I did not like this one as much as funny you should ask but it still had its moments. it was harder for me to get through and therefore i did not enjoy it as much.

Friends/Enemies to lovers with music is one of my favorite kinds of books. Kathleen, Cal, and Harriet met when they were teenagers at Curtain Call Summer Camp. After the camp, Kathleen and Cal got their big break as teen pop idols. Kathleen was Katee Rose pop princess and Cal was in a boy band with Katee's boyfriend, Ryan, called CrushZone. They toured together and all was great until Katee cheated on Ryan with Cal. Hurt feelings of both boys and negative publicity ended Katee's career and her friendship with Cal and Ryan. Forward 10 years and, Harriet, Kathleen's BFF and songwriter, has written a musical with a part written for Kathleen. Kathleen's excitement turns to horror as she meets the Director, Cal. Can Kathleen work with the man she betrayed years ago? Will he forgive Kathleen? The ups and downs of their relationship made this a fun read. However, at times it was too much. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves the friends/enemies to lovers trope.

I had heard such good things about this book so I was really excited to dive in, but sadly, this turned out to be a disappointment. I'm very particular about infidelity in stories and this book featured a big plit point around it, which really put me off, but even other than that, I didn't really enjoy this story as much as I thought would given the premise seemed so interesting.

DNF at 35%. It pains me since Funny You Should Ask was one of my favorite reads from 2022, but the dialogue is really pulling me out of the story. The author only uses “he said” “she said” “I said”, when the characters are talking and reading one of those variations 13 times on one page is driving me mad.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Elissa Sussman has done it again. I’ve never been famous, but somehow she always seems to portray fame in such a realistic light that I don’t doubt her for a second. This one is for the theater nerds, the showmancers, the friends-to-enemies-to-reluctant-coworkers and second-chance romance fans. Highly recommend!

The first book I read in 2024 and unfortunately it was a dud for me. I enjoyed "Funny You Should Ask" overall and was definitely interested by the premise of this one - especially the Broadway setting since I am a theater geek. I think the main thing I struggled with was how much of the plot centered around a big act of infidelity, which is something I just can't really look past, and made it difficult for me to root for either MC. I just found myself far enough in that I didn't want to DNF, but really looking forward to just being done with it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once More With Feeling is a second chance romance. I feel this story could’ve been better. This was a little disappointing for me. I think Funny You Should Ask was much better.

Loved the story and how the angst grew throughout. However the attitude of Kathleen really made it hard to root for her.

I loved this one so much more than the first book. It was amazing! I felt the chemistry between the two main characters. Also love the music aspect to the book. Highly recommend!

4.5 stars. Sussman has written another satisfying second chance romance, this time set in the world of a new Broadway musical. The story is engaging and I really wish the Rosie the Riveter-inspired show was real. I would love to see the author do something for her next book that doesn’t involve a “then and now” outline with alternating past and present chapters. It’s a formula that works, but it could start to feel too predictable after two books.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Cute story about second chances with love and how one moment can change the trajectory of your life. A fun, quick read for me!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the ARC!

Loved Funny You Should Ask and loved Once More with Feeling just as much. Elissa seamlessly transports you through 3 different timepoints and continues to build the story while slowly revealing all the truths. Elissa is easily becoming an author I will buy her new book without reading what it’s about because I just know I’ll love it!

i love this author! this was a good read, but i did find the chemistry to be lacking at times. i wish we saw more. however it was a cute book overall!

I didn’t enjoy the first book a lot and I thought this one was going to be better, it had potential but it didn’t give at all.

I forgot to write a review for this book, so here it goes.

As well as the author's previous book, this one was a second-chance romance and I very much enjoyed it.

Kathleen was not my fave, but the whole childhood (kind of) sweethearts aspect of it all, and the cuteness of the romance made up for it all (also the writing itself was very good). I was rooting for them and really relly wanted to slap her ex.

Would recommend anyone who likes second-chance romance to give this one a chance.

Despite generally enjoying the plot of Once More with Feeling, I struggled with the romance portion. Elissa Sussman wrote this book so that the past between Kathleen and main man, Cal, is a mystery that very slowly unfurls, or rather is dragged out. Instead of building chemistry, attraction, and heat, the novel focuses on musical theater, boy-band references, and Jewish summer camp nostalgia. Now, I do not take issue with any of these. However, when the two main characters finally get together, it feels more like a foregone conclusion than a natural climax to which the rest of the book builds. I do not require “spice” in a romance, but I do need to feel some desire, tension, and love. This book was lacking all of the above.

Okay.. let me first put out there that I absolutely LOOOVED this authors previous works. So I truly believed this would easily be a new favorite. That's not what I got unfortunately. I actually DNF'd it because it didn't work for me. I loved the idea of a book based on Brittney and Justin but I expected more 2000s vibes and drama that just wasn't there. I still definitely plan on picking up Sussman's next book!

This is a heartfelt romance novel that perfectly weaves the "enemies to lovers" and "second chance" tropes together as one. It tells the story of Kathleen and Cal as they navigate their relationship through time and I found myself rooting for them early on.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. Will be adding Elissa Sussman to the "must-read" author list. Two for two, she puts out lovely rom-coms! "Once More with Feeling" was a well written second chance, childhood sweethearts romance. Maybe since there has been so much hype for the Britney Spears memoir that is coming out this year, "Once More with Feeling" was giving me Britney / Justin vibes, but add in musical theatre and take out some of the crazy. While I enjoyed "Funny You Should Ask" more, "Once More with Feeling" was an easy digestible read that stuck to a handful of tropes.