Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Pub for the chance to read this book early. Gabriella Gamez has crafted a wonderful story in "Angela's Journey," focusing on self-discovery and identity. As a Latina, I loved seeing characters that felt real and relatable, with a strong emphasis on LGBTQIA+ representation. Angela's journey of finding herself and building a community was heartfelt, and the romance with Krystal was sweet and engaging. While the social media aspects were a bit distracting at times, the overall story was both informative and touching. I'm excited to see what Gabriella Gamez writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

I have this preordered for it's release but was beyond excited to get the ARC on my e-reader. As a fellow Latina from South Texas who LOVES San Antonio, I am here for anything Gabriella Gamez can give us!!!! Thank you for writing characters that provide representation and make us feel seen!

After reading The Next Best Fling I was excited to read Angela's story. We get the journey of someone exploring their identity with all the challenges and exploration that comes with finding yourself as a young person. I love the authenticity written into the characters and the cultural dynamics showing growth and support for our LGBTQIA+ community.

The writing was great so there were only a few areas for growth I noted. As someone who could use more education, I would have appreciated a bit more thorough discussion on identities mentioned but overall the author covered the topic well. The Tik Tok references were modern but incorporating it so much could be confusing for older readers who don't use the application (which pulls more towards YA.)

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read and I look forward to ALL Gabriella Gamez books in the works!

This was absolutely perfect!! I really liked Next Best Fling and was SO excited for Angela’s story!! And it was everything I hoped it would be! There was so much good queer rep!! I personally don’t know a lot about ACE spec, and I know this is not the only place to learn about it but it was in fact informative!! And I love learning things! The whole cast was written so well. I loved seeing everyone’s different experiences and how they were able to help Angela in her goal! And also seeing Angela grow her community by finding other queer people! So much of this story is about Angela finding herself, finding a way to BE herself, finding her place, finding love…all while she thinks she’s figured out a way to get her forest kiss BUT ALSO having an inconvenient crush with a cute girl!!!

I really liked both Angela and Krystal! They were GOOD! The lining! The yearning?! The tension?! The slow burn!!!! And they were so different and at different parts in their life, in their experiences, but they were also just trying to figure it out! And it wasn’t always fun or easy. There were times that were frustrating, but it was meant to be that way?! Because that’s what they were experiencing?! But seeing them find someone they felt safe with? That they could really BE themselves with!! Someone that they could fall in love with?? It was SO WORTH IT.

I cannot wait for whatever is next from Gabriella!! Hopefully a book about a certain cousin (one of the ones we like!!!) and another librarian??

Thank you so much to Forever Pub for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is incredibly well researched and offers such a valuable look into the queer community, particularly asexuality. If you love sapphic romance or stories that uplift queer identities, this one is for you!

Angela has spent her whole life hiding her true self after being bullied by her cousins for her sexual orientation. But when she finally decides to come out, she does it most unforgettably by posting a TikTok video that goes viral. From there, she embarks on a mission to finally get her first kiss. If she has waited this long, it has to be memorable.

Along the way, she grows closer to Krystal, the bartender she has been crushing on for two years. But Krystal has her own struggles. She has recently realized she is bisexual and is still figuring out what love means to her. Their journey is heartfelt, messy, and deeply personal.

While I enjoyed this story, there were moments when I wished for a little more depth. But that is just me! If you are looking for a sweet sapphic romance with meaningful queer representation, this book is worth picking up.

I read her first book and loved it. This book did not seem like it was written by the same author. This book was just not good. I thought the plot was silly. I also did not care for the writing style of this book. I am super disappointed because I had high hopes for this book. I liked that this book focused on asexual representation. But other than that, I did not like this one bit. I 100% thought this was going to be a five-star read for me because her first book was. I do suggest her first book, though.

Thank you, Gabriella Gamez, Forever Publshing, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This comes out on May 6.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. The TikTok scavenger hunt and influencer side of the story was a little boring and didn’t get me invested at all. I do appreciate the representation that is present in the book, but I think the influencer focus would have worked better as a YA plot line maybe.

