This was a super cute read, Fast page-turner, filled with drama and romance. I'll re-edit this with my official review!

I picked up Funny You Should Ask on a fluke and fell in love with ES's writing that this one was a no brainer. There are really no other words than this was a goddamn delight and I loved every minute.

I'm truly a sucker for childhood friends to lovers, and throw that on top of a second chance romance with a musical theater theme and SIGN ME UP.

From the author of Funny You Should Ask, one of my favorite romance novels, comes Once More With Feeling, the story of a former celebrity pop-star who agrees to star in a new Broadway musical directed by an old fling. Kathleen Rosenberg met Cal Kirby when they were teenagers at a prestigious musical theater summer camp, reuniting a few years later after Kathleen has transformed into Katee Rose and Cal joins a boy band led by Kathleen’s fame-hungry boyfriend. A one night stand between Kathleen and Cal destroys the career of Katee Rose, and she goes into a self-enforced exile until her best friend presents her with the opportunity to play her dream role in a Broadway debut nearly a decade later. Kathleen’s dream was always to be on Broadway, but first she has to resolve the conflict between Cal and herself before she can fully commit to the show and her reputational redemption. Although this was an easy and quick read, I found the storyline and central conflict to be unnecessarily convoluted, which distracted Sussman from developing her characters and sustaining a believable plot. I don’t necessarily feel like I wasted my time by reading this book, but there are definitely better romances available, starting with Sussman’s debut.

I had so much hope for this book after seeing that it was about musical theater. I think I'm just not a big fan of this author. There was nothing particularly special about it to me.

if you know me, you know I’m a sucker for boy bands and Broadway shows— so I obviously enjoyed this book!

a second chance romance following Kathleen (former pop sensation Katee Rose) who has been out of the spotlight since her fall from grace all those years ago. her best friend writes a show with a character made for her, and Kathleen sees her dreams of being a Broadway star right in front of her— until she realizes the director is Cal Kirby, the man who was once part of ~that~ boy band, and who ultimately helped lead to the end Katee Rose’s career, while also leaving her with a broken heart.

I flew through this book— I needed to know what exactly happened in their past that got them to this point, while also racing to know what was going to happen now— would the Broadway show make?? would they fall in love again???? 🤪

my one complaint is that the book ended too soon— I wanted more, and I felt like i turned the page and it was suddenly over.

Elissa Sussman is 2 for 2 for me 🤩

Thank for to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC- you can pick up OMWF now!

Another hit for Elissa Sussman. I love a good redemption story, and this one was filled with so much nostalgia for the late 90’s early 2000’s…I couldn’t get enough! I also really loved the behind the scenes look at how a Broadway Show operates. A solid 3.5 starts for me and Elissa Sussman is now an advance purchase author for me! Thank you for the Advance Review Copy #NetGalley, #RandomHouse and #Dell.

#OnceMoreWithFeeling #FunnyYouShouldAsk #ElissaSussman

The book follows our mc Katee Rose a.k.a Kathleen Rosenberg. How she has been given a second chance, in relationships, career and life.

Told in Kathleen's POV in the past and the present we embark on a tale about her life and how she turned one of her mistakes into something that she can grow, and learn from.

This cozy, second-chance romance is a four star read from me!

"He wanted to hurt me? Fine. Mission accomplished. But he was never going to see me cry. Not again. Never again."

I really disliked this. Albeit a quick read, these characters were as flat as the pages they are written on and the plot is lackluster and not well developed. I had no reason to want our main characters to re-kindle their supposedly "passionate" past romance, and to be honest, I didn't care about them at all. They had zero passion beyond hating each other, and for most of the book all they did was fight like children, when we're supposed to believe that they are mature "gray-haired" adults.

I'm disappointed that this didn't work for me, as I've heard really good things about this author and their version of second-chance romances. But this was just not it.

Once More With Feeling was published on May 30, 2023. Thank you to Random House Publishing, Ballantine, NetGalley and the author for the digital advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was just as cute as the author's first one, Funny You Should Ask. Something about the covers just draw me in and once I picked this book up, I never put it down. The characters were adorable and I was rooting for them from the beginning. Elissa Sussman is the queen of second chance romance. I think it is one of my least favorite tropes, but man does she do it well.

This book is described as being a “friends-to-lovers meets enemies-to-lovers story,” and that is the perfect way to define the relationship between Kathleen and Cal. The spark from when they were kids has since dissolved, and now the two can’t even stand to be in the same room. When their mutual friend writes a Broadway play, the two find themselves in forced proximity.

What would I say to the author after finishing this book? Why, once more with feeling, of course. The characters were extremely flat, and I did not notice a lot of development or growth in their relationships overall. While I wasn’t necessarily bored and it turned out to be a quick read, there was nothing to this story. Fights and kisses popped up out of nowhere, and I didn’t really care if Kathleen and Cal ended up together or not. In short, I would compare this book to trying to make tacos without any seasoning. Huh? Who wants that?

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this eARC!

