I LOVED THIS ONE! All the theater camp vibes + a compelling and believable love story. Katee Rose was a huge pop star back in the day on tour with the hottest boy band of the time. She was dating Ryan LaNeve, but she really had eyes for Cal Kirby. There was a disastrous day when it all went wrong and the Katee Rose as we knew her was no more. In the present day Kathleen Rosenberg is a totally normal person staying out of the public eye until her best friend and Cal come to her with an offer: be the star in a new musical they want to take to Broadway. Harriet wrote it, Cal is directing, what could go wrong?

This one really worked for me!! I didn't believe in the love story in Funny You Should Ask, even though I loved Sussman's writing and way with characters, so I was really pleased to fall completely in love with these two. As a person who attended theater camp, it hit on a lot of levels.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the ARC. Once More with Feeling is out now!

The character development in this book was okay, overall to me the FMC wasn't very likable but that is just my personal opinion. However I did like the storyline of the MCs being childhood sweethearts etc. I like how the book offers the background of them growing up and rising to fame; it follows them from start to finish. I did love the relationship dynamic between the two. It was a fast-paced 'celebrity' read with a drama filled romance.

4/5 stars

📖 Recap: Katee Rose was the pinnacle popstar – she was touring the world, had the catchiest pop songs, and had a superstar boy band boyfriend, Ryan, until it all came crashing down when she cheated with bandmate Cal Kirby. Ryan released a heartbreak album, Katee Rose’s career ended immediately, and Cal escaped untouched.
Now, Kathleen Rosenberg’s best friend, Harriet, is trying to get a musical produced with a role written just for Kathleen. Who comes to the rescue? none other than Cal himself as the director. With the scars of what happened over a decade ago – and memories from meeting in theater camp as teens, they will attempt to fulfill a lifelong dream of being on Broadway. They may even back in love with each other in the process.

📚 Review: This book was written for me. It has EVERYTHING I love in one place. Boy Bands, check. Pop culture, check. Broadway musicals, check. Second Chance Romances, check. Talented besties, check. I mean – it does not get better than this. I very much enjoyed this book. The love story was real and intense and I could feel their angst on how much others were affected by their choices and how difficult it is sometimes to forgive yourself for your actions. Elissa Sussman got me back to reading last year with Funny You Should Ask, and I will read anything she puts out there. Seriously, she has my heart. I cannot wait to read this again. (Also, I think there was a slight callback to Funny You Should Ask with a mention of Cal choreographing a scene for the first American Bond, were we talking about Gabe Parker, by any chance?)

❤️ Read if you like:
Dual Timelines
Second chance romance
Friends to enemies to lovers
Broadway musicals
Pop Stars / Boy Bands

This book was surprisingly pretty wonderful. It had a lot stacked against it. I don’t traditionally live second chance romance, and cheating is the biggest romance turn-off for me. Despite having both, this book was enjoyable. It had heart and humor, and is definitely worth a read.

This was such a fun, completely satisfying read. Elissa Sussman effortlessly combined two of my favorite things—love stories and musical theater—into a romance novel I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll be recommending this to many people!

If you are keeping track Funny You Should Ask by @elissa_sussman was one of my fave reads in 2022. In fact, I accosted some nice college girls this weekend at Barns and Noble and told them they should buy the book….and they did #influencer. Sussman brings more celebrity drama, romance, and musical theater (said with jazz hands) in Once More With Feeling.

Kathleen is a washed up pop star. She dropped out of the limelight after a scandalous break up with her famous boy band BF Ryan (whoops she slept with his band-mate, Cal). Kathleen’s best friend wrote a musical and wants Kathleen to star in it, but Cal is the director/choregrapher. AWKWARD!! So not only is this a celebrity romance, it’s also a friends to lovers to enemies to lovers romance…plus MUSICAL THEATER (jazz hands)!!

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Brittney and Justin were the motivation for Kathleen and Ryan…and Ryan is the perfect JT bc both are huge narcissistic, douchebags. But who is Cal? Let’s make him a HOT version of Joey Fatone…he’s nice and can dance. I loved how Sussman tackled the shit end of the stick women in the music industry are served…look like a sexy bedroom vixen, but don’t ACT like one…and if you do, we will slut shame you right out of a job. Meanwhile the men involved skate through unscathed. #teambritney #teamjanet

Overall- I truly enjoyed this one and its def a great summer read. Kathleen is a mess from her life as a young popstar, and you know I’m a fan of messy heroines. She carries her trauma with her thru this book and it affects most of the decisions she makes. I love it when Kathleen figures her shit out and get her winning moment…like a phoenix rising from the ashes (with jazz hands). I do think that the resolution of the typical “act 3 romance breakup” was very fast and I needed much more groveling. I would have been happy with few more chapters of Kathleen serving more comeuppance to people from her past, talking shit out with Cal, and then pages of glorious make-up sex. But I’m a greedy little smutty book reviewer!!

