Elisa Sussman is a master at writing a fantastic celebrity story! I loved Funny You Should Ask last year, but Once More With Feeling I loved just a little bit more 🥰

Here’s what you can find:
🩵 childhood friends to lovers
🩵 enemies to lovers
🩵 second chance romance
🩵 music theatre vibes (so many references to classic musicals!)
🩵 chapters alternating between then and now
🩵 former pop stars turned Broadway superstars (actress and director)
🩵 a heartfelt romance with light steam
🩵 a great message about forgiving yourself

Thank you Random House and Net Galley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. Once More With Feeling is out now!

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed the premise of Once More with Feeling. A popstar who fell from grace over a decade ago tries to make a Broadway comeback in a show written by her best friend and directed by her former... almost ex. There's some theater nerdery, pop culture references, boy band jokes, an excellent cat named Fish, and a sweet second chance romance, all of which come together to create a book that mostly worked.

Kathleen Rosenberg used to be Katee Rose, bubblegum popstar of the early 2000s whose career came to an end when she cheated on her beloved boy band boyfriend with one of his bandmates. Since then, she's tried to live a mostly normal life, but she's never really gotten over the loss of her stardom and all the unresolved trauma of it. One of the things this book does best is ponder what fame means and why some people are drawn to it while others are generally neutral. It also unpacks, to an extent, the way culture treated "bad" women in the 00s, through the eyes of someone who lived that experience. Kathleen never shies away from the fact that she made a mistake, but comes to understand that she also has to forgive herself for it.

All the intersecting plot threads - the past and present, the play and Kathleen's personal life - worked fairly well for me. But I never really felt like I had any connection to the characters, not even Kathleen, whose head we're in the entire time. Cal, her one-time partner in cheating and long-time theater camp crush, always felt like more of an idea than a person, and I found myself wanting a bit more of Harriet, who had a lot of potential as the best friend but ultimately came across as a bit of a drag. I walked away from this book having enjoyed it, but also feeling like there was a bit of a hollow center where I wanted the real emotional impact to be.

Still, there's lots of fun things going on here, and it was overall generally enjoyable!

3.75/5

As a former theater kid, I absolutely adored this book. Kathleen was such an interesting and complicated protagonist and loved seeing her grow and change through the multiple timelines of this sweeping story. The chemistry between her and Cal was palpable, and I couldn't help but stay up late, turning the pages to see what happened next for them. Elissa Sussman has an incredible voice that is so empathetic and honest towards the realistic messiness of figuring yourself out and falling in love. I can't wait to read what she comes out with next!!

World famous pop stars? Boy bands? Broadway dreams? Childhood friends to lovers? Second chance romance? This book has it all!

This was a fun second chance romance read! I loved the theatre setting & the old pop star storyline! It was different and fun. The past and present setting is always a favorite of mine and the story itself had me glued to my kindle (I read the whole book in 1 sitting, unintentionally)

I will say some of the plot lines left me with mixed feelings, could all of that be forgiven?? I’m not sure. Either way a fun read for sure.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an earc in exchange for an honest review*

I am now addicted to Elissa Sussman! Once More With Feeling was a perfect summer read- full of love, betrayal, and forgiveness. You won't be able to put this novel down. HIghly recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book.

Kathleen Rosenberg has always loved performing. In her teens and early 20s, she was on television and later, pop star Katee Rose. Her career went crumbling down when she cheated on her boy band boyfriend Ryan with his bandmate and former camp duet partner Cal Kirby, and was lambasted in the media. Now - a decade later- Kathleen has lived a relatively normal life until her best friend Harriet's musical is finally being produced, and the director is none other than Cal. As they are forced to work together, Cal and Kathleen struggle with their past and whether they have a future.

I loved this one! Funny You Should Ask is still on my TBR, so I'm unable to compare the two or how Sussman's writing has evolved, but I really enjoyed this book. Kathleen and Cal have such good chemistry and you can feel the tug of war between their emotions of distrust and lust - SO GOOD!!! I also loved how they grew and matured, but still had the connections of their past that ultimately formed such a strong connection. I also enjoyed watching Kathleen's growth and realization that she didn't need to keep beating herself up for her past mistakes, and that she still deserved happiness in the present despite those mistakes. Overall, a fantastic enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance!

Thanks to PRH/Ballentine for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

TW: Cheating, strained family relationships, fatphobia

Once More With Feeling was my 2nd book by this author, and I am impressed! I definitely look forward to reading more from this author! Sometimes romance can feel a little cringey but not with this author! The characters were so real and relatable and it was really interesting to read the behind the scenes of a broadway musical production. I read this book in a day because I could not put it down!

2.5 ⭐️

I wanted to love it… but I don’t think this author is for me. I didn’t love Funny You Should ask and I loved this book even less. Maybe I’m just not a fan of second chance romance??? Side note - her books have some of my favorite covers ever so I’m sure I’ll end up buying the next one regardless 🥲 I can’t help myself

Sussman is very good at creating specific tension. This makes Kathleen and Cal and excellent central couple. But I wanted a lot more from Harriet and just the overall plot.

I love me a pop-culture-y romance! I love the narrative behind-the-scenes of a pop star/broadway star and a second chance at love. It was a quick read with fun characters and an engaging premise. ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, however, was just an *okay* read for me. I felt like it had a lack of deep spark that left it, unfortunately, a bit forgettable for me. I think I just expected more out of it?

