, katherine, dylan - they were all so much fun. i think where this book didn’t work for me was the CONSTANT miscommunication and the insta love. i really struggled to get through it because of that. if you love alison cochrun, i would still give this one a try around christmas time because she does write SO well and has SO much representation in her books.

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: it was just okay!

special thank you to netgalley, atria books & alison cochrun for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cochrun has managed to recreate the warm hearted insecurity that made The Charm Offensive such relatable magic in this entirely new story. The story is at it's base a romance but there are side plots of equal importance. Ellie learns the value of found family, making new friends, trusting in friends who love her, setting boundaries with family who does not, and believing in herself.

Ellie could be a little frustrating with the mistakes she made that seemed obvious but that is why the story is about her growth. She is the main character, the world was so complete I felt it easily could have been told by Andrew, Dylan, or jack and been just as brilliant, but Ellie's journey is why it's her.

ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. My expectations were very high coming into this book because…. The Charm Offensive. Alison Cochrun not only delivered but she has officially written one of my favorite sapphic books ever? I loved this story. I related to the main character SO HARD. I felt so much while reading this and I simultaneously want everyone to read this so we can bask in the joy and love of it while also wanting no one ever to read it so I can keep it close to me and let no one say bad things about it. UGH MY HEART. A CHRISTMAS SAPPHIC ROM COM???? I’ve never needed something more in my life, even tho I just read this book in August.

Ok… if that wasn’t the most glowing review I’ve ever written in one paragraph I don’t know what is? To the author: thank you for writing Ellie. As an anxious queer girl myself, I felt very seen and represented on these pages. Ellie is one of those characters you can’t help but relate to. She has the biggest heart and I just wanted her to succeed in everything she did. And we can’t forget about Jack!!!!! Swoon worthy if I do say so myself. I loved her so much. Her personality literally leapt off the page.

I thought the premise was absolutely hilarious. The pacing was perfect. It was fast paced but also slowed in all the right places where I wanted more. The chosen family aspect of this book was wonderful. The Kim Prescotts were hilarious and I ate up the family dynamics at the cabin. I really enjoyed the alternating timelines so we could see how Ellie and Jack first met but I also appreciated how the author kept those few and far between and relatively short so it didn’t take away from the present day story. Also, I loved the little bit of steam thrown in there!!!

I laughed, I teared up (multiple times), I swooned and I legit fell in love with these characters. I’m always always always on the hunt for a great sapphic rom-com and this one fits the bill. If anything it surpasses it because I freaking loved it that much. I’ve just raved endlessly about my love for this book and if that’s not a sign for every person who’s reading this to go pre-order or request an ARC of this book I don’t know what is!

I know my fellow romance pals won’t sleep on this one because let’s be honest if you had the privilege of reading The Charm Offensive then you’re probably not so patiently waiting to get your hands on this lovely piece of art.

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

During Pride Month in 2022, I picked up The Charm Offensive and absolutely fell in love. It quickly became one of my favorite reads of the year and before I was even halfway finished with it, I searched up Alison Cochrun on The StoryGraph and every social platform to see what she had already written and what she was writing next. You can imagine my joy upon discovering that Kiss Her Once for Me would be released during the winter of the same year! I added it to my TBR and requested it on NetGalley without even reading the plot (something I rarely do… but I just had this gut instinct about Alison’s writing and knew I would love it no matter what it was about). My happy dance was more like a happy rave when I got the approval email!

Now, a little bit of backstory time. I grew up on While You Were Sleeping. Every single year for as long as I can remember (it came out the year after I was born… so TRULY as long as I can remember), this movie marked the start of the holiday season. If it wasn’t watched on the day we put up our tree, it was at least watched during the holidays. My dad, mom, sister, and I would curl up with spiced mocha, popcorn, peppermint bark, and molasses cookies to spend the next hour and forty-three minutes quoting every line, humming every bar of the soundtrack, and laughing at every joke (even though we already knew the punchline). Not a year has gone by that this movie hasn’t been watched and loved thoroughly… even my husband was brought into the tradition while we were still dating! It’s my ultimate comfort movie and I love the story with all of my heart.

Okay, so… picture this: Stephanie opens up Kiss Her Once for Me and reads the opening lines of the note for the reader and it starts out by talking about the author’s love for While You Were Sleeping and how that played into the writing of this book. I mean, come on, it’s like fate! My jaw just about hit the floor in both shock and excitement. I already knew I was going to love the book, but now I was convinced I was going to be full-on obsessed. I wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t put this one down!

