This was a fun romance. I enjoyed the characters and the back and forth between past and present. I like a "second chance" romance meets "enemies to lovers".

Overall, I enjoyed this read, but it wasn't super memorable or outstanding to me.

Stayed up way too late last night reading this and finished it off today. A delight from start to finish. This was similar in format to the author’s first — but with new characters and a boy band for fun’s sake. I loved the yearning, and double yearning with the flashbacks. A solid good time.

Katee Rose was the world's biggest superstar, until she gets caught up in a dramatic, juicy cheating scandal and her career comes crashing down around her. She suddenly has the chance to return to her musical theatre roots, but the only issue? She'll have to work with one of the key players in her popstar demise to make it happen. We get to come along on the making (and downfall of) Katee Rose, as well as the making of her new Broadway show.

I liked but didn't love Funny You Should Ask, and Im definitely not a huge Broadway geek, so going into this I definitely had mixed expectations, but I was actually surprised by how much I liked this book! I think the overall story line was much stronger in this book than in Funny You Should Ask, but I didn't like the romance as much in this book - something about Kathleen and Cal felt forced to me! When our main characters in funny you should ask had SO much chemistry.

Overall though, I highly recommend this book and think it's worth the read, especially if you're a big Broadway fan!

I could not get into this book. There were some cute parts, but I wasn’t a fan of the miscommunication. I couldn’t get invested in Kathleen’s and Cal’s relationship. It all just fell kinda flat for me.

Let's start out with the name "Once More With Feeling" THANK YOU ES for that much needed Buffy reference.

Now onto the rest:
Once again ES doesn't disappoint with the second chance romance / friends to lovers / enemies to lovers tropes.
The way she writes her characters and the dual timeline got me hooked from the get go and made me read this one (like the last one) in one sitting. Her characters are captivating, complex and simply human which is no small feat considering they come from the entertainment world, where it's so easy to just pretend to be something other than human. Something polished and perfect.
Cal was such a sweet sweet character. I loved every single piece of him. Kathleen on the other hand, I have conflicting feelings about. I wanted to love her as a character but her impulsivity to say and act out before she thinks and even while realizing that it's the wrong thing to do irked me the wrong way. We all do this sometimes. React in that way but she was doing it ALL. THE. TIME. It made me like her less than I wanted. That being said everything else was so great.
I especially loved the we address that women have to be more perfect than men in every way in the Industry and the abusive and toxic environment these people (especially child stars) grow up in. It's all very real and very messed up.
Lastly, I can't not mention all the musical theater references and the fact that this book was set up against the backdrop of creating a Broadway show. It was glorious. My inner theater kid thanks you ES!

This was kind of a middle of the road book to me. I didn't personally feel their chemistry like I did in the author's previous books. I am wondering if it was because there was a third person involved in this one and less celebrity elements. Nothing wrong with the book, just personal preference for this rating.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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I read Funny You Should Ask last year, and it was just plain fun. I could not wait to pick up her new book. Elissa Sussman has a really distinct writing style, and I find it really easy to keep turning the page. I loved how she incorporated her love of musicals into this book. Ultimately, I think this book was not wildly compelling. It's great for a beach read, but it isn't going to stick with me for years. If you're looking for a quick fun book, pick this up.

StoryGraph review in link. Thank you for the book!!!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The plot was well written as well as the characters. The progression of their relationship was shone well by using the then and now chapters.

Once More With Feeling follows Kathleen and Cal, exes who now have to work together in a theater play written by their mutual friend, Harriet. The book navigates between dual timelines and perfectly displays the friends to lovers, second chance romance that unfolds. Although their first try at love ended Kathleen’s career as Katee Rose (America’s number one popstar), she knows that being cordial with Cal now is crucial since he is the director of the play she is now staring in.

I absolutely loved the banter throughout, from the time they were teens to adulthood. I will officially say that I will read anything that Elissa Susanna writes, this was beautifully done.

Thank you to Elissa Susanna, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine, and Dell Romance for the digital Arc copy of this book, I am eager for more from this author.

This story centers around Kathleen aka former pop star sensation, Katy Rose navigating returning to the spotlight after a scandal in the past almost ruined her career. Told in a past/ present point of view, I could see how some people might be REALLY into this book.

Although the premise was interesting and gave me nostalgic feelings for the pop stars and boy bands of my youth, for me, the story was lacking. I didn’t feel invested in the characters and didn’t find myself rooting for them to end up together. I was disinterested the first 75% of the book and while it definitely picked up, it was a little too late to claim a spot in my “love” bookshelf.

Then: Katee Rose is a famous pop star with a famous boyfriend named Ryan. After ending up in the arms of Cal, another member of her boyfriend's band, her life and career implode.
Now: Katee goes by Kathleen and lives a quiet life, leaving her pop star career in the past. Until Cal shows up and offers her a role in a Broadway play he's directing.

