I am unsure why I requested this book because upon reading I realized that just about every trope used here is not my favorite.

I do think that the actual romance was decent, but most of the outside plot was a little boring for me. Also the book went on for too long at the end.

I hate to do it, but I had to DNF. Still, very grateful to Netgalley for a chance at an early read of this one. I don’t know exactly how to explain, but the story is just doing nothing at all for me. Technically it’s a second chance romance, where two friends meet up in their hometown and realize they’ve had feelings all along, etc. But from the very start, they’re a combination of already besties again and flirting and touching a lot, and like? Where’s the story? Where’s the tension? One of the characters is a famous tiktoker and the other is an *EGOT* at the age of 31. There’s some potential for story - the actress’s backstory is alluded to, but whatever is really happening there hasn’t been fleshed out by this point. So instead these characters who don’t really know each other anymore are… driving around. I’m sure some people will really enjoy this, but I couldn’t make myself keep going.

This was a cute quick read! I loved that both women were strong in their own right; that they didn’t NEED a partner to fulfill them but they found someone who “got them” anyway. Books where two queer women can succeed and find love are a kryptonite of mine and this one was no different. Thank you for the advanced read!

A lovely second chance romance for Katie and Wil, These two have led different lives since high school- Katie is a Hollywood star, Wil is an attorney who kisses people-but their reunion rekindles their old feelings. It's nice to see two women who actually talk to each other in a romance, The characters (all of them) are well rounded, the plot familiar but fresh, and the storytelling is good. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A fun read.

DNF at 40%. Just could not get into the story. From what I read, nothing is wrong is the writing and I enjoyed the characters reconnecting but just didn't grab my attention.

Thank you @smpromance @netgalley @macmillan.audio for a copy.

I went into this book with high expectations--I have loved (LOVED!) Ruthie Knox's romances forever, and was over the moon to know she was (co-)writing romance again. And so reading this was like revisiting an old friend--not unlike how I imagine it felt for Wil and Katie to reconnect. I can't overstate how beautiful this book is. It says so much through the little things. It's about quiet moments, and words left unsaid, and the nuances of Midwestern hospitality. The writing is lush and piercing at the same time. If you are a person who wants to Feel Feelings, this is the book for you. It's romantic. And hot. And funny! And it will probably make you want to cry at least once. Could not recommend more!

A contemporary romance masterpiece. Exquisitely mortifying, in that “ordeal of being known” kind of way.

I’ll leave you this as incentive: “Katie knew exactly, exactly why in scripts, in these moments, one of the lovers would growl. She could feel that growl right at the base of her throat, where her clitoris had tossed it angrily.” And if that quote doesn’t hook you - that’s your problem!! Get hornier!!

This book did not land for me. It read like a YA books. I just didn’t like this. The characters had zero chemistry, which is wild because this book is all about them being reunited.

I found this book slow-paced and unengaging, but I’m sure others will enjoy it. The emotion is understated.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Katie Price is back home for Christmas. This may not seem like a big thing—adults visit their parents all the time for holidays—but Katie Price is famous. Hollywood famous. Has won multiple awards famous. No longer living in Green Bay, Wisconsin, famous.

And Will Greene hasn’t seen her in years.

They grew up in each other’s orbits—their mothers are best friends after all—but they didn’t get close until their senior year of high school. And after that senior year? Katie was off to Hollywood, and Wil hasn’t seen in her in person since.

Wil has her own fame now—not nearly as big as Katie’s, of course—but she does have a million followers on her social media account, where she kisses a new person in every single video she posts.

And Katie is ready to reconnect with Wil.

Highlights for me:
- The chemistry between Katie and Wil
- How easily they slip back into the comfort and banter of their friendship, even after all the years
- Both Katie’s and Wil’s support networks
- How at ease Wil can make people and how she really seems to see and understand everyone she meets
- Katie being ready to take charge of her career and her life again

What didn’t work as well for me:
- The bet regarding their former high school teacher’s love life (I understand they used this as an excuse to spend time together at first, but I feel like it took up more of the book than necessary.)
- Katie’s ex’s relationship with the press
- Something I can’t quite put my finger on that didn’t keep me as engaged in their story as I would have liked
- The cats and the communication board (This is a cute and quirky detail but feels like it doesn’t have widespread appeal for readers.)

