I really enjoyed this contemporary romance.

SUMMARY
Kathleen - formerly pop star Katee Rose - is set to make her comeback to the stage in a musical written by her best friend and directed by her former flame and fellow pop star Cal. Katee Rose fell from the spotlight in a disgraceful way when she and Cal were exposed as having a romantic relationship and Katee was cheating on her of her pop star and national sweetheart of a boyfriend and Cal's band mate, Ryan. Needless to say, Kathleen does not have fond memories of Cal and their fall out, but she finds the will power to muster through to act her heart out in her friend's musical in the part written just for her. However, the chemistry between Cal & Kathleen is undeniable as their professional relationship and personal relationship is reborn.

THOUGHTS
I really enjoyed this! It was fast paced, funny, sexy, and kept my interest throughout. I wish there was more built into the backstory sections. I wanted to know more about Katee Rose's decline and felt that was lacking. I loved the secondary characters.

I am definitely recommending this one!

Thanks NetGalley & publisher for the ARC!

If you are a fan of musical theater and early 2000s pop singers and boy bands, you will love this book. It is very Britney x Justin scandal coded. This was a quick read but filled with drama, angst, romantic tension, and even more drama. I am such a fan of how Elissa uses a dual timeline to navigate the story and let us discover what went wrong and what went right as these two friends to lovers become enemies to lovers. I definitely recommend this book!

Thank you Elissa, Dell, and NetGalley for sending me an ARC for an honest review!

In 2022, Elissa's previous release, Funny You Should Ask, made for one of my favorite reads of the entire year! Because of this, I screamed with excitement at the opportunity to read an early copy of Once More with Feeling, a second-chance romance between two former pop stars that had scandal ruin their blossoming careers.

A decade after Kathleen and Cal made news with an affair, their paths cross again to work on a possible Broadway production. With Cal directing and Kathleen the leading lady, the success of their show will rely heavily on whether or not they can overcome their lingering resentments and tangled history. Three timelines provide the reader insight into the pair's past — the highs, the lows, the love, the loss.

Overall, OMWF was a fast-paced book that I wished had leaned into the celebrity romance more, but still thoroughly entertained. It wasn't long before I was pulled into the action and chemistry between Cal and Kathleen, their lives having been intertwined for decades, for better or worse. And since this was a case of "he falls first", Cal's adoration for Kathleen, once Katee, was so evident. During moments where they finally submitted to the feelings that simmered beneath the surface, his longing and desperation couldn't be ignored. Additionally, and this is a bit of a strange mention but bear with me, as someone who doesn't enjoy when characters sing to each other, I didn't experience even a moment of that anticipated secondhand embarrassment given the whole premise centers around song and dance. Major kudos to Elissa for that!

However, some elements didn't totally work for me. The most memorable being that the late conflict was poorly executed. Considering Cal and Kathleen met as teenagers, as young aspiring entertainers, I hoped to see more growth and communication from the pair in the third act of their dynamic. After experiencing fame together and subsequently losing it, I hoped to see them commit to doing better in the future. As a reader, that would have gone a long way to convince me that their relationship with stand the test of time.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Elissa Sussman for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The perfect read for those looking to escape reality and delve into a world of nostalgic celebrity drama. Sussman did an excellent job of using three interwoven timelines to reveal small plot twists, exceeding expectations set by Funny You Should Ask. Absolutely delightful! Will be loyally reading Sussman for years to come.


A sincere thank you to Random House Publishing / Dell and NetGalley for the ARC!

4.25 ★

I really enjoyed this! Compared to Funny You Should Ask, Once More with Feeling felt more comprehensive and elevated. I was instantly hooked on Kathleen & Cal's story, and the dual timeline helped you piece together their extensive history alongside their rekindled relationship. I think Elissa Sussman EXCELS at writing flawed characters and really allows the reader to see all the ways in which they had changed from when they were swooped into fame and how they navigated themselves post-scandal. The complex relationships Kathleen and Cal held and the relationship between Kathleen and her best friend Harriett felt so realistic and I honestly could've read so much more about them. I was so intrigued from start to finish and adored the humor and theater references sprinkled throughout.

If you liked Funny You Should Ask, I think you will like this one even more! Sussman's writing has evolved in such a beautiful way that made for such a wonderful second-chance story!

This was such a fun book to read. I loved the Broadway show setting. It’s told from a then and now POV. Kathleen is a former pop star and Cal was in a boy band. The multiple timelines put all the pieces together on why they broke up. I enjoyed reading about what it’s really like to be in the pop music industry and work in theater. I liked the characters and seeing their growth throughout the story. This was such an entertaining, funny, and quick read! There is drama, tension and I was silently rooting for Kathleen and Cal the entire time.

