Long time rivals Logan and Rosemary are forced to spend a summer together when their dying mentor ask them both to take him on a final road trip across the country. Along the way they find out that maybe they've misunderstood each other and themselves for too long.

This book was wonderful and heartbreaking. I absolutely loved Joe, Rosemary, and Logan and their trip across the country.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this queer rom-com about two former childhood best friends turned enemies to lovers who are forced together to drive their former English teacher across the country as his dying wish. Logan & Rosemary are opposites in many ways, despite both being English teachers at their alma mater and both being neurodivergent. Logan is messy, chaotic, bursting with ADHD, and suffering from trauma from her mother's abandonment. She is a seemingly fu** girl who just doesn't know how to commit while Rosemary suffers from anxiety, is structured, and has avoided intimacy altogether. Joe, their gay high school English teacher, who is dying from cancer, requests that both of them drive him from Oregon to Maine, so that he can die in his beach-side cottage that he once shared with the love of his life. Joe is such a gem in this novel--humorous, self-deprecating, and so genuine. He loves them both, understands their history, and the fallout of their friendship, yet still suspects they may need each other more than they realize.

The forced proximity works its magic as they cross the country, throwing caution to the wind (despite initial objections from Rosemary), and making random stops. Road trip romances and forced proximity are two of my favorite tropes in addition to enemies to lovers and friends to lovers, and this book has ALL of them! There were so many laugh-out-loud moments in here (hello, a special painting they encounter of a younger Joe and his prominent "member" when they visit his ex-lover's gallery!), but also ones of sadness and emotion as the death of Joe is inescapable. This book warmed my heart and broke it at the same time, but I love its message of starting over, pursuing one's dreams, and not allowing past trauma and fear to keep you from being your best self. The neurodivergent rep was realistic, and the dialogue was timely and lively. The romance doesn't disappoint either, as there is a bathtub scene I'm still thinking about! I loved the importance placed on older queer narratives and how their stories and support can help younger ones.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC. It comes out April 2!

This is one of my new favorite books! Here We Go Again had me hooked from the beginning. I laughed, I cried (like I literally bawled my eyes out.) I adored every one of these characters. I loved how easy it was for me to see myself in all of them. I loved the neurodivergent representation shown in several characters but completely different ways.

Logan is a chaotic, “apathetic f*ckboy”, who is terrified of showing her emotions and being left again so she always leaves before she can get hurt. Rosemary is an anxious Capricorn with an organized binder for every situation and a need to feel safe and in total control. And Joe, the sweetest man and mentor to the two girls, who are both a little lost.

Alison Cochrun managed to capture all the beautiful things about life, death, love, and forgiveness. It was a fantastic read and I definitely recommend pairing it with a playlist of ABBA and Van Morrison! ;)

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Whew, have tissue close by when you read this book because Here We Go Again is a raw, vulnerable, and emotional exploration of grief and parental loss. Cochrun put readers right alongside Rosemary, Logan, and Joe on their cross-country roadtrip and writes the characters’ joy, pain, and loss that is it a visceral experience - you cry when they cry, laugh when they laugh, and grieve and mourn past and impending loss right alongside of them. I had tears in my eyes the entire second half of the book and my heart felt acutely for these characters.

I truly love how Cochrun speaks to the enormous and lasting impact teachers make in the lives of their students. In many ways, this book felt like a love letter to teachers - how their classrooms are a safe haven for students whose homes may be filled with hurt and whose parents may not be present; how educators recognize potential in their students and help them harness that creativity in ways that will help them achieve their dreams and bring fulfillment; how they teach self love and encourage inclusivity; and how their legacy extends far beyond the classroom and time in school.