Kiss Me, Maybe is such a good read because it has A+ spice *and* A+ exploration of identity, with so much nuance and care. I appreciated the family dynamics were realistic across the spectrum of responses to queerness; I love reading supportive parents.

I am so sad that this book did not land for me. I did not read Gamez's debut, The Next Best Fling, so this is my introduction to their writing style. I have a few key points of praise and criticism to share for readers picking this up.

The good:

Kiss Me, Maybe centers Angela's journey of queer self discovery. In the beginning of the book, she has landed on the label of asexual lesbian. As the story progresses, Angela reflects on how her asexual spectrum label shifts and adjusts as she develops a deeper friendship and attraction to Krystal. These reflections within the text are very direct and stress micro-labels and definitions, likely to make it easier for the reader to be educated without having to independently research terminology. It slows down the flow of the story, though I can understand the reasoning behind how this is presented.

The not so good:

The cover is so gorgeous, and it lures readers into picking up a story between two Latina characters. Indeed, the marketing I have seen for Kiss Me, Maybe emphasizes that the story centers two Mexican-American main characters. However, it's important to distinguish between "identity first" characters and plot aspects and naming a character's cultural identity and omitting the rich cultural touchpoints to help emphasize this heritage. There are many ways to exist as a Mexican-American person and varying experiences and cultural ties specifically to this heritage. Latinidad is complex. Latines are not a monolith. Cultural identity can manifest and present in a broad spectrum when it comes to lived experience. The same applies to how cultural identity is communicated in the text. Unfortunately, marketing this book as a "Latinx romance" or a romance with "Mexican-American main characters" feels misleading. There are almost no cultural touchpoints within the text. This was terribly disappointing to see as a Mexican-American reader. These are characters who happen to be Mexican-American, but there is nothing to emphasize a connection to this identity.

There is no sense of place established in Kiss Me, Maybe. The story takes place in San Antonio, but much like the cultural identity of the main characters, this is given minimal attention or care. I was unable to pick up on the uniqueness of San Antonio or why the story was set there specifically. It could have been set in any other mid sized urban setting. What makes the city so unique? What is so wonderful about the community there? Are there events taking place that make it special? What does the landscape look like? None of this was incorporated into the story to - again - underpin the cultural richness of these characters and the place where they live.

TikTok. Influencer. I sometimes struggle with fiction that focuses on influencers or content creators and that is also the case here. When Angela accidentally goes viral on TikTok for posting an inadvertent "thirst trap," she also ends up coming out as asexual on the internet. And this is kind of where the storyline lost me. In Angela's desire to "date the entire internet," she ends up creating an elaborate engagement theme to feed into a need for validation and visibility while also searching for someone online to be her first kiss. There is so much emphasis on what is happening in Angela's attempts to find an online first community that I found it overshadowed the interpersonal connections that she should have been cultivating instead. The personal relationships in this book are messy. Angela doesn't want to have the tough conversations with her cousins that have bullied her for years. Nor does she want to come out to the rest of her family again as ace (understandable within the context in the story). Krystal doesn't believe she is worthy of love after how her last relationship ended. There is online bullying, rumors, and dogpiling. By the time the TikTok scavenger hunt finally arrived, I was exhausted by all of the internet drama. There is nothing I love more than high stakes in a romance novel...but this wasn't it.

Thanks to Forever for letting me read this book early. All thoughts are my own!

Angela herself, was a complex and intriguing character. I loved watching her stand up to her cousins. I loved how she encouraged Krystal and supported Julian. Her friendships and family connections (outside of the mean cousins) were so sweet and tender. Those were my favorite parts! I haven’t read the first book in this series, so I wasn’t as attached to the characters from that one. However, I still really loved seeing them all interact!

The romance was so sweet and a little spicy, while also being such a deep connection between these two people who cared about each other. I related so hard to Angela and her journey through her identity to see what she is comfortable with and what she wants.

While I really enjoyed the characters in this book and their relationships, the chaos of the plot made it really difficult to connect to the book. She was talking to someone online while also pursuing Krystal, which wasn’t really a problem, but it was strange to have that side plot since we know who she’s gonna end up with. I just don’t think that I enjoy books with a heavy social media presence, especially when I know that it’s not going to be important once the main characters finally admit how they feel. I loved it as a tool for Angela to find and build community, but outside of that it wasn’t my favorite.