I liked the relationship between Kathleen and Cal, and how it's a second chance type of story. They start out blaming each other for the events that occurred in the past but soon end up falling for each other. I liked that they were both flawed characters and to me, that made the story more realistic. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Second chance romance. Friends to lovers to strangers to lovers. I found Kathleen a very sympathetic character and expected to be turned off by the cheating but wasnt. Very easy to root for her career and for her and Cal. Really enjoyed her relationship with her friend Harriett and their complicated relationship. Loved the musical theatre aspects and Jewish representation. Hated Ryan.

I was a big fan of Sussman's 'Funny You Should Ask,' so I had very high hopes for this book. It did not disappoint! I would have loved a bit more of an exploration into the pop star past of the characters, but I absolutely adored the theatre world setting.

I'm sorry to say, this book wasn't for me. I wanted to love it because I had seen so many great reviews but I struggled to relate to or even like either of the main characters and I'm not the biggest fan of a Then/Now plot anyways but it was made more difficult in this case when I would have rather we just stay in the present.

Sussman's first book was so-so for me, but the premise was there. I was willing to read this one because the first had me curious enough to read another. However, this fell flat. Nothing wrong and was a quick read, but the characters felt underdeveloped and the relationship wasn't super believable for me.

😃

Split timeline. Second chance romance.

Then: Kate’s (Kathleen) Rose is a mega pop star who is dating Ryan LaNeve, the lead of boy and Crushzone. But when she falls for Cal, another member of Crushzone, without breaking it off with Ryan first…. She was shunned and her career fizzled out. And she lost both men.

Now: Kathleen’s best friend Harriett has written a screenplay and wants her to play the lead…..with Cal as the director. Professionalism is tested. The each blame the other for the past. They have to decide if their attraction is worth another shot, with the possibility of ruining both their careers.

It was okay. Honestly, my biggest hiccup is that I really didn’t like Kathleen all that much. I just didn’t feel invested in her. The storyline was good.

Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman 🌿
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.5/5

A cute romance novel that doesn’t make me want to throw up, my favorite kind. Overall, I didn’t enjoy it as much as FYSA but would still recommend it to my fellow Sussman lovers. Very quick read and well written. I thought the timing of the passage explaining “the night on the roof” was great but the content of it fell flat. Might just be my preference, wanting some more spice. I felt like the novel was easy to read, even as a non theatre/musical kid, and had very lovable main characters. Some predictability as you can expect in a romance novel.

Shout out @netgalley and @randomhouse for the ARC. I did buy the physical copy about a week later though when it was released bc as always my phone gives me a headache.

Sigh.

This was disappointing, especially because I really enjoyed <I>Funny You Should Ask</I>. It pulled me in quickly and it was an extremely easy and quick read despite its length (is it really over 400?), but I am unsatisfied.

First, I couldn’t get past the MC, who felt annoying and childish without much context. Enjoying a romance MC is sort of a requirement, but I did not care about her. We really needed more backstory with her to care, and I did not get that.

Second, Cal was fine. I liked him more than Kathleen, but he was cardboard and had even less character development.

Finally, it suffered from a severe lack of emotion. It tried to do way too much (I.e. wtf was this friendship? Why did we need all these flashbacks? What did the final scene with Ryan serve? Why was there a mustache-twirling villain? I have so many questions.) and as a result, I felt nothing. It needed more showing vs telling. The sex scene would have been hotter if they had chemistry. I feel nothing.

Anyway, I am seeing some enjoyment around this one regardless of my lack of enthusiasm, so if you’ve enjoyed her first book, perhaps you’d enjoy this one too. Though, I don’t remember FYSA having the same issues.

Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my brutally honest review. Sorry it’s not a good rating. 😬

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy.

This book has major Britney/Justin vibes and I was HERE FOR IT. Kathleen Rosenburg, formerly known as Katee Rose, has been living a quiet life since her career was ruined by her ex boyfriend/boy band member Ryan. Until the guy she cheated on Ryan with years ago shows back up in her life as the director of the new Broadway musical that Kathleen is set to star in that was written by her bff, Harriett.

Told in Now/Then timelines that take us back to both the first time she met Cal way back at theater camp and during her career as a pop sensation, when she is dating Ryan and getting close to Cal. Ryan is a complete jerk and it's obvious that he's only dating Katee/Kathleen to further his own career. True, she didn't handle the situation with Cal the "right" way, and she owns up to it, but Ryan goes out of his way to destroy her career. The "Now" chapters take us from the inception of the musical through opening night, and show us how Kathleen and Cal navigate past mistakes to face their current feelings towards each other.

I flew through this book in less than a day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love musicals so the behind the scenes snippets were fun, and the boyband/pop star situations gave me some fun 90's/00s feels.

4.5 stars.

Elissa Sussman has become an auto buy author for me! This was such a fast read and the character were very easy to connect too!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.