Alison Cochrun does it again with a stunning novel about love, grief, relinquishing control, and finding yourself along the way. Logan and Rosemary are childhood friends-turned to enemies-turned to strangers-turned to colleagues-turned to friends again and then, FINALLY, turned to lovers. Here We Go Again explores what it’s like to truly dig deep inside oneself and realize that you are worthy of being loved. Of taking up space because you can and should simply because you are human.

Former high school English teacher, Joseph Delgado, is dying. He wants one last hurrah before he kicks the can and that is to drive cross country from Washington state to Maine with Logan and Rosemary, two former high school students who turned out to be the daughters he never had. Through Cochrun’s wonderful writing, a story with grief at the very center seems to evolve into the phrase “grief is just love with nowhere else to go.”

Logan and Rosemary couldn’t be more opposites of one another. Joe is the puppeteer that fits these two women together like missing puzzle pieces. This trip is a chance for these three to spend quality time together but it’s also a ploy by Joe to get Rosemary and Logan to resolve their differences and finally admit their true feelings for each other.

My favorite part about this story is how relatable Cochrun’s characters are. How well fleshed out they are. How vulnerable they can be. How stubborn they are. How, no matter what, they show up for one another. This is what love is. What love looks like. It’s messy and real and infuriating. The love of a mentor-turned-father figure. The love of your childhood best friend-turned-partner. Through this road trip, Logan, Rosie, and Joe all discover parts of themselves that they’ve been too terrified to face. Whether that’s insecurities, mommy issues, control issues, or showing up at the art gallery of your ex-lover. This book is raw and not easy to read because it makes you reflect on your own life and your own relationships. But boy, is it worth the read. Read it, but please make sure to take care while doing so.

Here We Go Again hits shelves on 4.2.24! Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

From the moment I picked up this book, I knew it was going to hurt my feelings. I was absolutely right.

I felt seen by Logan who runs before she can be hurt by others leaving her. I felt seen by Rosemary who needs to be in control of everything to function and god forbid being in a situation like this where you have no control at all.

The love story between the two of them was pretty obvious how it would play out, but their individual relationships with Joe, how he stepped in to be the person he needed at a crucial time in their lives, and how they were able to be there for him in his was beautifully and painfully written.

Awww omg this was such a funny and heartwarming story. This book handled ADHD and anxiety very well. I love books with mental health rep. Logan and Rosemary had an amazing connection and I didn't expect this book to pull so many emotions out of me.

There is not much Logan and Rosemary will not do for their mentor and friend Joe Delgado, so when he insists the two of them must drive him from Washington state to his cottage in Maine as his dying wish, they reluctantly agree . . . but they aren’t completely sure they’ll finish the road trip without killing each other first. Rosemary Hale and Logan Maletis shared an intense and loving friendship in middle school, before they knew what it meant to be in love. An incident the summer before high school drove them apart. They spent their high school years as rivals before going their separate ways, and eventually rekindling their high school rivalry when they both returned to teach at their alma mater. Through all their ups and downs, Joe was there for the girls, so they are here for him as he battles cancer. But can they really set aside their differences to give Joe one final adventure? And can Joe say goodbye if they’re still harboring regrets?

This tender, humorous, heartwarming story of friendship, love, and loss is everything I hoped it would be. It makes me laugh, smile, and cry in the best ways. The main characters are incredibly endearing. Even when showing us the worst versions of themselves, it is obvious that they love and care for each other deeply. Supporting characters like blood relatives sometimes play very small parts in the book but help show the importance of this found family and how much Logan, Rosemary, and Joe mean to each other.

I appreciate Cochrun’s inclusion of mental health, as in her previous titles (The Charm Offensive, Kiss Her Once for Me). This book specifically addresses ADHD and anxiety along with healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms including therapy, prescription drugs, and self medicating. I also appreciate the insights into teaching. Without focusing on it too much, Cochrun shows the passion and burnout of an incredibly difficult and rewarding profession. An out and proud, inspirational teacher, Joe helped two queer, neurodivergent students feel safe and seen, became a lifelong mentor and friend, and inspired them to continue in his path of helping others.