I received an advance copy of the book from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Katie Price and Wil Greene grew up together in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Their mother’s are best friends. They got close and became inseparable their senior year of high school. They don’t meet up again for over a decade.

They’ve each had their challenges. Wil’s beloved father passed away and she sort of gets stuck in place not continuing onto law school where she was accepted. She has a job she enjoys and has created a very popular social media channel that involves her kissing someone new weekly. Katie has fame, money and awards but is haunted by the famous actor that continually claims she owes her entire career to him even though she fled from him ten years ago. There is a lot of insecurity from her relationship with him. But she is on the cusp of wanting to start her own production company and wanting to direct films. It is a perfect time for these two friends to connect and recognize how strong their feelings once were for each other.

Both characters are very likable, smart and talented in their own ways. They are wonderfully talkative and honest with each other. And the attraction is there but Katie’s life is especially complicated by her fame. They put off kissing, building tension until they know they want a chance for more. There is a lot of light humor, especially in Katie’s runaway thoughts and comments when she is nervous. Side characters are there in the moms and Katie’s agent but the focus is on Katie and Wil. I enjoyed the chapters where the two were dealing with things on their own as well as their time together. It showed their progression and willingness to move forward towards their goals. The book does feel long but I just chose to enjoy the extra time with the pair. I’d consider this a second chance romance even though they never were really romantic the first time around.

I received an ARC of the book from St. Martin’s Press and a copy of the audio book from Macmillan Audio. I enjoyed alternating between both. The narration by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw was great and I found myself reading words like "Katie Kat'' in the same voice she used. I can recommend either depending on your preference. This is a book I can easily revisit and read again.

This was an interesting read. I liked the dynamic between Katie and Will, a great representation of friends to lovers and childhood friendship. Some parts of their journey to lovers were so painfully human that they felt more substantial than the b plot surrounding fame.

This book was sapphic and hot and everyone should be reading it this summer! My only hang up was that Diana and Katie’s dad are made out to be such wonderful parents … so where were they during the three years of Ben????? That really confused me. But otherwise really loved the book.

I absolutely loved every second of reading this book. From start to finish, it was five stars all the way. It's rare in a dual POV book that I love both characters equally, but I adored both Wil and Katie. Their backstories both individually and as a couple were woven in deftly to the current narrative, and I just kept falling in love with them more as the book went on. I loved the way they gave each other strength to do the things they needed to do to move their lives forward. The tension between them was immediate and delicious and only built up more as time went on. The progression of their relationship felt natural and realistic without any of the contrived misunderstandings that are so common in this genre. It was beautifully crafted and beautifully written, and reminded me of why I love Romance as a genre -- the way it encapsulates raw, visceral emotions and helps us as readers feel seen. Definitely one of my top reads this year.

i've been swinging and missing within the romance genre lately, so this book was a pretty refreshing departure from low star ratings and the DNFs i've been experiencing.

here's the story of katie price, award-winning celebrity, actress, and filmmaker, but most importantly, childhood best friend of one very stuck wil price, grieving the loss of her father and not quite able to ignite her motivation to finish up law school. instead, she's reached her own level of fame - she's kissing strangers on the internet in sixty second clips she posts to tiktok in a project about connection and intimacy.

and connect is what katie and wil begin to do again. they've lost touch over the years for multiple reasons, some of them sabotage from katie's inner circle. via continued harassment via an older ex that's furiously clutching at katie's coattails to stay relevant in the media, katie's grown frustrated with her life, with the continued gossip circling around her and her private life, with her ex-boyfriend's lies threatening her chances at career growth.

