I loved this book! Elissa Sussman writes such fun books with adult characters that feel real. If you loved Daisy Jones and the Six, you will also love this book!

This charming, funny romance is an ode to musical theatre that had me smiling and swooning from page 1. Our characters first meet at theatre camp as kids become friends, find fame, various kinds of sparks infamy ensues, and they end as sworn enemies. Or do they? I loved the boy band banter, the nods to Britney & Justin, and the love of music and dance that weaves throughout. Highly recommend! Releases May 30th.

I liked this but didn't think the romance was the "star" of the book - less romcom, more women's lit. The constant switch between timeframes was a little jarring and might have been an easier read if more was told chronologically.

Read Once More with Feeling by Elissa Sussman if you like musical theater, second chance romance, boy bands and pop stars. That is the Venn Diagram of all my interests! This book was so perfectly readable, I could have finished it in one day! I loved the flashbacks that took us from summer camp through stardom because we got to see so much more of the characters personality and their growth. I am a huge musical theater fan, so I loved all of the small nods and obvious references to different musicals. I enjoyed Sussman's other adult romance Funny You Should Ask and I think I enjoyed this one even more!

I like Sussman's writing about famous pop and movie icons in both of her romance novels. I liked her previous title better, but both deal with second chance love and have a cast of interesting characters. Here I felt the relationship between best friends had more drama than the two main characters.

Once More with Feeling was a delight! I loved Funny You Should Ask so I had high hopes for this book and it delivered. In fact, I think I might even like it more than Funny You Should Ask.

Like FYSA, Sussman writes about the characters in the present day and also in the past. In Once More with Feeling, she takes us all the way back to theatre camp, back to what I'm assuming is the early 2000s pop era, and present day. I was dying to know what happened in the past so I could better understand what was going on in the present day and that made this book so hard to put down. Once I got into a reading rhythm I finished this in just a few days.

This would be a great book for anyone who loves musicals or musical theatre, or anyone who grew up watching the pop stars of the late 90s/early 2000s and the Britney and Justin drama unfold.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley for this digital ARC.

A theater kid romance! Love Elissa Sussman's sense of humor and am excited to see what she writes next.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.

I rate this book a 4/5 stars. I really liked the premise and the storyline even though I’m not really a super fan of theatre. I wouldn’t say that second chance romance is my favorite romance trope but Elissa Sussman does a great job writing second chance romances. I could definitely see the chemistry of between Cal and Kathleen, but I was wishing for more content on their romantic relationship. I guess I just wish the book was a little bit longer. Overall, I liked all of the characters of this book (minus Ryan lol) and I will be reading more of Sussman’s books in the future.

I absolutely loved this book!! I was a theater kid growing up and this brought back so many wonderful memories. I loved the characters and the romance was perfect!

This is a beautifully written and emotional story about childhood sweethearts that I highly recommend you don't miss. I really liked Funny You Should ask so I was so happy when I got the chance to read this book. This was a pretty quick read for me. I would highly recommend this book especially if you liked Funny You Should Ask.


Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballanite for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

Funny You Should Ask was one of my favorite books last year, so I had high hopes for this one, but was left a little underwhelmed. Overall, it was a good book, but it just wasn’t that special.

The book jumps between “Then” and “Now. Back then Katee was a huge pop star (think Britney Spears) until a scandal blows up her career (and of course as a woman she’s treated unfairly and the media puts all the blame on her). Now Kathleen has the opportunity to star on Broadway. However, the director is Cal, her camp crush/part of her scandal/current enemy. The book jumps between their backstory leading up to the scandal and the “now” of working together and creating a Broadway show, so you get both second-chance and enemies to lovers romance.

I feel bad for how Katee/Kathleen was treated during the scandal and it was completely unfair, but I still didn’t find her that likable. She’s pretty childish, selfish and is a crap friend to her long-time best friend Harriet (who was the only person who stood by her during her scandal). She also *spoiler* cheated on her boyfriend (Ryan sucked so I’m not really holding that one against her) and didn’t treat Cal very well either. Maybe becoming so famous when you’re young makes you very self-centered? That’s probably part of it, but also not really an excuse.

Speaking of Cal, I’m so-so about Cal. I feel like his character wasn’t developed very well (dual POV would have helped) and his apology was pretty weak.

Overall, I’d give this one 3.5 stars.

A absolute wonderful feel good romantic comedy that anyone who is a fan of the genre will fall in love with

This book had so much potential but feel fat for me. It has a great story line, I just wish there were more than one POV and character development. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Second chance romance is one of my favorite book tropes, but you don't often find that they are done well. Usually because they take the realism out of it, making the second meeting after however many years, an instant reconnection no matter the past. The truth of the matter is that it's not instant, as you aren't the same person as you were the first time around.

This is especially true of former pop star Katee Rose. She's trying to reconnect with the portion of her identity that isn't surrounded by fame, as it's traumatized her - something that the rest of the world doesn't quite understand. Especially when news broke of her infidelity. The general publc thought they knew all of who she was, and therefore could make conclusions about her life without considering the consequences of bullying a kid. It's easy to ignore how this impacts them, as society doesn't often see celebrities as real people. The only people who truly understand are those who have experienced it for themselves.

