Oh, I loved this. It's my favorite Cochrun book to-date, which is saying a lot given how much I enjoyed "The Charm Offensive."

What's funny is that in many ways this book was not what I expected. I mean, it was to a degree, and it delivered on what was described in the blurb, but when I hear "rom com" and see a cartoon cover I anticipate nearly exclusive focus on the central relationship, and probably a lot of sex. Even though the book centered around two people falling in love and had comedic moments, it didn't fit the genre. This book was tender and heartfelt and filled with grief. It did have a lovely sexy scene, but it wasn't explicit, and there was only one. Instead, it focused on navigating the world as a queer person and navigating yourself and navigating relationships with those around you. It was a wonderful book, and a joy to read.

I’ve loved Alison’s previous books, and this one was no different. This story follows Logan and Rosemary— childhood best friends that dreamed of leaving their conservative town— turned enemies, who go ten years without speaking. They are brought back together when their beloved lifelong mentor/teacher is faced with a grim diagnosis, and asks them to grant his final wish— to venture cross-country to Bar Harbor, Maine.

Despite death being a main theme throughout this book, Alison truly has a gift for making heavier topics still feel funny, fresh and lighthearted. She has messy, relatable characters, and hilariously witty banter.

I loved how much this book focused on Joe, his life and his end of life. It’s so much more than a sapphic romance— Joe is able to share his life lessons Tuesday’s with Morrie style, bring Logan and Rosemary together, help them discover themselves, what they want out of life, and how to chase their dreams. I also love the topics in this book around the found families of queer people, and the mentors who have saved lives— for simply allowing queer people to show up as who they are.

Did I sob at the end of this book? Absolutely. Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

This book was easily a 5-star read for me. The balance of emotions was perfect as I found myself going back and forth between laughing and crying right up to the end. The experience of watching someone you love on hospice was so perfectly portrayed.

alison cochrun is an auto-buy author for me, so needless to say, i was VERY excited when i saw "here we go again" on my netgalley shelf. i went into the book knowing that it was a sapphic summer road trip book, not realizing the context of said road trip. but since i trust alison cochrun with my life, i started the book and proceeded to devour it in less than a day. without giving too much away, "death road trip" is an apt way of describing this book and why it absolutely destroyed me emotionally. logan and rosemary were both such compelling main characters and i saw so much of myself in both of them—logan's adhd, rosemary's anxiety, logan's pop culture references, rosemary's organization skills. i loved following along their journey of ex-friends to quasi rivals to road trip companions to friends to lovers. not to mention the fact that the rest of the characters in this book were also fantastic, particularly joe, and i loved reading about his life. the dynamic that logan, rosemary and joe have had me in stitches one moment and crying the next. i mean, is it not the universal queer kid experience to be emotionally attached to at least one english teacher throughout your life? if you couldn't already tell, i absolutely loved this book and will be forcing everyone i know to read it as soon as it comes out.

Here We Go Again is an absolutely delightful roadtrip romance that combines so many things I love - cleverly written characters with adorable quirks like a specific queer celebrity exclamation habit, friends-to-rivals-to-lovers, and humor paired with emotional depth. I teach high school English, and I have to say, this is the most accurately I have seen a lot of the funny and painful bits of the job, as well as the joyous parts, described on page. From raging carpal tunnel induced by paper grading to safe spaces for queer students in the classroom to chain restaurant parking lot staff celebration shenanigans, Cochrun captures clearly what it is like to be a teacher. The book is set on a road trip that two teachers who are seemingly complete opposites but must travel together to help their mentor, who is dying of cancer, die in the place he was happiest in life. Logan and Rosemary are both compelling and delightful characters, and there is just so much to love in this story.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read a NetGalley copy!

A truly perfect book. Funny, sweet, romantic, and sob your eyes out heartbreaking.
Cannot possibly recommend this more highly. Truly perfect

Here We Go Again is a heartfelt, emotional romance. This reminded me of some work by Abby Jimenez and Helen Hoang in that it’s a romance with some pretty heavy emotional stuff built into the story. While the book ran a bit long for my taste, I still really enjoyed it.

✨H E R E W E G O A G A I N✨
🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝑅𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒/ 𝐿𝒢𝐵𝒬𝒯+
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 𝟚, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Logan and Rosemary grew up being best friends until an incident at a pool party turned them into enemies. Two things they still have in common are that they are both English teachers at their alma mater, and their love for their former English teacher, Joe. Joe has been a mentor and father figure to both of them throughout their childhood and now adulthood. His dying wish is for them both to take him on a cross country road trip. Rosemary and Logan are forced to come together to fulfill his last wish.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
I did it again. I went in blind and was left an emotional mess. Needless to say, once I got past the tears, I was in awe of Alison Cochruns ability to write characters so well that you feel like you know them in real life. This story is a romcom at heart, with emotional and reflective themes intertwined between all the laughs. There were so many amazing characters in this book and I connected so much with the discussion of being a teacher. A reminder that life goes by so fast, and sometimes you have to let go of everything you know in order to find what you truly deserve in life.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Enemies to lovers💕
💫Opposites attract🧲
💫One bed🛏️
💫LGQBT+ themes🏳️‍🌈
💫Mental health and ADHD rep💚
💫Childhood friends👯‍♀️
💫Roadtrips🚘
💫Emotional and reflective😢
💫Mama Mia references🎶
💫Romcom about death💔
💫Cute dog🐶

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: off-page death of parent due to overdose, on-page death of parental figure.