I really loved how until the very end, Joe reminded Rosemary and Logan how their differences are strengths, to not be afraid of being vulnerable, and to seize love when life provided a second chance. When the world dismissed them as being ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’ or ‘unfeeling,’ Joe not only reminded them they were enough but encouraged Rosemary and Logan to harness their creativity in new ways, to relinquish the desire to control life and instead take chances on love, connection, and new adventures… because while life is beautiful, it will inevitably hold pain, and those painful moments are easier to brave with others by your side.

I do think it’s important to keep in mind before picking this book up, this is not a traditional rom-com. There are two beautiful love stories that are told in this book, but the focus is more on found family, friendship, self love, and healing.

If you’re looking for a book that will have you laughing one minute and crying the next, that is a love letter to the lasting impact and legacy of teachers, that celebrates love and friendship, and that makes you feel like driving with the windows down and the wind blowing through your hair, Here We Go Again is a must read.

📣 estranged best friends to lovers with a very emotional second story thrown in

Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, & Edelweiss for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 if you were going on a big trip across your country & time wasn’t an issue, would you rather fly or drive? I’d rather drive, I think. I’d love to see the sights, especially some of the US’s National Parks!

Here We Go Again is one of those books that has a great romance & a hopeful story but also comes with a big trigger warning.

The estranged best friends to lovers arc doesn’t have too much angst…but then you add in the sub-story of a former teacher/parental figure/best friend figure who is dying of cancer & of course everything gets much heavier & emotionally devastating.

~~

Logan doesn’t believe in commitments. She also doesn’t like her ex best friend and current coworker Rosemary Hale, although she spends a lot of time thinking about her.

Despite their discord, they both have strong relationships with their former English teacher, who asks them to drive him across the country so he can die at his Maine home.

Their relationship goes on a believable & wonderful path, I think, as they let down their guards, reconnect, & allow themselves to be vulnerable. With great anxiety and ADHD rep, this book is all about acceptance, love, & appreciation.

But the impending loss of their teacher is a big storyline, & while some parts are heartwarming, hopeful, & funny, there are also some very sad moments, graphic scenes, etc. that might be difficult for readers, particularly those that have suffered a comparable loss.

HWGA is a romance, but it’s also a story about losing a loved one to cancer. I think the book is really great, but it’s also a hard read in moments & even thinking about it now makes me—someone who lost a beloved family member to cancer—feel a bit of everything.

4.5 ⭐️. Out 04/02.


CWs: Former teacher & mentor has cancer and dies during the book. Reference to alcoholism, parental abandonment, homophobia, toxic masculinity.

[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a curving road. In the background are trees in autumnal shades.]

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC!

I absolutely fell in love with Alison Cochrun's writing when I read Kiss Her Once for Me, so I knew that I needed to read this one.

Logan and Rosemary are childhood best friends turned strangers/work nemeses after an unfortunate party when they were teenagers. But when their favorite high school teacher wants them both to take him on a final cross-country road trip, how could they say no.

This story captured me from the beginning. I love a good rivals/enemies to lovers and second chance romance and this encompasses both of these tropes so well. Logan and Rosemary both have their flaws, but their love for their teacher Joe brings them both together to give him one last adventure. The rekindling of their friendship and love was beautiful. It showed that love isn't perfect. It is messy and painful and deserves to be felt, just like grief and loss.

The way that Alison dealt with grief and loss in this book was so beautifully done. Watching not only Logan and Rosemary, but Joe and Remy, learn to deal with accepting loss and love simultaneously was so amazing.

This book made me feel so many things, and yes, I did feel them all deeply, as the deserved to be felt.

If you need a feel good story, filled with found family, second chance romance, and emotion, you definitely need to read Here We Go Again.

This book had be ugly sobbing at the end. It starts off so innocent with grumpy/sunshine and really hits you hard with the self development and insecurities giving to us by our parents while navigating grief in different ways. Five stars of course but wow does this book punch you in the stomach and make you grieve right along side the characters

I really enjoyed this one! The author's note truly made the book for me. Would definitely recommend!

Cochrun made me laugh, cry, and swoon in this masterpiece!