A thanks to Ballantine and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. ONCE MORE WITH FEELING is out now!

3.5 STARS // Thank you to Random House Publishing/Ballantine/Dell and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Having grown up in the age of pop stars and boy bands and being a musical theater kid, Once More with Feeling brought lots of nostalgia and fun. Former teen pop star Katee Rose dated the leading man of boy band CrushZone during her prime. Things all go downhill when she is caught cheating with another member of the band, Cal Kirby. Her career deteriorates overnight and she moves on living a normal life. Years later and after never discussing the scandal all of this time, Cal Kirby and her best friend Harriet ask her to come back into the spotlight to be the leading lady of their Broadway-bound musical. Kathleen is forced to put past grievances aside to be professional, but emotions get high as she and Cal are working closely to bring this musical to life.

I enjoyed this book but found the first 30% or so to be a bit of a slow burn. Once things picked up, I got very into it and was excited to see how everything unfolded. This was a fun summer read about childhood sweethearts and how the rise and fall of stardom can impact relationship. Definitely planning to read more Elissa Sussman books!

I really really loved this book! I enjoyed Funny You Should Ask, but Once More with Feeling was more than I could have asked for. First of all, the setting is incredible! I am a sucker for an friends to lovers to enemies to lovers. The angsty build up is exactly the kind of thing I love in romance books. I really loved this musical setting where both Kathleen and Cal have something to prove. I truly had so many feelings throughout the whole story.

One of the biggest things I loved was the way we had flashbacks to these moments in Kathleen and Cal's lives where they are crossing paths and this whole tension between them is so huge. I also really loved Harriet. She was a great addition to this story and I felt that over all it's hard to not love how incredible this book is. I think I will be reading it again very shortly.

Sussman found her niche with celebrity romance and I'm so here for it! Her writing style is so fresh and engaging- an absolute delight!

Sorry I did not liked it and did not finish it honestly. I do not like Cal and the way his acting. Hearts on Kathleen but the plot on dual timeline was ehh for me like I cannot connect the whole story

I liked this one! I love a good celebrity romance, and the addition of the dual timeline from them being famous as kids was unique. I felt like a little more substance surrounding the major conflict, and it’s resolution would have been nice. The ending felt a bit rushed. All in all though, a fun and quick read!

First, thank you so much NetGalley for the ARC! I enjoyed Funny You Should Ask overall, and so I wanted to read this, especially because it has two of my favorites tropes: friends to lovers and second chance. However, this unfortunately fell flat for me. I’m not sure exactly what was missing, but I never really felt interested/invested in the story and the characters. I didn’t find either of them particularly likable, especially Kathleen. This story is pretty heavily focused on theater/acting/singing, none of which are my things, so maybe if you’re a music person, you might enjoy this a bit more! Still even though it wasn’t my favorite, I’m grateful that I got the opportunity to read it.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

I loved Elissa Sussman's book "Funny You Should Ask" so I was really excited to read this one. The author continues with her humor, smart character growth, and just overall enjoyable writing. The only thing that was slightly negative for me was the whole cheating plot...but that is part of the premise of the book and everything else played out perfectly. This book has two timelines, the "then" (music theatre camp!) and the now...filled with musicals and second chance romance. There were parts I was giddy and so nostalgic...and the ending made me sigh happily. I was invested in both the romance of Cal and Kathleen, but also the friendship of Kathleen and Harriet. Well done! :)

4 stars

I absolutely devoured this book! I had previously really enjoyed Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman but to my surprise this connected with me even more!
Let’s start with the basics. This is a second chance romance with two former pop stars. It definitely has a friends-lovers-enemies-friends-lovers thing going on which I am absolutely feral for. It’s told in single POV of the FMC, Kathleen (Katee). It takes place mostly in dual POV of the present and about a decade ago but also has a little bit from their childhood as well. The story is definitely a slow burn and has one mildly spicy scene.
I loved the setting of the theater world that the characters are in present day. This isn’t something I’m overly familiar with but even though I may have missed a reference or two it really worked as a unique setting for a romance book. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything in this setting before! Cal, the MMC, is absolutely adorable! A golden retriever for sure! The story is so well flushed out. There is a strong plot and intense character development along the way. These two MCs along with the best friend character of Harriett are so complex and deeply flawed. Like real people! It’s my favorite thing to read in romance!
I’ll finish by saying everyone should pick this up and it’s one of biggest surprises of the year! 5 enthusiastic stars! Oh did I mention there is an adorable cat named Fish??!! A big thank you to Random House for supplying with this wonderful book! I bought the paperback too!

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very cute book and it went by really fast. I was reading it and without even realizing it I was almost halfway through already. I loved the idea of creating a broadway show and seeing what could be going on in the beginning stages.

I did have a few complaints though. The subplot with Rachel in the present timeline was dumb and could have been solved with one conversation in like the beginning of the book. I also really disliked the 3rd act breakup here, there was enough friend drama going on at the time that it just didn't seem worth it or needed. Also I really would have loved either an epilogue or for the ending news article to have taken place a little farther into the future.

Even with those issues I had I still really liked it.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

This is Sussman's best novel so far. It is a clever homage to the pop stars of the 90s and 00's as well as a love letter to broadway. It is also a wholly believable romance and the characters seem like they leapt from the headlines. Such an enjoyable summer novel. All pop culture nostalgia fans should read this!