thank you netgalley, random house publishing group - ballantine, and dell for the advanced reader copy. opinions from this review are completely my own! 🧸☁️☕️🍯🥞🤍🕯️

i can't believe i haven't picked up an elissa sussman book before, and i absolutely regret it. i have a physical copy of her "funny you should ask" book, but i heard mixed reviews and have not read it yet. but once i got the notification i was accepted for an arc, i was so overjoyed and thrilled. all i have to say is sussman does nothing wrong with her book covers. they are stunning and aesthetically pleasing to look at! 💜💙🎤

rating: solid 4.5 stars but will round to 5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

i have to tell you, my heart is so full after reading this book. it was a bittersweet feeling because i did not want kathleen's storyline to end. for instance, i almost teared up at the ending as there were so many heartfelt moments with all of the characters. some things to take note of are about the characters: they are super flawed but that is what i liked about them. the characters showed that they are not perfect and that is okay. you are going to have many mixed emotions towards their flawed moments, as i for sure did. 🥲🥺🥹

did i tell you about the storyline? it is so nostalgic as it gave me a feeling of watching a movie. for all of the broadway and musical theater lovers, this is right up your alley! it gave me that feeling of starting anew with directing a musical and then going towards the steps of making it to the big stages like broadway. i know these two don't correlate but it gave me the feeling of "high school musical." 🎼🎶🕺

the female main character, kathleen rosenberg (or katee rose), gave me taylor swift vibes as katee is a number one pop star (like taylor swift). the band, crushzone, reminded me of one direction. i love where the book was going with the pop culture and pop star references. 🎭💃🎶🕺🏻

overall, what a solid book! i am so, so happy i continued to read since the start was a bit slow. it had everything such as forced proximity, frenemies to lovers trope, slow burn, tension, everything! cal and kathleen <3! i loved how the book included chapters from the past, present, and when they were at camp. it gave lots of context on the plot lines that were given; it felt like there were no plot holes missing! i just hope there is a bonus chapter or something because i never wanted this book to end! ☕📜🌻✨🌙🌿

releases on may 30, 2023, if interested! 🎶🎤🥁

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @randomhouse for an early copy of Once More with Feeling by @elissa_sussman. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Once More With Feeling is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story. Katee Rose is America’s number-one pop star; she loves performing but hates the demands of stardom. She blows up her career by cheating on her boyfriend Ryan LaNeve, lead member of the boy band CrushZone, with its other member Cal Kirby. Cal has always been a good friend to Katee, but after their unforgettable night, Katee’s entire career is ruined. Years later, after years of not speaking to one another, Cal offers Kathleen (Katee Rose) a starring role on a Broadway show he’s directing; it’s a role she has always wanted. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up, so she reluctantly agreed to do the musical. Rehearsals were difficult and long, and with their past issues, Cal and Kathleen blame each other; regardless, they can’t deny their chemistry. Would they repeat history?

Once More With Feeling was quite a struggle to read, not because the writing was bad (it’s really, really good!), but after everything she’s been through, Kathleen’s (Katee Rose) self-esteem was at its lowest ever since her career downfall. It was difficult to stomach how the media had been cruel to her, and with rehearsals for the new Broadway show, she wanted her comeback to be an avenue to prove herself; she wanted everything to be perfect. Along with this, she and Cal have unresolved issues from their past, and with every bickering and tension between them, their chemistry is undeniably still there after all those years apart.

I loved the dual timeline way of storytelling in this novel; it just ties up well into the overall story. I wish we had Cal’s POV in this too; it would have been more interesting to see his pining over Kathleen. 😅

Rating this novel ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5. Releases May 30th, 2023!

Shut up right now. I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! Second-chance romances are kryptonite and this book was no exception. I was as invested to the back story as I was to the current timeline, which is rare. I live for a hate/lust situation and Cal and Kathleen really brought that. Kathleen’s struggles with her ended fame, her body, and her now career were unexpectedly relatable. Katee reminded me of Britney so much. This felt like the love story we will never get to see for Britney.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an arc of this book!

Second Chance romances are my favorite. I loved this book and everything about it. The characters were so special to me and I can’t wait to read the next book from this author.