Music was a special piece of this book, from Joe’s love of Van Morrison to Logan’s Gay Shit playlist. Very fitting for a road trip story. Millennials will recognize a lot of songs from their childhood and may be inspired to make a Here We Go Again playlist. Or is that just me? One music reference bothered me though: a reference to Steal My Heart Away by Van Morison seems to imply Joe loved it sometime between the 1980s to mid 1990s, but the song was released in 2002. I hope I’m mistaken about the timeline. Normally an inconsistency wouldn’t bother me much, but the song is meaningful in an important scene and consequently is my new favorite song and is bringing So. Many. Tears.

Good thing this book can also make me laugh out loud. I appreciate the banter between Logan and Joe to cheer me up when things get heavy. I highly recommend this book. Just don’t go into it for the romance thinking you’ll be immune to the loss. Like Logan and me, there's a good chance you’ll care despite your best attempts not to.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my second book by this author and it's officially my favorite.

Read this if..
you are or love a teacher
you love a second chance romance (or two)
your favorite musical is Mamma Mia
you have a ton of road trip playlists at the ready

This was a fun, chaotic romance that was tender too. It was childhood friends to enemies to lovers. But you also see sweet relationships with the main characters and their English teacher.

It dealt with some heavy topics, but I thought it was well done. Check out the TW tho!

overall, 4/5

If I had read this book last year, it would’ve been my favorite book of the year. In fact, this may be one of my favorite books of all time.

Here We Go Again is a relatable and heart wrenching exposition of grief, second chances, love, relinquishing control, and personal growth. Rosemary, Logan, and Joe are all extremely real characters with extremely real and fundamentally *human* emotions.

I don’t have enough words to explain how beautiful this book was. I’d love to see it become a movie.

3.5 This is a beautiful story overall, a story of two girls on a road trip with someone who is important to them both, who is dying. I loved every aspect of that storyline and it had an absolutely beautiful ending.

The POVs sometimes threw me off- it switches back and forth POVs but is in third person, and I don’t think I’ve read many books like this. I also was not fully sold on these two characters love story- it’s a cute back story but sometimes I got so annoyed with how they were acting and this was the worst “breakup.” My qualm with a lot of romance books is that with the breakup before they get back together, it feels like there’s no reason why they’re fighting and this was the worst culprit of that.

I can honestly that I've vibed with every one of Alison Cochrun's romance novels and while Here We Go Again fits right in, it also stands out. In a good way. This read was so heartfelt and vulnerable, that literally had me in tears, I swear. And you know why? Because it was real and authentic and mirrored real life in all it imperfections. Emotional depth aside, as a romance, Here We Go Again was a fun forced proximity, opposites attract, second chance-ish romance. Plus, MCs of Logan and Rosemary had such banter. Like, it was so fun and cute in those parts.

CW: Alcoholism, Anxiety, Grief/Death of a Parent

An Alison Cochran book never disappoints.

This book was heart-wrenching, and sweet, and very special to read.

There were moments when it felt like parts were forced into the story, rather than an organic addition. And at times the characters became repetitive. But the love between the three main characters, and the development thought the story was so enjoyable to read.


An ARC was provided by NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, Alison Cochrun reaches into my brain and puts thoughts and feelings I have had on paper. Logan frustrated the hell out of me sometimes, because I understood exactly why she was doing what she did and I saw myself in her. SO annoying, haha.

This book is a love letter to loves had and lost, to how you thought your life might be and how it actually was, and how all of those things are beautiful and wonderful and able to be changed no matter your age. The grief was real and hard and i absolutely wept my way through all of it.

As a queer kid who attached herself to her English teacher nearly every year and grew up to be a teacher herself, this HURT. In the best way. I loved the relationship between the girls and their Joe, and the relationship Logan and Rosemary had with their students and teaching itself.

The romance was also a perfect childhood friends to enemies to lovers. They were real and messy and mean sometimes, but it was BELIEVABLE and wonderful.

An absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking, wonderful love story in every sense of the word.

DNF at 45%

Y’all I am so disappointed by this. I didn’t want to do this, but I can’t keep reading this.

I adored Charm Offensive with my whole heart. It is one of my favorite books. So when I didn’t like Kiss Her Once For Me I figured maybe it just didn’t click with me and her next book would surely be better. I hate to say it….but this book is worse.

The only character in this book I care about is Joe. The only reason I was still reading was because I needed to know if Joe made it to Maine. But I reached a point where I was mad at him too, so I just had to be done. I can’t keep reading.