i found this a pretty refreshing read. some parts of this book were a lil weird (did busy phillips consent to all that? lol) but one of my pet peeves with romance is when two people don't communicate and talk out their issues with adults. i can't really say that happened a lot here. sometimes i felt like katie should have spoken up, but a lot of her issues with communication lived with her trauma which i felt like the book did a good job of gently walking us through. even with sex - yes, i know - there was a scene where they asked each other if they were okay with penetration. especially with trauma in the mix, the existence of stone tops and touch-me-nots within the lesbian community, it was refreshing to see this written on page.

where i think this book struggled was with pace/length. this book was a lot longer than i think was strictly necessary, especially for a romance. i did zone out a little in places. also, maybe this is just me being single, but i'm not sure i understood the purpose of wil's kissing project other than to create chemistry between wil and katie. but even with that, i didn't mind. this was super cute and a recommendation from me.

Wil is a famous TikToker who videos herself kissing people. Her former best friend, Katie, left their town right after high school graduation and didn’t stay in touch.

That was fine with Wil until she realizes Katie may still be thinking about her. Katie and Wil meet once again when Katie comes home for Christmas and sparks and secrets start to fly.

Together they have to navigate any unspoken feelings and rediscover their dreams when life crushed their old ones.

This was a cute romance with lots of feel good type moments. Tons of talking about feelings and lots of exposition but he characters but it worked.

I recently requested the ALC version so I could finish Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel. I read until page 119 before deciding this would be a DNF for the eyeball version; the audiobook is only helping mildly. The romance is dry. I'm newer to sapphic writing but this is the first time I've come up against such a dry, boring romance. Katie hit it big right out of high school and is a Hollywood darling. Wil is a popular TikToker who posts kissing videos twice a week. Once inseparably the former friends have reconnected in their hometown during the Christmas holiday and it's like no time has passed. And that's kind of my issue. It's too instant without it being able to be instant because they already know each other. After her first day back, Katie acknowledges that Wil was her first love and she just didn't know it yet and it felt so...like nothing. Struggling to connect with the characters and their romance just being so flat made it hard for me to stick with the story.

Thank you SMP Romance for the gifted ARC.

I was pretty excited for this sapphic celebrity romance with former best friends that takes place in my homestate of Wisconsin (really like 30 minutes from where I live now)! And there were parts I liked - I did adore the Wisconsin references (the Bay Beach shout out made me laugh) and that there wasn't a third act breakup. The relationship itself was fine? I wasn't particularly compelled by it but I also didn't hate them together.

But...a lot of this just didn't work for me and I'm having a hard time describing exactly why. There are little things that I didn't love - the timeline jumps towards the end that we weren't told about, the teacher storyline. And there were parts that I just thought were a little odd - really this is primarily the cats and their augmented communication board...

So ultimately there wasn't some big overarching thing that made me not like this book, so I think it just wasn't for me!

I ended up actually listening to this on audio, and I will say that if I had not had the audio, I'm pretty sure I would have DNF'd. But I liked the narration enough to keep going and listened to a bulk of it while painting a dresser and it wasn't a terrible way to spend that time.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A really excellent romance. From the title and short description I read, I expected this to be a novel about having been left behind, and overcoming resentment to rediscover love—and I could not have been more mistaken. This is a romance novel, above all, about generosity. At every turn, when one character could spend time feeling hurt or abandoned, instead they are sitting there hoping (and sometimes scheming) for their counterpart to get all that they could need or desire from life. It's as if jealousy, hurt feelings, resentment, and selfishness are completely alien to these characters, replaced exclusively by care, concern, altruism, and around 50% horniness. An utter delight, and quite a ride for anyone who ever had one of those "hindsight is 20/20" intense teen friendships.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought the characters were well thought out and developed, though at times they did seem to blend together in my mind. I love stories like this, with people meeting again after a long time away, and Mae Marvel did an excellent job writing it just how I like it. Overall, the narrative and story was great, and the characters were fun and relatable. I’ll definitely be looking forward to more books from this author!