This was such a nostalgic read for anyone obsessed with a pop couple in the early 00s. This author does second chance romance so well and it was so fun while also touching on the inconceivable ways women were treated then. It’s redemption meets pop culture and I highly recommend for any pop star/ boy band enthusiast. Thank you NetGalley for a preview of this book in exchange of my honest review!

Once More with Feeling, by Elissa Sussman

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5 stars

I really loved this book! I wasn't sure that I would, but as I kept reading, it just got more interesting.

At first, I thought the plot had too much happening with the dual timelines (really triple timelines?) and all of the history between the characters. But as I kept reading, I just enjoyed the relationship more and more because of the history. The tension and pining and timing of everything was excellent.

I loved the musical theatre element of the story, I loved the friendships and found family aspect of things. I even loved the the villain narrative and arc. The boy band and pop star aspect was a really fun element. I would've loved to see more of this story in article or press form (I can totally see why the author didn't do that for this, but it would've added an extra layer of perspective, I think). I do think we skipped out on some stuff that I would've loved to read about — the first live performance of the musical, for example — but I don't think it harmed the story by not having it.

All in all a great read. Like the first book, I just wish there was more. If there were additional details or more explanations, this would be 5 stars for me.

Elissa Sussman's stories are so layered and I really enjoy reading them.

a story about former teen stars with a big, dramatic fall out, and a reunion filled with animosity..sign me up. when kathleen lost her career over a teen romance scandal, she left all the fame behind. until her best friend approaches her to play the leading lady in her new broadway show, directed by the one and only man from her teen years. i LOVED this book. it was fun and filled with all sorts of broadway references. i can already see this on the big screen!

Pros: I was excited to give this author a second chance after liking how her previous book was written but being uncomfortable with how it bordered on copying a GQ article. I am glad I did because I thought this book was lots of fun to read and did not remind me of any real pop culture events! It uses enemies to lovers and second chance romance tropes with a Broadway setting. I think readers who grew up in the late-90s and early-2000s will love picking their favorite female pop star and boy band members to imagine in the lead roles.

Cons: None that I can think of.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House – Ballantine for the opportunity to read this book.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because I thought the Broadway setting was extra fun

I loved Funny You Should Ask, so seeing Elissa’s book coming out I knew it would be another fun read.

4.5 ⭐️

Katee rose is a pop star sensation with a curated image with a perfect lifestyle, and she’s dating Ryan a member of one of the biggest boybands CrushZone. However, she finds herself caught up with another member of the band Cal, and one night ends up ruining her career.
fast forward a decade later Kathleen (Katee) after living a quiet life gets the opportunity to live her dream of being in broadway BUT Cal is the director whom she hasn’t spoken to in a decade.

This book was the perfect second chance romance, the bickering, tension and unresolved feelings between Cal and Kathleen was so good.
the story isn’t just focused on the romance we get to see Kathleen struggles with the unrealistic double standards she had to face during her fame.
if you love celebrity culture and books about it you’ll love this love book.

I also loved that the book had the same style as funny you should ask in terms of second chance romance, celebrities & then and now chapters, but it wasn’t repetitive and the stories are completely different and unique.

It's like if Britney was actually in love with JC, and they finally reunited years later on Broadway. Katee Rose is living out the pop star dream, performing for adoring fans, touring with her boyfriend's boyband until it all comes crashing down. When her lyricist best friend writes a new Broadway show with a part just for her, the director is none other than the cause of that crash down, former boy bander and former crush but not former bf, Cal Kirby. A sweet, funny, swoony romcom. If you like Funny You Should Ask, you'll enjoy this one too.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing - Ballentine for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for this review!

I love elissa sussman, she gets jewish women like only a jewish woman could and it makes me so genuinely happy, like the line about cal liking kathleen's nose, every jewish woman is primed to hate that about herself so it feels so meaningful to have someone say they love it, I could read only elissa's books for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy, another home run! :)

thank you netgalley for an arc of this title in exchange for my honest review

As someone that loved Funny You Should Ask, I am so happy that I loved Once More With Feeling just as much, if not more. I went into this book completely blind and it was the best decision. This book ended up being about the fmc, Kathleen, who was once a famous pop star and is now on her way to broadway and it filled me with so much joy that I finally was able to read a book and understand all of the references and where they were from. This book was so much fun and Kathleen and Cal are soulmates that deserve the absolute world and more <3333

Thank you netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the arc!