I’m so curious to see who the next book is about, even though I have a strong theory based off the last ten percent of this book.

Despite the advertised ace rep, I was initially worried reading the summary that this romance like others would have a weird relationship to aromanticism. Clearly the author is aware because she dispelled the notion that the LI might be aro in text (Krystal openly says she doesn't think she's aro) while writing a character that could have an interesting relationship to aromanticism mirroring the protagonist's relationship to asexuality. Overall I think it's a blind spot for all romance authors and at least it's addressed here.

4 stars is may be a too high rating for a book that didn't charm me but I really appreciated the in-depth exploration or asexuality that didn't end up as cringy text book over explanation (mostly). I appreciate that the protagonist ended up with a complex identity. However like another reviewer pointed out it's obvious that the author failed to account for how lesbianism play into all of this because trust me it does.

The irony of me dissecting the protagonist's identity is not lost on me. I didn't care for the Tik Tok plot. It just proved to me that Americans are too online and are way too insecure in their identity but I knew that already. With the protagonist being older than me I think I actually hated the Tik Tok plot. Like you have a job.

But overall, it is cute, it is vulnerable and romantic, it just didn't make me feel anything.

This second installment of the Librarians in Love series was a fun and engaging read, even if it did feel a bit outside my normal reading perspectives at times. It was the perfect opportunity to learn some new vocabulary and experience a different perspective than I'm used to.

Angela is 27 and has never been kissed. Part of that has to do with being unsure about her own identity for many years, but it's also due to not being particularly interested in what kissing often leads to. Having recently determined that she most identifies with being asexual, she also knows that if she were to kiss someone, she would want it to be a woman.

After posting what she thought was an innocuous lip-syncing video to Tiktok, she realizes she has accidently created a 'thirst trap' and drawn the attention of many new people. Since her employer asks her to take down the video, she decides to post a new one sharing her reality of having never been kissed, and comes up with the idea of developing a scavenger hunt for any interested parties to earn the chance at being her first.

Meanwhile, she is still crushing hard on her favorite bartender, Krystal, and struggling with family drama related to her coming out. The scavenger hunt brings Angela and Krystal closer, and leads to some very interesting scenes where, while no kissing on the lips happens, a lot of other major firsts are achieved. Angela also encounters multiple obstacles to putting on the scavenger hunt, causing her to wonder if she will ever get her first kiss, and whether she wants it to be with anyone other than Krystal.

Things I enjoyed about the book - strong character development, especially with regards to friendships and supportive family, the pacing of the story, and the setting in San Antonio.

The fact that social media is a major part of the plot was one of the detractors for me. I don't understand the 'influencer' lifestyle myself, and if anything, this book just confirmed that inviting the internet into your life in this manner can create a lot of problems. I know Angela was looking for community and connection with others, but the fact that she was occasionally more concerned about her followers than the folks in her real life just highlighted the issue. I'm glad that in the end, she learned to build community with the friends and family who were already present and ready to support her.

Next up, Leti & Julian's story. Quite the foreshadowing in this installment regarding their backstory... can't wait to read all the juicy details in the next book!

When it was announced that Gabriella's second book was going to be a queer story with ace/demi rep I jumped for joy. Angela was a great side character in The Next Best Fling and deserved to be the focus of a whole book. I wanted to delve deeper into her journey. Stories of ace/demi people aren't common in the romance sphere.

Overall, this was a fine book. We kept Angela's cute nature. We saw her reckon with her own queer identity. We had space for her to explore what ace/demi means for her. We got more of Krystal, the cute bartender, from the first book.

I found the pacing of the story dragged for me. There was a moment about 75% of the way through where I thought "what's coming that going to take so much time?" I don't know if it was the order the events were happening in, but it didn't feel fluid to me. I had trouble following along with the timeline of this tale. There were moments that felt like drive-bys. I wanted to sink into the emotional journey she was on.

Okay, having said that. I want to celebrate this book. Angela is at a major crossroads in her life. She's fighting against her comphet (compulsory heterosexuality) instincts. She's dressing differently. She's out in the online space. She's opening up about secrets she's kept hidden. These are all conflicts that affect the queer community. They are relatable. Having a main character going through them might give a person reading it the courage to start their own journey.