Ever since reading Cochrun’s debut novel, The Charm Offensive, she’s been on my must-read list which is why Here We Go Again made my list of most anticipated romance books of 2024. This book totally delivered and is one of the best romance books of 2024!

From the original characters, to the cross-country road trip, to the human look at mortality and end of life, there is so much to love about this book that truly packs a punch.

Here We Go Again made my TBR list because I loved the friends to enemies to lovers storyline between Logan and Rosemary. I had to know why these two women who had been such good friends as tweens suddenly became enemies and didn’t speak to one another for years even when they found themselves both living and working in their hometown.

Right from the start, it seemed kind of obvious why these two were like oil and water from their first scene together. No two people could be more opposite than Logan – the ride by the seat of your pants, impulsive fuckboy who still lived at home with her father and Rosemary – the controlling, anxious and slightly uptight perfectionist.

Learning that their former teacher, mentor and friend was going to ask them to join him on a cross-country road trip as his dying wish, you knew that chaos was going to ensue and it did, though it also turned into this amazing journey for them all.

I enjoyed the romance development between Logan and Rosemary and how they came to finally talk about what happened between them as kids and how they came to be honest with one another about their current struggles. There’s a lot going on with these women that impacts their ability to trust others and feel like they are worthy of a relationship.

But then there is Joe and I was equally if not more captivated by this man and his journey and backstory. This book was heart-wrenching and has trigger warnings for a reason as it is about his death, his end of life journey and how these two women give their favorite teacher, stand-in parent, and friend the sendoff that he wants and how they grieve along the way.

Cochrun has this amazing ability to weave in important mental health and real-life topics that impact personal lives and thus their relationships into her stories and she definitely does so in Here We Go Again. ADHD, anxiety, neglect, alcoholism, and end of life care are just some of the topics touched on in this book and she does so beautifully.

While my heart broke at times for these characters, I also found myself laughing at the hilarity of them traveling around in a ridiculous van and getting into situations that just made you laugh out loud.

This book is also a really fun journey across the USA from Washington state to Bar Harbor Maine and will make you want to take a similar trip one day.

It is not a particularly steamy romance. There is really only one short scene that only has them watching each other so if you’re not one to like steamy romances this is not one of them and it didn’t need to be in my opinion.

This book is about friendship, loss, reunions, and mourning but ultimately about love that connects us all. I loved it and highly recommend it.

*Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was so wonderful. Being a teacher this book was extra special to me. I loved the relationship the girls had with their old teacher and their relationship with each other. It was definitely an emotional read but I thoroughly enjoyed this one and would recommend knowing that it’s a heavy book at times.

Here We Go Again review

This book shredded my heart and sewed it back together so many times I lost count.

It was clear that a great deal of thought was put into each character’s histories and how those shaped their actions and motivations. Each character was so well developed that I was deeply emotionally invested in their growth. I was rooting for them to win and frustrated when they couldn’t get out of their own ways.
The juxtaposition of grief and new beginnings was beautifully done. I also really appreciated that the ADHD rep was done in a way that shows how vastly different the disorder can present.

Both FMCs took turns deeply annoying me, but their journey was worth every second of eye-rolling. Don’t get me started on Joe, though, because I simply cannot cry again.

My biggest criticism is that the ARC I read definitely could’ve been run past a proofreader another time or two. There were some spelling and grammatical errors that bothered me enough that they pulled me out of the story for a second.

Review will be posted to Goodreads now and instagram on pub day.

Alison Cochrun is back, baby. I'll admit that I was dreading starting reading this at first - I recently went through a loss and was afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle a book where a main character dies. I shouldn't have doubted Alison Cochrun though. The first half of the book is incredibly funny, and while the second half does get more emotional, she writes about these experiences so incredibly well. She manages to capture the unreal experience of seeing the sun rise over the grand canyon for the first time, and she also captures the experience of that awe disappearing at the end of the day when everyone is exhausted and has heat stroke. Is this a canon event that everyone has experienced? She also captures active dying and what it's like to be there for someone at the end perfectly. As an oncology nurse I'm always an advocate for respecting the dying and that death can be good - and the author gets it. There's also at least 3 taylor swift references and hijinx and road trip adventures. I highly recommend this one.