Do you ever just start reading a book and go “this isn’t going to work for me”? That is what happened to me here. I really wanted to like this one, the premise sounded great – but it just wasn’t for me. I never connected or cared about the characters. I found Kate to be annoying and grating, not something that entices me to read a book. I also couldn’t get past that she cheated on him and that was the reason for the second chance. Its not a hard no from me, but it just didn’t work in this case. I did really enjoy the past and present timelines. That always helps a story along, but ultimately I did DNF this one as I couldn’t get into it no matter how hard I tried.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for this honest review. I will not be posting outside netgalley for this one.

Thank you netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing me to read this book. Honestly the beginning was a little slow for me but wow did it get good fast!!! This was probably the most passionate enemies to lovers book I’ve read! The tension was crazy and I was squealing when it came to Cal and Kathleen confessing their feelings for each other. This book was filled with heart wrenching love and that is just the best kind of feeling when reading a romance book. I really enjoyed how the book went back and forth between past and present because I felt like it really connects you to the characters on a deeper level. I loved how realistic the characters emotions and struggles were. This book was amazing! I loved the emotional journey it put me through and the ending was so beautiful!

Thanks @netgalley @elissa_sussman for the chance to read Once More with Feeling. It releases on May 30, 2023.

I devoured this book on a cross country flight. It was so fun and engaging.

Former teen pop star Kathleen Rosenberg has the chance to realize a lifelong dream of starring in a Broadway show. The only problem is that the director, Cal Kirby, is one of the reasons she fell from grace.

Told in dual timelines, Sussman deftly weaves their past and present. The story had many twists and turns and more than a sprinkle of commentary about how we treated female pop stars like Britney Spears. It’s one of my favorite rom-coms of 2023.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam: 🔥
Tropes: celebrity, second-chance, summer camp

I read Elissa Sussman’s last book, Funny You Should Ask, and thought it was such a cute story and she handled the famous trope well. I was looking forward to her next book which seemed like it would have a similar vibe, Once More With Feeling.

This book follows multiple timelines—one in the past with Katee Rose who is a famous pop star until she blows it all up one day and loses it all. Now, Kathleen Rosenberg is okay with her ordinary life until Cal Kirby comes back into her life as well as an opportunity to star in an up-and-coming broadway show. Kathleen & Cal haven’t spoken to each other since their mistake blew up Kathleen’s career and now they have to figure out how to work together again.

I love second chance romances, so I was really enjoying the alternating timelines to see how this hostility came between Cal & Kathleen. However, this book was missing some things for me. It started out strong and I was really excited about where this was going to go but then the romance fell a little flat. I think that’s because Cal’s character felt underdeveloped. I wanted to be obsessed with them but I just wasn’t. Also one of my favorite things about second chance is reading the backstory to see how they ended up estranged. In this book, it was very clear early on what had happened but the author treated it like this big secret.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this but I wished there could have been more development of the backstory.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I honestly don't know which one I prefer more! they are both so good. I love the continuation of this story line and I will continue to read this authors work. the characters are intoxicating and I loved every second of it.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Thank you for NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was so excited for this book since I loved FYSA. I was so disappointed that this one fell short for me. I didn’t connect to the characters and I felt like there was no chemistry. I’m not a fan of the typical “third act breakup” plot point and unfortunately this book had one.

I also hate the cheating trope under pretty much any circumstance and I just couldn’t get past it. 😩

This was such a fun read!! As a girl named Kate Rose, I was nervous! Our main character went by Katee Rose as a pop star and I needed to love her to be okay with her having my name. Luckily, I did. She’s flawed. She makes mistakes. Her lack of assertiveness gets her into trouble. But, she’s also a very good person and you root for her. This book hinges on Kathleen’s character and if she deserves a redemption story, both in love and career. Happy to say I loved her, flaws and all. I also loved that even though her relationships with Cal and Ryan are our primary focuses, her relationship with Harriet remains centered. Harriet is the character that she says she can’t live without, not either man. I really loved this focus on female friendship.