🚘𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🚘
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💕Q U O T E: “𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓇𝑒𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻.”

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Alison Cochrun for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💕
📚🚘🏳️‍🌈💕💔📚🚘🏳️‍🌈💕💔 📚🚘🏳️‍🌈💕💔

I loved this story so much. There was a lot going on, but it all flowed perfectly together. I laughed out loud at certain parts and sobbed at others. This was so well written. If you love an enemies to lovers story, this is it. 5 stars! We need a movie, please!

Ok so my first draft of this review was just emotional gushing. Going to try to do a bit better.

This is the story of two young women (early thirties IS YOUNG THANk YOU) shepherding one of the most important people in their life to his death via a “death road trip.” As they repeatedly say in the book, it’s painful and beautiful. Oh - and it’s a romcom. Childhood best friends to enemies to lovers.

Rosemary and Logan start out with extreme opposite personalities - almost caricatures - and you may need to suspend your disbelief for a minute. But it’s so worth it. This book is about all the worst ways one person can change another’s life, and all the best ways; it’s understanding and forgiveness and moving on without either, when needed. The story shows both Rosemary and Logan putting down the masks of the caricatures they played and finding their truest selves.

This is a story about queer joy in the face of difficulty and alongside difficulty. It’s life and it’s death and it’s chosen family and it’s love. I loved this book - if that isn’t clear yet - and highly recommend it.

Content warnings: previous death of parent mentioned, death of father figure on page from cancer, parental abandonment, substance abuse.

Elton *(bleeping)* John! This is the third book from the amazing Alison Cochrun, and truly she can do no wrong. This queer romance has a premise which stole my heart- former BFFs Rosemary and Logan undertake a road trip to bring their dying mentor- English teacher Joe- to his final resting place with lots of pit stops and self-discovery along the way.

Rosemary and Logan's journey was breathtaking- going from childhood BFFs who haven't spoken in almost 20 years to re-discovering each other and really seeing other. Helping each other not overcome their flaws, but accepting them and loving them. The characters were so lovable and relatable, you couldn't help but root for them to succeed. Honestly, a Rosemary-Logan relationship (friendship or more) is what we should all strive for.

In true fashion, all the supporting characters were fantastic- Joe, Remy, the Gayest with a capital G van, and Odysseus the failed service dog also stole the show. With an ABBA inspired title and a very music-centric thread throughout the novel (I was literally compiling a playlist), you have your very own soundtrack to the book.

Simply put, this book is magical. The banter is A++. The mental health rep is so positive. It's witty and romantic, but it's also emotional and has moments of sadness that give it depth. The last few chapters of the book had me in tears, I didn't want the story to end, Cochrun brings her magic yet again. You're going to want to read this one.

Alison Cochrun!!! Instant read author for me - her romances hold such a special place in my heart. This book was so sweet and gut wrenching. The two leads’ relationship with their ailing ex teacher was the standout.

Very cute romance and a true friends to enemies to lovers. Only qualm was some of the dialogue, namely using celebrities’ names in place of “Oh God!” will never not make me cringe.

Loved the story and loved the love emanating off each page.

Ellen "f*cking" Degeneres, I loved this book!

It's no secret that I love a sapphic romance, but Here We Go Again wasn't really about that... I mean it was, but it also wasn't in the most wonderful ways.

This story is about the dichotomy of living: beauty and pain, comedy and tragedy, life and death. This was one of the funniest, saddest, most loving, honest sapphic fiction stories I've read. I'm honestly at a loss, just read it. It's funny and heartbreaking in all the ways that life is, but it maintains such a buoyant sense of hope and progress throughout.

I mean, yes, on the surface it's an opposites attract, besties to enemies to idk what, sapphic, neurodivergent love story, but it's also a love letter to found family, community, and prickly pears.

Ughhh... just read it.
It's so damn good.

A.fun romance between two female friends who grow up together and end up working together. Suddenly, they find themselves traveling and slowly falling in love. You find yourself rooting for the characters and find yourself heavily invested in the storyline. You don't want to miss this one.

Guys, I UGLY CRIED with this one. Read the content warnings.

I adore Alison Cochrun and everything she writes, and Here We Go Again was no different. It was the sapphic, rip-your-heart-out romance I needed to get my 2024 started off right.