This book gave me everything I wanted from it and more. I’m talking sapphic love story cuteness (complete with – as the author called her – “lesbian Bill Pullman”), hilarious holiday hijinks, adorable all-knowing grannies, and the most heartwarming found family I’ve read about in ages. I truly never wanted it to end. I was going through a truly challenging time in my life and this book brought so much comfort and warmth. I know that I’ll be picking it up again and again over the years just to bring that “hug in a book” feeling.

It takes place during the holidays, but I wouldn’t call it a “Christmas book.” It’s more overall wintery and just happens to have Christmas-y moments in it. It also made me interested in webcomics. So much so that I immediately began the Heartstopper series on Webtoon after finishing it (which is another comfort read now, so thanks for that nudge, Kiss Her Once for Me).

Kiss Her Once for Me is swoony, a little spicy, sweet, and SAPPHIC. It’s absolute perfection and definitely the book you need to pick up this winter if you want a little comfort and cuteness in your life!

[CW: (major) Sexism, Abandonment, and Sexual content, (moderate) Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship, (minor) Alcohol, Drug use, and Infidelity]

Kiss Her Once for Me - Alison Cochrun

I was of course thrilled to get an ARC of my most anticipated read this year. It’s a sapphic Christmas novel written by the author of one of my (if not my #1) favourite books of all time, The Charm Offensive.

Kiss Her Once for Me is a second chance romance, a fake fiancé’s sister romance, a love trapezoid, and brings all the cozy Christmas vibes you could want. Ellie and Andrew decide to get married, so that Andrew can get his inheritance. Ellie spends Christmas with Andrew’s family and discovers that his sister Jack is the woman she had a one night stand with the year before. We get flashbacks in the form of Ellie’s writing, to the day they had spent together. I loved being able to watch them fall for each other in the past and present. I loved these characters, and the forbidden aspect.

I’m not surprised that I adored this, I might even reread it closer to Christmas once I get my hands on a physical copy. Thank you @alisoncochrun for writing the most beautiful stories 💗💗💗

The Charm Offensive is one of my favorite books of all time and the synopsis for Kiss Her Once for Me sounded phenomenal, but unfortunately this was a big disappointment for me. I love Alison Cochrun’s writing and I will always love her writing, but the content in this story just didn’t work for me.

The part of the story that pissed me off the most was the miscommunication/cheating/breakup mess. It’s hard to really define in one clear word what happened without spoiling it, but the reason why Ellie and Jack aren’t together at the start of the book just didn’t work for me. It was awful and it was something that I didn’t think was entirely forgiveable, especially in the way that it all went down. What’s even more awful was that the guilt for that situation was pinned on Ellie when it clearly wasn’t her fault. This whole pinning the guilt on Ellie even continued later in the book, too, for things that weren’t Ellie’s fault. Why were so many characters mad at Ellie for what happened? She didn’t do anything wrong in this book.

Speaking of Ellie, I found her to be really relatable. I wasn’t super fond of her personality, but when she would describe her fear of failure and her social anxiety, I completely related to everything she said. The anxiety scenes really captured how my anxiety presents itself, so it was really special to me to have the anxiety representation in this book.

Demisexuality was included in this book, but I wasn’t entirely satisfied with that representation. I’m not saying that people can’t fall in love in a day, but it was constantly emphasized that Ellie doesn’t feel sexual attraction until she gets a deep emotional bond with someone. However, Jack is this magical person that’s the exception to her demisexuality and Ellie just magically feels sexual attraction to her after just a few hours? I’m on the ace spectrum but I’m not demi, so I don’t get the final say on whether this representation is good or bad, but the story definitely doesn’t match with my understanding of demisexuality at all.

I’m on the fence about whether I like this book or not, but I wanted to end my review on a more positive note since I really like Alison Cochrun. There were a few things that I adored about this book. I loved the setting. I live right outside of the locations where this book took place, so the setting was very homey and familiar to me. I also really loved Meemaw, Lovey, and Andrew. Meemaw and Lovey were the funniest part of this story and they helped lighten the mood in the darkest scenes. Andrew was a really interesting character who had a good heart throughout the story. I wish that he wouldn’t have ended up with the person that he ended up with because their relationship seemed like it was purely lust and it lacked depth, but he was still a fun character to read about and I was rooting for his sucess from the start of the book.

I don’t know if I’d strongly recommend this book since it had so many flaws, but I don’t regret reading this book. It will find an audience that loves it. I’m just not part of that audience.

I thought this book was very cute. I love the fake dating troupe. I loved the characters and thought they were well rounded especially the grandmothers and think they should get their own novellas. This book will be perfect for the holiday season. I did think the book needed some editing and was about 50 pages too long. I did think some of the dialogue was a little forced. If you love Hallmark Christmas movies but want queer main characters, then Kiss Her Once For Me will be the perfect book for you.