When it came to Angela and Krystal's relationship, it confused me at times. Their real life connection is pitted against the online persona at Angela has created. Angela's opened up to the internet about her lack of a love life. She's "dating the internet" to find someone to kiss. Of course that's the time when her real life crush starts getting close. It led to some...odd choices for sexual exploration. In my opinion. There's so much pressure put on Angela's first kiss, that they look for loopholes to fool around without breaking that boundary.

If you loved Angela, you'll like this book. If you're on your own pathway to discover your sexuality, you'll like this book. If you are a queer Latinx human and want more stories with that plot point, you'll like this book.

Listen- I probably shouldn't have picked this up. I don't love pining when there's nothing keeping them apart, I don't like sex before you kiss (its just doesnt make sense to me). But I have been yearning for Sapphic books, and I was so excited for the ace spec rep as someone on the ace spec.

Positive thoughts first: I enjoyed all the queer rep, and I enjoyed the message that it's okay to still be finding yourself after your early 20s.

Condensing my negative thoughts into a list as vague as possible as to not have spoilers:

1) I don't like the main character. She's holding grudges for things that happened ten years ago when all parties were children, despite never trying to tell the truth in the ten years since. I really struggled to hold sympathy for her. I enjoyed the LI at the start, but not after 60% iykyk.

2) too many vague facts. The synopsis says angela is a librarian, but later the book says she's waiting to move out till she can find an open librarian position. She already is one? And with her best friend? I don't understand this. Her schooling is also never really explained. She's 27 and taking online classes but we never find out why she's still in school or what she's even majoring in.

3) despite the scavenger hunt being in the synopsis and used in marketing on social media, it barely has a spot in the plot. If that's your reason for reading, don't let it be.

4) Ties in to number 1 but I didn't like how Angela seemed to be dissing on aromantic people time and time again. Krystal tells her time and time again that she can't feel love (and sure, she ends up being able to and having just been afraid) but I despise the way Angela reacts to it. How is she gonna sit here and say her cousins bullied her for not being super sexual and then sit here and say "Krystal just THINKS she cant feel romantic love but I know she can"

5) there were a lot of times during scenes where I felt that the dialougue of the characters didn't match their actions, or as if I was missing a lot of social cues.

6) ties into my first paragraph but I skipped all the sex scenes cuz having sex before you kiss just feels weird to me.

I honestly think the book just wasn't promoted well. I think marketing twisted what it was and set up an unreal expectation. One of the promo pics mentions unrequited crushes but it's never unrequited on page.
I think this would have been better promoted as a contemporary finding yourself/ mid life crisis with a subplot of romance.

Okay, listen: ace rep? Of course I, an ace person, will want to read it. And I did. And I loved it. This book is cute and funny and so so so steamy. Oh my God, I loved it.
“But it’s an ace book.” Yeah, and FINALLY is a rep with an ace character who is not sex repulsed (I mean, it’s nothing wrong being sex repulsed, I’m sex repulsed, but it’s good to have other rep of the ace spectrum).
The trope are well executed, the romance is cute, the character are well written. I mean, it’s a cute book and an enjoyable reading.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7212665665

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this e-arc!

So, the review - 1. This was absolutely a solid 4 star read for me and 2. I've got to stop being fooled by cartoon covers LMAO because these two??? Were busy LOL. Anyways, this story had bi x ace rep, and I learned SO much about the ace spectrum in this book - which I really enjoyed!!!! As a couple, I loved watching these two discover their romance and advocate for each other, my god. I *will* say, Krystal did frustrate me a bit at times lolololol but fearful avoidant queen to fearful avoidant queen, I do fear I get it 💀

Anyways, super cute, super informative, will read more from this author!!

This was a solid 3.5 star book for me. The found family trope will always slap, and I really appreciated the dynamics of queerness and flexibility of sexuality that was explored in this book. However, I get thrown out of the book when real life references are covered, like the use of TikTok specifically in this book. I think that’s partially what took me so long to finish this book because I was struggling with that incorporation. The happy ever after, though, was so sweet and tender. I wish they would have just talked sooner, which lent to this having a bit of a miscommunication trope, a trope I usually hate so much. Otherwise, it was a decent read!