I wish they wrote this book 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

We start off with a tabloid headlining Katee Rose's epic break-up more than ten years in the past. Cut to the present, Kathleen Rosenberg has been casted as the lead for a Broadway show alongside Cal - the director and her old flame. But as the couple are given a second chance, their mistakes of the past still haunts them.

- ~ -

To be fair, it's not a bad book.
Just very immature?

I'd accept half the stuff that went down if it was for the greater good considering the current situation then but it was mainly due to dumb decisions.

Don't get me wrong, the plot has potential but the execution was all shades of wrong. It only led to the characters being drawn in a negative light when they could've created a more emotional impact.

On the bright side, though, I liked Kathleen and Cal's banter and confessions. Their energy was easy going and I liked Fish - Kathleen's cat.

- ~ -

3.71 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

Kathleen and Cal- a second chance, friends to enemies to friends to lovers story with music! They met for the first time at summer camp and then not again until Kathleen was Katee Rose, the singer in a hot band featuring her boyfriend Ryan and.....Cal. These three, hmm. The whole thing implodes and they part but then, when Kathleen's friend Harriett writes a Broadway musical that's meant to be her second chance at a career, he turns out to be the director. And now it's a second chance at love. This isn't deep, it's trope-y, but it's also fun. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Perfect for beach or travel reading.

I loved Funny You Should Ask so I was really excited to read this new book by Elissa Sussman -- and it was very engaging and fast paced.

Kathleen and Cal have a history - we know something happened in their past that broke up her relationship with Cal's bandmate and also caused her and Cal to not speak for over 10 years. Kathleen's best friend has written a musical she wants Kathleen to star in, but Cal is going to direct - which means they need to put aside the past to work together.

There is clearly tension between the two of them from the start -- and it kept me very intrigued and wanting to know what would happen next.

I had a little trouble relating to Kathleen and her motivations -- I found a lot of things she did very frustrating, but overall I was rooting for her and wanted her to work it out with Cal, as well as her best friend Harriet.

I loved the split narrative between the present day and what happened in the past -- it was nice to understand what Kathleen and Cal were feeling based on how everything had played out between them.

I'm definitely an Elisa Sussman super fan and look forward to reading whatever she writes in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance reader's copy of this novel.

I DNFed this one pretty quickly because of the writing style. I've noticed that I can no longer deal with books (especially romances, for some reason) that have these short, choppy sentences and feel like the inner monologue of a character who just thinks in two or three words at a time. Another example of this is Katherine Center's book The Bodyguard, which made me question whether I had ever really liked her books. I didn't like Sussman's first book very much either, so I feel like I should quit while I'm ahead.

One thing that Elissa Sussman is fantastic at is writing second chance romance. I am not the biggest fan of second chance, but she does it right everytime. This story was heartwarming and sweet, but had the perfect addition of drama from Kathleen, Cal & Harriett’s past and how it affected their futures.

I didn’t really feel connection with Kathleen, but I enjoyed this story overall. The plot, tropes, and drama made for quite an interesting story. I also really enjoyed that we got an interchanging timeline between Kathleen’s childhood and her adulthood. All the plot points tied together well!

Overview:
- second chance
- childhood friends to lovers to enemies to lovers
- Jewish fmc
- boss/employee
- forced proximity
- celebrity romance

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, Dell, Ballantine Publishing and Elissa Sussman for the eARC of Once More With Feeling in exchange for an honest review! Available on May 30th!

DNF at 50%. I really loved Funny You Should Ask and was excited for Once More With Feeling. I was also excited when I saw the FMC named Kathleen which is my name and I don’t see it much in romances! Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.

I was intrigued by the premise but unfortunately I really don’t like Katee/Kathleen much in either timeline. I think she’s very selfish and doesn’t do a good job of thinking about the people she supposedly cares about the most. Eventually I realized I really wasn’t rooting for the romance here and decided it was time for me to stop. I’m also not a big fan of second chance romance so maybe this one just wasn’t for me. I’m still excited to see what Sussman writes next.

Thank you to the publisher, PRH Audio and Netgalley for the advance reading and listening copies.