I truly, truly hate Rosemary as a character. I understand she is flawed, but I do really think Cochrun forgot to give her positive traits. She is controlling, she keeps stomping her foot when she isn’t getting her way (what are you, 7?) , and she is just so, so rude. You are bringing a dying man on one last adventure and you’re throwing a fit because he wants to see the Grand Canyon?! One of the greatest things in the world?! He’s DYING Rosemary. Let’s get some perspective. Her single positive trait we’re getting so far is “she loves Joe” but she sure doesn’t act like it.

And I just feel NOTHING towards Logan. This is not a character. I am 45% in and all I’ve got is “she’s a fuckboy but isn’t actually and she loves her dad and Joe.” Surely she gets character development at some point but I am 45% in and I’ve got NOTHING. Absolutely nothing.

What a terrible disappointment. I think I unfortunately need to start leaving Cochrun’s books on the shelf and accept Charm Offensive was it for me.

Thank you for the ARC regardless. I am grateful to have the chance to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved The Charm Offensive and was very excited to be able to read an ARC of Here We Go Again.

Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun is about a roundtrip between two friends, turned enemies, turned coworkers and their former high school teacher. They are all loveable but flawed characters who you will root for throughout the book. I don't usually like dual point of view books but I don't think the story would have been the same if we didn't have both Rosemary and Logan's povs. This book managed to be laugh out loud funny and also sad at the same time. I enjoyed they're relationship with their former English teacher and how much they care for him and he cared for them, and his character holds his own even without his pov being in the book. Overall, it was a really enjoyable and well written book, I did think there where some words that was a bit overdone. The use of celebrity names as curse words and the use of the word "apt" took me out of the book when reading but other than that I think it had a nice pace and flow.

I knew going in that this was going to be a phenomenal experience.

And I was right ! Alison Cochrun has an incredible talent and I think this book showcases this in full colour. Her every word serves to drag you into deeper emotional turmoil and happiness all at once.

Childhood best friends to enemies to coworkers to forced travel companions to lovers is a trope I never knew I needed.

& the simultaneous story being told about Joe — BESTILL my heart. I cried. I laughed. I put the mamma Mia soundtrack on and cried some more.

Read this book and , maybe, text that one friend you had a really close relationship with and suddenly had a massive falling out and now looking back - you probably had a crush but were too young to know - who knows? Maybe it’ll be worth a story.

This book was magical. Leave it to Alison Cochrun to make a book about a dying man insanely romantic.

HERE WE GO AGAIN is a perfect story about queer (found) families and finding love when you need it most. Teachers Logan and Rosemary take their beloved beloved gay high school teacher, Joe, on one last cross country trip. Logan and Rosemary are former childhood best friends turned enemies but must unite to help Joe, who is dying from cancer.

The story hits first loves and enemies to lovers wonderfully, with a perfect simmering burn between Rosemary and Logan. 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, 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 (state) to Maine, we get a story filled with humor and sadness, hi-jinx and pain. Along with Joe's lovable pup, 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.

What would you do to fulfill the dying wish of a beloved mentor? For Logan and Rosemary it means sucking up their mutual animosity and driving him across the country to die in the home he left behind 30 years ago. Along the way they find answers to questions they hadn't even thought to ask yet.

Their journey was moving and emotional. I laughed, I cried. I loved this story, with all its twists and turns. Both Logan and Rosemary's struggles with ADHD felt familiar, and I enjoyed seeing a representation that felt right to me (I have ADHD, and i don't often find this).

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a queer road trip story that embraces every stage of life, and all life's colors and messes.

I received a free copy from Atria Books through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, first of all, Alison Cochrun's Kiss Her Once For Me was one of my favorite books I read in 2022, so I knew I was going to really like this. What I didn't know was that it would be one of my favorite books ever written. There are so many ways for a book to be good: engaging storytelling, fresh writing (crisp turns of phrase, new ways to describe the rain, etc.), resonant characters, narratives that hit just the right way at just the right time culturally, giving voice to underrepresented people. Here We Go Again is all of that and so much more. I don't think I have highlighted this many sentences in a book in 15 years. It just exceeded all my expectations in every way. Logan and Rosemary and Joe's story is laugh out loud funny, and so swoony too. Yes, absolutely, a friends to enemies to lovers road trip. But it's also a mediation on grief, on neurodivergence, on trauma, on loving and allowing yourself to be loved. It's also messy (the characters, not the writing) in a way that's full of empathy and hope, and not messy in a way that's an excuse for refusing to grow up (looking at you forever, The L Word!). I'm going to make everyone I know read this book, so get ready!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and provide an honest review.