Oh my god, I love Angela with every fiber of my being. I love her heart and her determination and confusion and exploring, her vulnerability and her strength. AND SHES A LIBRARIAN!!!! And Krystal....my heart belongs to her, beats for her, cheers her on!! This story was fabulous and a bit messy, and so very real. I loved it!!

i really wanted to love this and it has a lot of good things going for it but i felt like that scene in 10 things i hate about you where she says i know you can be overwhelmed and you can be underwhelmed, can you ever just be whelmed? i just felt very detached from the book in general.

i’ll start with what i liked! i thought there were great conversations about the importance of cultivating queer community, the importance to give yourself grace to figure out your identity, and the societal pressure put on people to meet relationship milestones by a certain age. the discussions angela had with her friends and family about being queer and mexican and navigating the world felt so authentic and i think this book could be really important for a lot of people!

besides those discussions i just felt very meh about this book. the romance was cute and while the characters express the tension and attraction they feel for each other i didn’t feel any of that while reading. the voices of the characters felt extremely similar and was a bit difficult to discern who was talking. the dialogue and sex scenes were also kind of cringy, IM SORRY!!!!

i’m not going to give spoilers so i’ll just say at the end of the book i was sat there like okay well what was the point then???

i’m so happy this book was published bc queer Latinx stories are important and i really hope people love it!

thanks to forever and netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a great romance book with diverse leads and a unique storyline! Angela starts posting videos online about her inexperience and starts a scavenger hunt for her first kiss. Her longtime crush, Krystal, is helping her but feelings grow between the two and complicate everything.

The representation in this book is fantastic, as we get to see Angela learn more about her identity and where she fits on the asexual spectrum. I loved how she was confident in her identity and didn’t let any negativity from others take away from her journey.

Angela and Krystal’s relationship was perfectly paced, and had everything from sweet to steamy moments. They both had so much personal and emotional growth in the story and balanced each other well. I also loved how supportive they were of each other, even in moments when it wasn’t clear if they could have a romantic relationship.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book and will be going back to read the first book in the interconnected series. Also, OMG this cover is so stunning!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is one of my most anticipated reads for the year. I was SO excited when I heard that this book was a Sapphic Latinx Romance (two Latinx leads) and saw the cover! So, it hurts when I say this book did not meet my expectations. I will sum up my thoughts without any spoilers.

First, I am going to mention where the book fell short. This book is targeted as a Mexican Sapphic Romance with two Mexican FMCs, Angela Gutierrez and Krystal Ramirez.  In my opinion, as someone who identifies themselves as Latinx, this book lacked Latinx representation. There is no discussion about Angela or Krystal’s Mexican heritage.  In the beginning, when we meet Angela, we learn that her parents are Mexican, which is the only time her culture is mentioned. As for Krystal, it is never mentioned that she is Mexican.  But this book being marketed as a Latinx Romance?

Only five Spanish words are in the book, and they are after the 50% mark (elote, mija, fiesta, and Angelita). Yes, I am aware that Latinxs are not a monolith and that not all Latinxs speak Spanish. Multiple languages are spoken in Latin America, and there are Latinxs who do not speak Spanish. But this could have been a topic or discussion explored with Angela and Krystal. Do they have a shared experience when it comes to speaking Spanish? The book did not explore nor mention this.

The cover is beautiful, but the San Antonio festival is such a small part of the book. Based on the cover, I thought it would be a key moment.

The scavenger hunt wasn’t the book's main focus, as I was expecting. There was so much discussion about it; in the end, it didn't even matter.

I also feel some moments/discussions were rushed: Krystal’s former relationship, the fallout with her cousins, and Krystal’s bar. Also, this is book two in the “Librarians in Love,” and there were no librarian vibes.

What I did enjoy about the book was the ace and queer representation. There were many discussions in the book, and multiple characters explored this.  I do feel that these conversations were meaningful and informative, but it also felt repetitive in some parts.  Most of the first half of the book focuses on this.