Elissa Sussman writes deeply flawed characters. I had a big soft spot for Cal but every other character was hard to root for. Kathleen was unnecessarily combative and difficult. Harriet was fine for most of the story, but heavy handed foreshadowing let me know not all was well on that front, and her and Kathleen’s fight did NOT seem like something to just hug and move on from so I found everything about that off-putting. The sweet moments with Kathleen and Cal kept me going, but there just aren’t enough in the story to redeem it. The declaration of love at the ending and the surprise associated with that was maybe my favorite part of the entire book, but it felt a bit rushed. Don’t get me wrong, this was an easy and entertaining book to read. But I found myself feeling anxious and uncomfortable for 99% of it because there weren’t many bright spots and that’s not how I like to feel when I’m reading. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to review!

Thank you so much to Random House for an advance copy of this!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for a complimentary copy of the audio!

Elissa Sussman became an auto buy author after I devoured & loved Funny You Should Ask. So when she announced that her next book was going to be another Hollywood/celebrity romance, I was THRILLED!

"You belong up there. You belong where everyone can see you. And hear you."

This book takes place in present time with glimpses of two past timelines - one as teengers at camp, one during the peak of fame. The timelines were not confusing and I was able to following along pretty seamlessly. Had I only done the audio, I think it could have been a little confusing until you got use to the format.

Going into this after reading the very first mixed media blurb, I definitely thought the romance was going to be between Katee Rose (pop stage name) & Ryan her ex boyband boyfriend and not Cal (who she cheated on her boyfriend with). It was pretty clear while reading that Katee Rose and Ryan were not meant to be together and it may have started as a real relationship but turned into more of a PR relationship. Ryan was meant to be a celebrity and craved the attention and in the end it worked for him. Katee didn't need all that and didn't want that.

I love that we got to see the very beginning of the friendship between Cal & Kathleen when they met as teens at camp. What also worked for me is that both Cal and Kathleen knew what each other went through being in their own respected spotlight. Cal knew the pain that Kathleen went through with her fall from the spotlight. Cal was Kathleen's cheerleader then as well as now and knew how to push her. He knows what she is capable of even when she felt like she couldn't do it.

I do not condone cheating on a partner regardless of the situation so that was a bummer BUT this is a fictional world and it went with the storyline so I am going to let it slide. Because guess what, in real life cheating does happen and does happen in the celeb world.

"The show is going to make you a star. If you let it."

I flew through this book because I was just so invested in Kathleen & Cal's relationship. I wanted to see them figured things out as adults as opposed to when they were teenagers and young adults in the spotlight. I also was really invested in Kathleen's "comeback" as a Broadway performer and wanted her to win. To show that she always has been talented & that no time away from the spotlight could change that.

I thought Kathleen's relationship with her best friend Harriet was also interesting. There is a conflict at towards the end where points were made and I was proud of both of them for sticking up for themselves and work things out. I am going to try to be as vague as I can about something that does happen at the end and once you read, it may make more sense. I do wish that Harriet reached out to Cal and apologize for meddling. One thing that Sussman wrote into the story is something that I have heard time and time again from solo pop acts vs those in a group, Katee didn't have someone to go through the fame where as the boy band members had each other. Katee had Harriet to be there with her.

"People really don't forgive, do they?"
"When you cheat on your beloved boy band boyfriend? No, they really don't."

Kathleen Rose is the future I wished for Britney Spears compared to the reality. The media continues to treat female performers horribly and unfortunately Britney took a lot of the brunt of it and continues to take the hits. I love pop culture and love the celebrity world but I would never want to be in the spotlight. It takes a very strong individual to have your life under a microscope & to have everything about you picked apart. No, thank you.

I did primarily of the reading on my ebook but I did also have access to the audio and listen to sections of it. I thought narrator Jaime Lamchick did a wonderful job with Kathleen and all the other characters in the book.

You'll love this book if you were a fan of the Britney/Justin drama of the early aughts, second chance romance, musical theater, past & present timeline.

PS - The happiness I felt inside me when Grease 2 was mention!

PSS - I apologize if this review is disjointed & rambly. I just have so many thoughts and very passionate about the pop star world especially being a tween during the peak time of boy bands & female pop stars where they were my life.

4.5

This one is for my fellow theatre kids!

Once More with Feeling follows Kathleen, former pop icon known for her sex appeal and for breaking the heart of her boyband boyfriend by cheating on him with Cal ,his bandmate and her longtime friend and teenage crush. Of course there is so much more to the story than what the tabloids report on. Now years after being forced out of the spotlight, Kathleen is ready to perform again and follow her original dream of being on Broadway with her best friend as the composer of a new original musical. The only problem is Cal is the director. Now the two of them have to learn how to work together while healing their relationship a their own personal traumas of being in the spotlight starting at such a young age.