I read this whole thing within under 24 hours to being granted NetGalley access to it! This is easily my favorite Alison Cochrun book. I love Logan, love Rosemary, love that this book was about 2 high school teachers on a road trip with one of their former high school teachers!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25/5

This was my first English read of the year and was a great book to start the year with. I think this is Alison Cochrun's strongest work yet.

I don't necessarily find most modern romcoms all that funny, but this was an exception. This book had me laughing at moments that truly surprised me. The humour in this book, for the most part, is very deftly handled and interweaved with some really heavy and emotional moments.

Aside from being a romance, this book is also an exploration of how people handle grief. In doing so it was surprisingly poignant at times. I don't think I've quite read a romcom of this kind before. This book also had some great neurodivergence rep(at least in my experience) as both MCs have ADHD and it manifests differently in the two characters.

Amidst all the positives though, this book features some classic Alison Cochrun(and honestly maybe most modern white queer romance author) quirks. The most notable of them is an overabundance of pop culture references and some general awkwardness when handling diversity, particularly(but not limited to) POC characters. I appreciate Cochrun trying to include diverse characters(while both MCs are white, Joe who is arguably the most important part of the book is brown) and I think she means well, but it doesn't always feel natural. However, I minded these issues less in this book because of how... earnest it appears to be.

Which brings me to the characters. The best way I can describe the character and relationship writing in this book is that they are very earnest. All the characters are flawed and feel quite realistic, as do the relationships. I really enjoyed Logan, Rosemary, and Joe's as characters. You can tell that a lot of care was put into put in the themes and characters this book explores, even when it isn't the most well-executed.

Overall, Here We Go Again is a really earnest and humourous romcom, which can be really poignant at times. It will get you emotional. I mean, it's a sapphic romcom about death, that should be enough for you to pick this up.

🎧Song Pairing: Our Last Summer - Mamma Mia! (it was near impossible choosing a song. There were so many options. Music is a huge component of the story)

💭What I thought would happen:

Obviously a road trip with clever one liners. Maybe a bit of character angst?

📖What actually happens:

Logan just had a pink cocktail thrown at her at the local Chilli’s…not the first time it’s happened as she can’t even recall the first name of her most recent fuck buddy. Upon leaving she rams into Rosemary Hale…her colleague and long time enemy/once best friend. Both on their way to see their dear mentor and friend Joe.

The 3 + hell dog are about to embark on a cross country to get Joe to his final resting place before cancer takes him. Along the way each discover secrets about themselves and one another.

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

Elton fucking John that was wowza. Gay-tastic! Gay-mazing!

I was weeping! Big ugly tears. If you want to be emotionally damaged while laughing hysterically this is the book for you. If you get big emotions from me - you win. 5s all around 😂

I was slumping for so long and drowning in holiday books. This book gave me the revival I craved.

I am certain this book will be a Bookstagram fav in 2024! I honestly can’t wait for the praise it’ll receive! Alison’s best book yet 😱🩵

I 10/10 pictured the 2 woman from 2 Broke Girls playing Rosemary and Logan. But seriously this book better become a movie. It will just be ugh wonderful and heartbreaking.

READ THIS! Sadly it doesn’t come out until April 2nd! Sorry readers!

Logan and Rosemarie were inseparable in middle school, but their friendship turned into a bitter rivalry after eighth grade and that disdain has continued now that they are coworkers at the same small-town high school. Tasked with the dying wish of their shared mentor, the stubborn and flamboyant Joe, the two must learn to face the regrets of their past, confront their at-odds neurodivergences, and embrace the sense of adventure they each once had while making an epic road trip across the country in a big gay van. This book is filled with big feelings, intergenerational queer community, and second chances. Fans of character-driven LGBTQIA+ romances by authors such as Casey McQuiston, Anita Kelly, and Ashley Herring Blake will enjoy this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers rom-com that is at turns funny, flirty, and heartbreaking.