Smut- 2.03 stars
Romance- 4.72 stars
Story- 4.87 stars
Fictional hot Joey Fatone- 10.56 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Random house publishing for this ARC!

I have not read the first book and I loved ever second of this book the second chance romance the musical theater references the pining for each other. I love the childhood summer camp romance element to it. The way the story evolves had me not able to put the book down. I can wait to read more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Kathleen was teenage pop sensation whose career was ruined by media and fan reactions to her breakup with her boy band star boyfriend. She is thrilled when her dream opportunity to star in a musical finally comes around years later, but it means she will have to work with the man who stood by as her career crashed and burned.

While this was a fun read, I didn’t love the character arcs. I felt like I needed more depth from them to really care about their love story and relationship. There was good tension and chemistry between them. I enjoyed the flashbacks and the musical theater descriptions. A good romance for the musical theater lovers!

Once More With Feeling is such a fun read! It’s almost like a Camp Rock meets Starstrucked for adults. This book has all the Disney Channel Original film vibes that my Disney Adults would love. It has the unlikely pair. The Rivals. The main guy who looks like he belongs on the beach scene. A strong-willed, stick it to the man female. One who changes her identity for the sake of an agenda. But regardless of that Kate/Kathleen knows what she wants. Or at least the more well seasoned Katee does.

This book is full of drama, flashbacks, laughter, and romance. You see a main character forced with having to live with her reputation, or rather her ruined one at that. You watch as she picks up the pieces and carries on with her life, while also trying to untangle her past. She’s the heroine of our musical dreams. There is something very raw about watching a main character struggle with who she wants to be and who everyone wants her to be. Whether she wants to live for herself or the stage. It’s an epic tale of finding balance between your dreams and your life.
Although this book isn’t 100% for me, it will hit the mark with so many. I had a lot of fun while reading and genuinely think it’s a perfect summer read! It’s faced paced, funny, drama filled. All good things in a recipe for a great book!

if you're a big fan of broadway, musical theatre, second chance romance, and then friends to lovers this is the book for you!

Sussman is a gifted writer to spin stories so well between "Then" and "Now" times and it was beautiful to see two strangers meet, become friends, and then become more that is a juxtaposition to the tension between the in the current day.

It reminded me a lot of Glee in that they were so passionate about the performing arts and it was done great justice by the author to know the process, and not just act like everything was happening without any work or stress.

One thing that I have loved in both of her books are just the characters and how they're written, described, and the little quirks they have. I don't know what it is but I just love her characters and feeling like I know them so well by the time I finish reading as if they were real people I'd meet on the street and not simply fictional characters.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I enjoyed this one and I liked it better than Funny You Should Ask

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Second chance romance
Enemies to friends to lovers
Celebrity romance
Dual timeline
Great banter
Theater / boy bands
Relatable characters

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Jewish rep
The rooftop scene
Heartwarming and light read

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Kathleen was annoying at times
I wish there was more character growth
Cheating trope

There was a lot about Once More with Feeling that resonated with me but maybe nothing more than the author's note that said "There are few things more tragic than a theater kid who can't sing, dance, or act." 🙋🏻‍♀️ This was a love letter to us theater kids at heart but on the sidelines.

✔️Childhood Friends
✔️Second Chance
✔️Then and Now
✔️Forced Proximity
✔️He's Her Boss

First off, I adore musical theater so all the references (especially to Sondheim) were delightful. I was also (like most of the world) invested in the reevaluation of the Britney/Justin debacle and how unfairly she was perceived and treated in the aftermath of their breakup. I loved seeing Kathleen work so hard to make her comeback and rooted for her from the start.

I loved both Kathleen and Cal as a couple and seeing them in three time periods as theater camp teens to young adult pop stars to present time older adults.

I was less invested in Kathleen's friendship with Harriet which didn't feel as developed as the main relationship.

There were a couple of moments close to the end that were incredibly satisfying - one was swoon-y and the other was joy for the comeuppance of a character. Overall, a fun read and a great ending. 4⭐️ ! Thanks to @randomhouse @netgalley for the early copy.

Steam 🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕

I absolutely adored this book!

1. Celebrity romance! (swoon!)
2. Second chance romance! The wanting and tension is so well written.
3. Dual timelines. This is a fantastic literary device for keeping the pace of the book and creating suspense. i.e. What led them to this point of barely speaking? The timelines also nicely parallel each other. We get the details we need right when we need them and not a page sooner.
4. A cat!

I think a lot of people will appreciate this book. Our main characters are so likable. I found myself really invested in Kathleen's success/comeback. I don't even like musical theater and I was still excited for her!

I preordered this book and of course requested it on NetGalley even though it was only a few days before I would be receiving my physical copy. A big thank you to @randomhouse Publishing and @NetGalley for letting me read this a few days early.

Include a line about You've Got Mail and You've Got Me Hooked! 4.5 stars!

