Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Kiss Her Once for Me

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Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

33 reviews

smasson13's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love Alison Cochrun. Her books are some of the only honestly and well written representation I have seen when it comes to mental illness. As a teacher, it is also soooo easy for me to imagine where she got this wealth of understanding, empathy, and depth from. As a result, this book was almost difficult for me to read due to how close to home it hit.

I really connected with Ellie and loved her character. While I also enjoyed Jack and the host of other characters, I did find more difficulty connecting with them as I found them flatter than I was expecting. Andrew specifically was a character I wanted to love deeply but just didn't know enough about in the end.

What I think was most amazing about this book was that the author did a perfect job at following up her first novel. They both touched on deep and important themes, had soft characters filled with feelings, but still felt wildly different. Alison Cochrun will continue to be a favourite author and I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

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overthinkereading's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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risareads's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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micaelamariem's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have never read a holiday-themed book before, not unless you count A Christmas Carol and Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. So, this year, this season, I decided it was time for a change and ordered a queer holiday romcom from Book of the Month. After all, I love cheesey Hallmark romcom movies with the predictable plot so why wouldn’t I love a book that may be a little more nuanced?

And I was right.

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun, published by Atria, is not your typical fake-dating story. Ellie, who is heartbroken over what seemed like magic but was actually a one-night stand, and about to be evicted because she can’t make rent, sees an oppurtunity when Andrew proposes she be his marriage of convenience and he’ll pay her two hundred thousand dollars. First, though, they needed to get through Christmas with his family as fake fiancees. Ellie is all for this plan to get that life-changing money, until she finds out his sister was her one night stand she never got over.

The author, Alison Cochrun, is known for her debut, The Charm Offensive. Kiss Her Once for Me is Alison’s sophomore novel, and her third novel is coming in 2024. In the meantime, she lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves Taylor Swift.

Most of the characters in this romance are very loveable, and I think that’s because they aren’t perfect. With reflections on mental health and trauma passed on from parents, Alison did a good job at showing each character’s varying flaws, attatchment styles, and weak coping mechanisms, which allowed them room to grow over the novel. My favorite character was Dylan, a non-binary family friend who I would have loved to see more of.

I also thought the pacing was perfect, if conventional, for a romcom–all down to the third-act break-up. But I’m not complaining. Even though the author worked hard to turn a trope we know and love on its head here, there is still an area of predictability that us romance readers love and crave.

The romance itself was a bit too insta-love for my taste. However, there were obstacles that prevented the couple from being together, so it wasn’t like it was all perfect from the get-go and its what made the scenario more belivable, even in this whole wild scheme.

The writing was great and easy-to-read. It was easy to be pulled into Ellie’s world of drawing and anxiety. I especially loved the little vignettes from Ellie’s Draw2, where she created and shared comics online. It really fitted her character and made the reading even more enjoyable.

One thing, though, that I hated about the plot was this reveal about Jack that happens around the half-way point. It wasn’t the reveal that I hated so much as the fact that for the rest of the book, it was simply glossed over or not dealt with very much. In reality, this would have been a bigger thing and I would think the family would talk about it, too.

Also, there was a lot of miscommunication in this book. I know that’s probably a given with romcoms, but it made me so frusturated! I want to take this book and whack the characters over the head with it. If only they’d all just be honest with each other…

What made up for it was the holiday traditions in the family. Though a lot of the traditions were Ellie’s first time at experiencing Christmas magic, it brought me a lot of nostalgia, especially as I did virtually nothing this year for Christmas. Planning to do these things with my future family and create a feel-good home.

Oh, and brownie points for diversity! I knew going in that this would be a WLW romance, but I didn’t know we’d also see people experiencing demisexuality (which I think I am so it was cool to see), anxiety (which I know I have), ADHD, non-binary, and mixed race. These portrayals, for the most part, were done well without defining the characters themselves.

I loved the exploration of platonic love, family, and friendship throughout the novel, as well. While it is a romance, Ellie’s main struggle was with her belief that she couldn’t be lovable if she wasn’t perfect–and this was any kind of love, so it was refreshing to see both healthy and unhealthy relationships in every form.

Finally, there is a spicy scene or two in this novel. I would really only classify one chapter as being particularly smutty, so if you’re not into that, you could probably still read the book while skipping that chapter.

Overall, I really do recommend this, especially if you’re looking for one more holiday romance this season! Four stars.

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fatanyu's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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grets_reads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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hannahrogers's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Premise: Ellie spent the day with a mysterious woman Jack one year ago and has been pining over her ever since. When Andrew comes to her with a fake marriage of convenience scheme to gain access to his $2 million inheritance, she agrees because she needs the money. When she meets his family to celebrate Christmas with them, she realizes she already knows his sister. It turns out to be a messy week for this group and it was stressful but hilarious to watch it unfold.

Characters: Besides Elle’s toxic mom and Andrew’s garbage dad, I didn’t dislike any of the characters. Alison Cochran wrote both amazingly detailed, funny, and authentic main characters and side characters. I need to hang out with those grandmas because they are an absolute blast in a glass. Even though there’s a miscommunication trope, I wasn’t mad at the love interests at all — I found their situations relatable and understandable. The snowed in and “there’s only one bed” trope makes up for it too hehehehe. This group of people becomes such a lovely little found family and I’m here for it.

Plot: the majority of the book takes place over the week of Christmas 2022. You read chapters of Elle’s webcomics (she published them earlier in the year) about her magical snow day with Jack sprinkled throughout the book too. The pacing felt consistent & I loved how Alison took us through each day that Ellie spent with the Kim-Prescotts. Katherine’s laminated schedule of holiday events was too precious.

Representation: trans, non-binary, demisexual, anxiety, bisexual, estranged parents (I think this is representation because it shows the diversity of family dynamics😭)

Overall: The steam is probably a 1/5 but this is truly more about the inner work that our leads had to confront and the romance. This is a book I’d love to see on screen!

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a great fake dating rom com with some expected and unexpected twists! I The main couples were lovely together and I appreciated that some tougher topics were handled with a lot of sensitivity. The plot didn't rely too much on miscommunication tropes, which could have been frustrating, there was just enough that it felt natural and created some tension.

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

overall i liked this. it was exactly what i want for this time of year. however, there were many parts during this book where i felt there were plot holes, frustrating miscommunications, and characters just acting awful to each other for seemingly no reason.

i did not see the reason for all of the cheating. it seemed unnecessary and lessened my love for the characters. also how jack turned ellie down publicly and minutes later came driving out to change her mind??? also im so mad that ellie took all of the blame for the fake marriage thing when it was all of andrew's idea. he continuously pushed her to do it and then she got all of the blame which was upsetting.

also, to be honest, almost every trope in this are ones that i really dislike (miscommunication, fake dating/marriage, fear of commitment). but despite that, i still enjoyed this more than i thought i would, considering my dislike of those tropes. overall, this was still a cute, queer Christmas romance for the holidays

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