This book was a very fun read and I absolutely loved the roadtrip vibes. It touched on many subjects that people can relate to such as grief, career plateauing, relationships, etc. This was my first queer romance book and as a queer woman myself, I could really connect to the characters and to some of the references throughout the book. Alison Cochrun’s writing is easy to read and also quite effortlessly funny, which I love in a book. I did feel like the story was a bit dragged on at times hence why I rated it a 3 stars, but I would still recommend it to people who want a fun summer read that also has unique plot elements.

In Here We Go Again, Alison masterfully balances grief and hope, new love and loss of a dear loved one, humor and sadness. I laughed out loud and cried the last two hours I was reading. This is a book that I know will stay with me for many years and be a regular reread.

The story focuses on two ex-best friends who are lovingly coerced into driving their dying former high school teacher across the US to his cabin in Maine where he wants to pass. Grief is a key theme in this book and handled so beautifully. As the story progresses, you fall in love with Joe just as Logan and Rosemary have. I loved how Alison wrote Joe to both be the teacher some of us were lucky to have, but also a surrogate to the teacher so many should have had. What Joe tells Rosemary and Logan through out their trip is so heartfelt but is for the reader as much as the two MCs.

This is one of my top books of 2024 and I highly recommend it to everyone!

Two words: Joe Delgado.

I will never recover.
I SOBBED SO HARD, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. IT WAS WORTH IT.

This is the second book I have read by Alison Cochran. The first being her novel "Kiss Her Once for Me," which I enjoyed as well. However, I loved this one more. Alison crafts a heartwarming queer rom-com full of friendship, angst, forgiveness, and self-discovery.

At the center of the story are Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale, childhood best friends turned bitter rivals due to a past incident. Now in their thirties, they find themselves stuck in mundane lives in their small town, far from the adventurous futures they once envisioned. Enter Joe Delgado, their former English teacher, and beloved mentor to both of them, who also is gay. Joe is dying. Like really dying. He only has a few months left, and he wants to spend it on a cross-country road trip with Logan, Rosemary, and his cancer dog Odie. This wouldn't be so bad if Logan and Rosemary didn't hate each other and weren't complete opposites. Logan is carefree, messy, loud, sticky, wild in all the ways. Rosemary is a thinker, she plans everything out in her head and on paper, she is clean and manicured down to the T, and she wears heels every day BY CHOICE. These two couldn't be any different if they tried. Their dynamic is both humorous and poignant, filled with unresolved tension and genuine affection. While I struggled at times to feel the romantic connection between the two, I could see they genuinely do care for one another, and felt as though they did have chemistry.

Because they both love Joe, they embark on a journey of rediscovery, love, and acceptance. I found myself feeling everything they were feeling, laughing and crying with them at every mile marker. The trio navigates both the physical and emotional landscapes of America, confronting their pasts and envisioning their futures.

Then there is Joe. Despite his terminal prognosis, Joe remains the heart of this novel. His love shines through in his character with authenticity and passion for what life he has yet to live. Joe inspires those around him by living in the moment and creating his own joy. Joe was my favorite character to read about, and while others may disagree, I don't think this novel is about Logan or Rosemary at all. I think it is about Joe and his journey of accepting his death. Through his connections with his loved ones, Joe is able to find solace in mourning his own life and is able to have the courage to embrace the beauty of what it is to just be human.

Joe's legacy lives on not only through the memories of Logan and Rosemary but also in the hearts of readers who are touched by his wisdom and compassion. I am one of those readers.