Katee Rose was a huge female popstar who just so happened to be dating one of the members of CrushZone, the up and coming boy band. Katee and Ryan met on a reality competition show and "fell in love." Who else is in the band? Katee's first.... duet partner from summer camp, Cal.

We find out that Katee (or Katherine) cheated on Ryan with Cal and it RUINED her career. Since then, she's been laying low. She's decided to come out of the woodwork when her best friend Harriet (also from summer camp) has her musical picked up to go to broadway. The same musical that Harriet wrote the main character specifically for Katherine.

Who other to direct the show than Cal. Cal, the same guy Katherine cheated on her ex boyfriend with. Cal, who had a bad split with Katherine and she hasn't heard of since. What will happen?!

Elissa Sussman created a GREAT second-chance, enemies to lovers, comeback story. I fell in love with Cal (once I got to know him better) and wanted Katherine and Harriet to succeed! I loved this book, and want to own a physical copy for my shelves. Such a quick binge read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A tribute to musical theatre and a quick paced second chance & celebrity romance book!
I don’t normally like the cheating trope, BUT there was so much room for redemption in this story. There was something I really liked about Cal & Kathleen’s story that I absorbed. I think it was Kathleen’s level of vulnerability with her inner dialogue. I LOVED how Elissa gave us flashbacks that explained the cuteness taking place in the future, the rooftop scene and stale candy were the best. At first I thought I’d missed something and I was literally double checking to make sure I hadn’t skipped pages. I was kicking my feet when these cute little moments were later revealed to us.
If you’re looking for a light & messy romance I think this is perfect!

4.5/5⭐️

I binged this celebrity romance so fast; it’s one of my favorite tropes!! I previously loved Funny You Should Ask so this is one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I was not disappointed, I wish it was longer!
Things I Loved:
✨90s vibes / nostalgia
✨Multiple timelines
✨Childhood friends to enemies to lovers
✨Second chance romance

After reading Funny You Should Ask in 2022, I was excited to hear Elissa Sussman was coming out with another book around the celebrity/Hollywood lifestyle. Once More with Feeling did not disappoint and personally I enjoyed it more than Funny You Should Ask.

This was a second-chance romance starring Kathleen and Cal. The two first meet in acting summer camp and the story bounces back and forth between their past respective pop star & boyband careers and the present. I really enjoyed the pace and how the story dove right into what the main issue of the plot would be. This made for a super quick read because I was dying to know how the past and present connect as well as how much messier it could get. Aside from the obvious romance aspect, Once More with Feeling also goes into what being a woman in the music industry is like and how Kathleen rose and fell from fame so easily. While Hollywood might seem so out of touch from most readers' lives, Elissa makes it easy to relate and empathize with Kathleen.

Such a great read. One of my favorites this year so far!

I asked to read “Once More With Feeling” because I enjoyed Elissa Sussman’s previous work, “Funny You Should Ask.” The cover really made me wanted to read this book as did the premise of a second chance at the one romance you totally screwed up.

Kate was the next best thing until she wasn’t. She is trying to rejuvenate her career with her best friend, Harriet when she is forced to work with Cal, who she’s had a tricky past with. Naturally, working together brings out old feelings, but you know from the get-go that they’re going to get together.

Sometimes, the journey matters more than the destination. This story had no surprises, but the witty narration helps to balance out the predictability.

Three and a half stars.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy.

Pop star Katee Rose was at the height of her career dating Crushzone band member Ryan when she cheats on him with his other band member, Cal. The whole scandal ruins her reputation, leaving the two of them completely untarnished. Decades later, a washed up dance teacher, she reunites with Cal to bring her best friend Harriett’s play to life. As old wounds are opened again, feelings of all sorts come back full force.
💭Thoughts💭
Elissa is the pop cultural fiction queen!! I loved the plot, the musical theater kid inside jokes, and the multilayered characters. Kathleen was definitely a troubled character but I absolutely adored her and rooted her on. Also, THAT scene?? Talk about spicy.
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⌛️Favorite Moment⌛️
I loved the flashback scenes of Katee as a pop star and the boys of Crushzone. I was trying to pinpoint which real boy band members each was modeled after which was so fun. Also, shoutout to Jacinda Lockwood who was a character from the author’s last book!
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🎉 Theme Ideas 🎉
There are so many musicals that the characters loved in this book- Grease, Annie, Sister Act, you name it! Or go see a play at your local theater!

once more with feeling by elissa sussman
⭐️⭐️⭐️

thank you netgalley for this arc!!

this was my first elissa sussman book and it had such a fun premise! I loved how this was a celebrity second chance romance! the pop singer broadway vibes were so fun. Cal was a great MC and I was living for Cal being kathleen’s director. it was a little hard for me to connect with the characters and I didn’t feel like cal and kathleen’s relationship was fully developed. at times, kathleen frustrated me with her miscommunication but other than that this was a fun read.