Here We Go Again is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers romance, which is not usually my thing. I don't usually like it when we have an off-page history between the two MCs, but it worked here. The two MCs were best friends, inseparable when they were younger, but then youthful drama and hurt feelings drove them apart. However, their romance feels like almost a secondary character at times to the relationship these two women had to their older friend and mentor, who is dying of cancer. This book is all about their last hurrah, their last adventure together, and that's where the rest of the love story lies.

I'll admit, I had trouble reading this book at times. I was mournfully listening to Van Morrison in the background while reading (just get Into the Mystic ready), and just, like, pondering the meaning of life. You know, super chill and relaxing vibes, over here. Here We Go Again will just do that to you.

While I had a mini-existential crisis, I really appreciated the deep, thoughtful writing from Alison Cochrun and how she also managed to interject some very spicy scenes and some humor as well. The romance grew and grew over time, and I really appreciated these two together. I do think that their relationship wasn't quite as meaningful to me as their relationship with Joe, but that would be hard to top.

In truth, Alison Cochrun did something special with this story. It was a hard journey for me, personally, but I'm really glad I took it.

This is my first by this author but definitely won’t be my last! I’m always down for a road trip romcom. The angst and the pining were at all time highs in this book and I’m here for it!

You With a View meets The Celebrants

Synopsis: Logan and Rosemary used to be best friends until a kiss the summer before high school changed everything. They went from rivals to nonspeaking coworkers and now they are forced together on a cross country road trip because it is the dying wish of their lifelong mentor.

Thoughts: I praise Alison Cochrun for writing such an uplifting romance even when death was a large focus of the plot. The sadness felt more healing than heavy and there was so much love and humor sprinkled in. The road trip adventures made the story so much fun, especially because many of the places I never been to myself and quickly felt transported. While I loved Logan and Rosemary both separately and as a couple, I will say that Joe was my favorite character in the book. I loved how he played matchmaker and had a special and open bond with both girls. As for the ADHD representation, I loved how this book focused on a character whose diagnosis looked a bit different than what is typically portrayed as she was attentive and organized but had hyper fixation.

Read if you like:
-Sapphic romances
-Best friends to enemies to lovers
-Road trips
-ADHD and anxiety rep

5 stars

You will weep. That's all there is to it. And if you don't, something is...broken.

Alison Cochrun's third book is perhaps the most surprising. Yes, it's a fantastic queer romance. It also centers on a death journey. There are highs and lows and happy tears and sad tears and past and present, and as several of the characters learn, we're never really safe and protected in life, and your heart won't be safe and protected during this read, either. That's why you should race to devour it.

Logan and Rosemary were best friends in childhood, became enemies, and now they are teachers at the same school that they previously attended. They share a storied past and a cantankerous present, but their most important connection is Joe, a former teacher, who took them both under his wing and subbed, in many ways for their respective absent parents. Here it comes, though; Joe is dying. His most recent demand? That the three of them - along with Odie, his hilarious dog - take a road trip from Oregon to Maine where he can die in a seaside cottage he has owned for years.

Is this road trip simple, straightforward, ever going to plan? No, no, and TBD. What readers CAN expect on this road trip includes but is not limited to every emotion available, deep realizations, and a story that will last in hearts and minds. This is a great romance, but it's also way more.

I really love _The Charm Offensive_ and thought that one might be unbeatable, but I think - for entirely different reasons - this is my new favorite from this author. Get your tissues ready and enjoy the journey.

A funny, sweet, heartbreaking novel. A meaningful ode to the queer elders in our lives. I'll read anything Alison Cochrun writes.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The biggest thing that stuck out to me right from the beginning was how fully developed both the main characters felt in this book. From each of their first sou chapters, they jumped off the page and were so full of personality, even the flaws. it all felt natural and unforced as Cochrun set the scene for the roadtrip.
I'll admit that I didn't read the summary that closely before requesting this ARC because Cochrun is pretty much an auto-buy for me at this point, and I was right about that! This book lives up to the others. However, if you're looking for a light-hearted roadtrip love story, this is not it! Major content warnings for illness and death. As someone who has yet to see death as closely as the characters do in Here We Go Again, this was at times a very hard read. If you are someone who has experienced something closer to what the characters to, l imagine it could be harder. There's still a lot of joy and celebration to be found throughout though, but brace yourself.
As far as the writing goes, Cochrun doesn't disappoint again. These particular characters have some affectations that were hit or miss for me. For instance, the names of famous queer people (mostly sapphics or femmes) are used as jokey curses ( if I could guarantee they fix one thing before going to print, it would be correcting the spelling of Janelle Monae’s name. Unless there's a famous queer person named Janelle Monet I'm not aware of). This just ended up being overused and by the end, I was entirely over it.
Given the darker themes, I would say this one has a slightly different vibe than Cochrun’s other work. The others touch on serious issues but don't quite confront things as head on as this book. Still, it has all the nuance you expect and the romance is just as compelling.