The reason this book was a 5-star for me was because of how much emotion it made me feel while reading it, and that is my favorite thing about a book. If it makes me feel raw emotion, that is a 5-star for me. This book is a must-read and is out next month.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria Books for early access into this beautiful story.
I'm going to go listen to Van Morrison now and find the nearest place that sells shrimp.

Are you looking for a book to get you out of a slump, make you laugh and tear up? HERE WE GO AGAIN is a perfect story about queer found families & finding love when you need it most. Logan and Rosemary, both school teachers, take their beloved beloved gay high school teacher, Joe, on one last cross country trip to honor is last dying with

The story covers first loves and enemies to lovers wonderfully. We have Logan, who is well-known on the lesbian circuit for "liking" and then leaving girls. For Logan, whose mom left in her childhood, she fears forming any strong attachments. Rosemary is a wonderful and renowned teacher who has perfected hiding her anxiety from others. All the characters pop off the page--none more than Joe, an amazing gay teaching icon who has provided guidance and care for so many students (we all wish we had a Joe), but holds a special place in his heart for his "girls," both of whom needed a little extra care coming out in their small town. Joe helped motherless Logan find herself and mentored Rosemary's writing.

Once he convinced the two to join him on the trip from Washington to Maine, we get a story filled with humor & sadness, hi-jinx and pain. Along with Joe's lovable pup Odie, the trio sets forth across the country, encountering national monuments and flat tires alike. There is a bathtub scene that will make you swoon and a drag show moment that will make you cheer. The build up between Rosemary and Logan is amazing, but it's just as good watching the two of them learning from and about Joe.

This story touches so beautifully on anxiety, ADHD, found family, and the importance of teachers and gay adults in younger lives. There are some moments that made me laugh out loud and others that made me cry. I fell head over heels for these characters. AGAIN is crazy emotional for a variety of reasons yet funny and heartfelt without being schmaltzy. I cannot recommend this lovely book enough.

A sapphic, friends to enemies to lovers road trip story about two women that reconnect while driving their beloved and terminally ill former English teacher across the country as his dying wish. I laughed, I cried, my heart may never recover. There are a couple of really annoying things that the characters say or do that made me hardcore cringe but I’m choosing to forget them because I loved everything else about this so much!

I loves the cover, the writing and will read more from this author!

I love this book with the older family in it!!!! This author is so talented! The book has you hooked from page one!!!!

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review

Wow! I really liked Alison Cochrun’s previous two novels (The Charm Offensive & Kiss Her Once for Me), but this one blew me away…

The dual-POVs — from Logan & Rosemary — give us all the insight on their past as BFFs & their current reality as enemies.

But, Joe, their former high school English teacher, steals the show. Joe is dying — has been dying — from cancer. Now, he’s entrusted his two favorite students to drive him across the country to Bar Harbor, Maine, where he wishes to die.

The road trip, which was supposed to be a straight shot from Oregon to Maine, ends up being guided by Joe’s desire to confront his one regret.

It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride, as each of the characters comes to terms with what’s truly holding them back.

It’s been a while since a book actually made me cry and continue to sob… but Here We Go Again did it.

What I liked:
🚐 Joe & his pup Odysseus
🚐 neuro-divergent characters
🚐 cross-country road trip
🚐 all the road trip adventures
🚐 …every thing!!!

Thanks to Net Galley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is out April 2!!

I loved getting into this one blind. I didn't know anything except for the cover and "Alison Cochrun" and that was enough for me.
I wasn't wrong. This was not an easy read, it had some hard hitting themes and I loved every second of it. I can't lie, I shed a few tears. I loved both the main characters and Joe and Remy and Odie. They were all so lifelike and I felt everything they felt.
Such a powerful book about queer love and found family with a good dose of romance. I was so invested in Joe's storyline and the whole road trip. I just really loved this.
Another book I've loved by Alison Cochrun, cannot wait for more.