Enter, Cal. He was the only other person who could really get Katee/Kathleen. He was a child star, he went through the same scandal, but he was also a man. This dynamic caused a disconnect that we often see in everyday life. While we might share experiences with our cis male counterparts, they are often able to move forward in their careers without it negatively effecting it. This dynamic between them was so eloquently written by Elissa. Often Kathleen would be frustrated with herself for wanting Cal, thinking it means she really hasn't changed or become a better person. They fight it because they want so badly to be different people, ignoring their past instead of making it a part of their larger story. It makes us root for them in hopes that they can help each other through what troubles them both.
This book is what second chance romances should look like - two imperfect people, not different, but better than their former selves, because when something feels right, you try again.

4/5 stars ☆

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC in exhange for an honest review. :)

Will be posted on May 30,2023 to Goodreads and StoryGraph

3.25⭐️

This is a second-chance/enemies-to-lovers romance with that follows Kathleen and Cal’s relationship from back in the day to now. Both meet at a summer camp when they were younger, meet a second time when Kathleen becomes a pop singer and Cal is in a band, and meet again for the third time when Cal is a director for a musical that Kathleen’s best friend wrote and Kathleen is in. Kathleen’s career took a tumble when she found herself stuck in a love triangle that ended with no one being together. They are forced to be professional with each other and somewhere along the way, they question their feelings for each other. This book is heartfelt and sweet. I am not a fan of love triangle so this book wasn’t particularly for me but i’d you enjoy second chance romance this book is definitely for you!

Favorite Quote:
“I’d forgotten about his stupid fucking dimples.”

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher I was able to get an advanced copy e-book through netgalley! Now, I had really high hopes for this book as I’m a sucker for a second chance romance. I was fully prepared to love it…however it was not to be. The beginning hooked me and I wanted to see where Katees’ journey would take her. I loved the duel timelines and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the past. What I felt was l lacking was the notional depth the characters should have developed throughout the book. Yes, there was romance or at least a build up to it in both timelines. But there was very little growth in other areas and I felt really disappointed in this. After a while, the themes that hooked me (past Katee learning what her potential was and seeing it through and present Katee rediscovering herself), fell flat. Overall is it my favorite book? No. Will I read it again? No. Am I glad I had the chance to read it? Yes.

Funny you shoudl ask was one of my favorite books of 2022. So I was very excited to get the opportunity to read the ARC of Once More with Feeling. I'm loving this theme of pop star falling in love with old flames.
We have some great tropes going on here. Elissa has found what works and has stuck to it and does a great job with it!

Kathleen was such a likeable main character and I really enjoyed following her through her different stages of life.

Elissa Sussman is now an automatic must read for me!

When I saw Elissa Sussman was coming out with another novel I was absolutely STOKED. Funny You Should Ask was a surprising delight last year and after reading this synopsis I knew it was going to be even better.

Katee Rose was a young star actress who went through a very public breakup with her heartthrob boyfriend who took every opportunity to drag her through the press for a cheating scandal. The public destroyed her in the tabloid press and her career took an extreme hit because of it. Fast forward around 2 decades and she's given the opportunity to make a "comeback" of sorts on Broadway, but the catch is that her director would be the ex-boyfriends former bandmate and the other half of her cheating scandal Calvin Kirby.

I loved how much Sussman emphasized the cruelty and fickleness of Hollywood through what happened with Kathleen in her youth and how they feel she mistreated her ex, Ryan. Women in the public eye have to deal with a more severe critique and are held to a higher standard than men for no reason other than sexism.

Second-chance romances and IT for me, like I will n e v e r turn one down and this was no exception. The story continuously went back and forth to present and past between them, seeing what happened to them and how that shaped who they became. They had to navigate their own hurt from what happened and come to terms with their responsibilities in all of it while making a Broadway show. I just can't get enough and will definitely give this another read closer to its pub date. Elissa, you are THE MOMENT.

One of my favorite troupes is friends to lovers, second only to enemies to lovers. A book that combines both of these? Thank you!

THis book is a dual timeline that follows Kathleen and Cal as hey fall in... and out of love at a young age and are reunited a few years later when they are forced to work together on a Broadway show. I loved watching Kathleen and Cal grow through this story, from pop stars to a Broadway performer/director.

The relationship between Kathleen and Cal felt real and I found myself rooting for them and their relationship.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

i LOVED funny you should ask. i really, really liked once more with feeling. it was smart and fun and silly and escapist and layered with just enough weight to be interesting, but i do think i was more invested in the strangeness of the premise than the characters themselves (except for harriet, who i adored). kathleen and cal were very sweet, but i felt that they had better chemistry in the past, and neither was quite as complex as i'd hoped.

we danced around kathleen's rise and fall from fame (and i loved the flashbacks of her as katee rose, seeing how she wore the role like any other character!), and touched on how the media has reevaluated its treatment of women, but i would have liked to see it addressed head-on. it's a good book, and i will very happily keep reading whatever elissa sussman writes, and will probably be naming my next cat gefilte fish, but the more I think about it, the more it was missing.