First off I really like the cover. The pictures and colors are really eye catching. I loved that this book went from childhood friends to lovers to enemies to lovers. I also liked the dual timeline from then and now.

I really liked Cal was a dancer. I know there are a lot of men dancers but it was nice seeing it in the book. There were some points where a conversation could have solved the main issue but I think like in real life, things like that happens. Katee was a fun character, even with how some things played out.

I also like there was some forced proximity in the book as well!

Overall, I really enjoyed Once More With Feeling, and would recommend and would read more from Elissa!

This is a very enjoyable second chance and enemies to lover story. The dual timeline added to the tension between Kathleen and Cal’s relationship in the present time.

I loved this 🥹🥹

What I liked:
Mental health rep- fmc deals with anxiety/panic attacks
Addresses sexism in the entertainment industry (and can literally be seen everywhere but I digress) Britney/Justin anyone?!
Has cheating trope which can be 😬 but I think it was done well
Has THREE timelines! Okay one was super small but it was snippets into their time together at summer camp eons ago, but it was cute/sweet and into their conversations in then/now so well
One POV but I liked how you can tell when the mmc is thinking sometimes with his expressions/mannerisms. The ANGST.

What I did not like:
🤔

This is my first from Elissa sussman but you can bet im running to read the other book asap!

This book was fine. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it, but I also don't remember anything about it 5 seconds after finishing it.

I just wasn't invested in any of the characters or this story. There were enough entertaining parts of the story to keep me reading, but nothing so exciting to make me reach for the book. The book is only told from the FMC's perspective, and I think that made the story feel stale compared to other romance novels where you get multiple POVs.

Overall, I just wasn't very impressed with this one.

Susanna does it again - I love her storytelling ability, and how she can capture us at different time periods in a characters life. I’ll look forward to reading whatever she writes next!

This delivered exactly what I was looking for. The "then and now" format was giving Camp Rock meets Britney Spears and NSYNC. This is a great romcom read for musical theater fans and lovers of performing arts. The MC Kathleen/Katee was spunky and funny. Normally I don't like stubborn characters, but the MC was very self-aware of her stubbornness which made it comical instead of annoying. We know nearly every romance has a third act conflict, but they can be annoying when it feels contrived. I liked this third act conflict because it made sense given the nature of the industry and the characters' past. I also don't typically care for the second chance trope but for some reason it just works for this story. I couldn't get enough. This book had me enjoying all the things I typically don't enjoy. 4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I am frickin' obsessed.

Give me this kind of story every single time in my second chance romances. Elissa, you win, sis, you win. "Once More with Feeling" gives readers this unique mix of friends to lovers, enemies to lover with a dose of celebrity romance. Oh, and we can't forget workplace romance with childhood sweethearts. Seems like a lot, right? It could be, but Sussman writes it all flawlessly.

For those of you who are in your late 30s, early 40s, you may get a bit of Britney Justin romance, circa 1999. The boy band, female pop star storyline has a bit of a throwback vibe to when Britney dated the frontman of *NYSNC and the rumors of what ended their romance.

Kathleen and Cal are completely perfect in this book. I love their journey, their faults, their weaknesses, their ability to love themselves enough to know what's worth walking away from, what's worth staying for.

I'm not sure what Sussman is going to give her readers next but whatever it is, I'm reading it. Please and thank you.

Katee Rose was the biggest pop star of her time. She was dating a member of the hottest boy band, CrushZone. She was on top of the world until she blew it all up by cheating on her boyfriend with another member of the band. Now it's ten years later and Katee Rose has gone back to being Kathleen Rosenberg. She's living a quiet life out of the spotlight until the opportunity of a lifetime comes along to star on Broadway. This is everything she's ever dreamed of. The catch is that the director of the show is the boy band member she cheated with years ago. Can they get along enough to make both of their dreams come true? Will their reunion destroy the show?

Elissa Sussman is becoming one of my must-read authors. I loved this book! Pop princess, boy band, theater camp, and Broadway all in one book is a dream come true for me. This book is laugh-out-loud funny, tender, dramatic, and emotional. I felt all the emotions reading through this. I just wanted to hug Kathleen and tell her it would all be okay. Highly recommend this one as an easy summer read with a lot of feelings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballentine for the ARC of this book.

I really don’t know how it’s possible, but I loved this book even more than the first! It was perfectly paced with well developed characters and the plot kept me interested (and up past my bedtime), I will for sure pick up a trophy paperback!

As a musical lover, I truly enjoyed this story! It has most everything, from boy/girls bands of the millennial era to Broadway processes! I loved how we were brought through dual timelines in a way that wasn't difficult to track and that the issues were slowly but surely all revealed. I was completely captivated by the story, just like the author's debut Funny You Should Ask, could NOT put it down. Friends to enemies to lovers, like does it get any better?? It felt like I was reading all of the magazine articles surrounding BP and (douchey) JT back in the day, but more in-depth! Cal is just my fave kind of MMC, despite younger mistakes. Kate is such a fully-realized character, down to her emotional issues! Even her relationship with Harriet was developed in a real way.