I absolutely fell in love with this story and these characters. Both Kathleen and Cal are so messy and so real. Told in duel timeline, single pov we see how their relationship has developed starting as teenagers in a summer camp together to their peak fame as pop icons to present time of them as adults. The tension between the two of them had me literally holding my breath at times and while the spice scenes are light they are so well written to the point where one line made me almost fall out of my chair. I also appreciated the discussion around the difference of how female vs male celebrities are treated by the media and how being exposed to the public at such a young age and so frequently really affects their mental health. Not only do we see Kathleen deal with that media attention but she also has to deal with a record label that forces her into a certain image that totally erases who she is and especially her Jewishness. It was honestly so refreshing to read a book that addresses that pressure and the trauma it causes while still having such a believable and complex romance romance as the central plot.

I am thrilled to fall in love with another Elissa Sussman book and I cannot wait to see what she comes out with next.

I had high hopes when I saw this on NetGalley and I thought "Funny You Shoulder Ask' was great. But there's just something lacking in this story... maybe I couldn't get over the cheating storyline, but I wasn't invested in Kathleen and Cal.

I would have LOVED more of Harriet and Kathleen's friendship though!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This sophomore novel by Elissa Sussman was exactly what I needed to get me out of a reading slump. This one is for theater and musical nerds. Told in a similar set up as Funny You Should Ask, we follow Kathleen and Cal who are clearly smitten with each other, but something in the past has kept them separate.

Kathleen and Cal are former teen pop stars who toured together. Something pushes them together that then pulls them apart in their past. Now, Kathleen is asked to star in a musical directed by Cal and obviously (this is a romance novel) their love comes back.

This has a fun setting of Broadway. It made me think of the show Bombshell, as most of the present day plot is set in getting this show developed for the stage. The past setting is on a pop tour. I personally pictured an NSYNC, Britney tour from the early 2000s. Seriously, so much fun.

This gets a 3.75 star from me. There were parts that drug and I didn’t totally connect with Kathleen or Cal, but it was a reading slump buster which is enough for me!

I 100% asked for this book because of the cover, which I think is so beautiful I will definitely buy a hardcopy once it's released. I loved the cat, Fish, and wanted more of her, and I think I worried about her during the snow storm scene more than Kathleen did, honestly. I loved the Broadway background of the book and absolutely was about to suspend belief for the timeline of the show going from workshop to Broadway in like a few weeks, and I loved all the Broadway references as well. Kathleen as a character was well written and flawed but relatable because of her fluctuating confidence definitely caused by *trauma* and her various insecurities. I loved Harriet and wished we got a little but more from her, but I absolutely understood where her anger and frustration towards Kathleen came from and loved that they were able to work through it realistically. The relationship with Ryan was also realistic but I don't think it was emphasized enough how much he manipulated and used Katee Rose. I liked Cal but he definitely got away with how he treated Katee Rose too easily, and while I realize that she made mistakes, I feel like she was the only one to atone for them. The book is a little bit of a slow burn with one spicyesque scene, but the romantic tension is to die for. I did find the ending a little unsatisfying because, like I said earlier, Kathleen was the only one to really atone for what happened, Cal apologized once to her and it was considered good enough, when it super was not. Honestly, Cal should have been the one to give an interview about how he helped ruin her career, but we didn't really get that. Overall a great read, but I didn't feel any closure for the past between Kathleen and Cal.

I have had this book on preorder since December, 2022!

What can I say I will read whatever Sussman publishes, as again this a 5-star read. This book fed my obsession, enemies to lovers / second-chance. This love story explodes with pent-up desires and emotions.

Kathleen is a difficult character to love. She's a pop Diva, runs her mouth and is completely unforgiving. Often times throughout the story, she was unbearably cruel just to be cruel. But then her layers begin to peel back, and you see the "why" she's so guarded and afraid.

Kathleen and Cal's love story is years in the making. Its sincere, emotional and heartwarming.

Once More with Feeling is an sddictive read.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the complimentary e-book copy of this novel.

Enjoyed this a lot more than Sussman's debut! It picked up much faster and the dynamic between the characters was much more interesting. However, there wasn't much character development in either of our main characters by the end of the book. I found the ending a bit unfulfilling and the decisions made, particularly by Kathleen, felt a bit impulsive and self-sabotage-y. Their HEAs is a bit messy, but made sense for the past history.. Wanted just a bit more from this, but I did enjoy it! Quick and fast read.