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therainbowshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
5.0
Extremely adorable and fun to read! After trying and bailing on several Christmas romances this year, I finally found one that was a keeper. Romance can be really hit or miss with me, and I was worried that this one, which combines tropes like crazy, wouldn't fly and I'm super glad I gave it a chance!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Transphobia
Toxic parentskudiklier's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
5.0
I didn't know almost anything about this book going in, and wow was I pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. I read almost the entire book in one sitting, because I couldn't put it down. The romance was perfect, and also it was weirdly and unintentionally relevant for me, as someone who just moved to Portland less than two months ago. I loved the bi rep, the anxiety rep, the demi rep, the nonbinary rep, the way they try (and fail) to not fall victim to unnecessary miscommunication as horribly as the straights always do in romances. (Also is it just me or is Ellie also autistic??? I both have anxiety and am autistic so sometimes it's hard for me to tell what social anxiety things are related to which haha. But idk she felt extremely autistic to me and I'm gonna say I also loved the (maybe unintentional) autistic rep as well.) This was a perfect book to start the year with, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a lovely queer holiday romance.
Edit to add: I actually kind of forgot what The Charm Offensive was about, and now that I went back to look at my (5 star) review for that book, I'm even more convinced that Alison Cochrun is one of my new favorite romance authors. In both books, I was super sucked in and read them basically in one sitting. But even better, in both books I felt like even the parts of romances that I don't like (e.g., when they have a fight and break up near the end, usually over some miscommunication) were handled much better in these books than in most romance novels. Like, Cochrun clearly puts a lot of effort into making sure the relationships are as healthy and realistic as possible, while still giving us all the normal pieces of a romance and keeping the drama amped up. I'm just so impressed! And I can't wait for Cochrun's next book.
Edit to add: I actually kind of forgot what The Charm Offensive was about, and now that I went back to look at my (5 star) review for that book, I'm even more convinced that Alison Cochrun is one of my new favorite romance authors. In both books, I was super sucked in and read them basically in one sitting. But even better, in both books I felt like even the parts of romances that I don't like (e.g., when they have a fight and break up near the end, usually over some miscommunication) were handled much better in these books than in most romance novels. Like, Cochrun clearly puts a lot of effort into making sure the relationships are as healthy and realistic as possible, while still giving us all the normal pieces of a romance and keeping the drama amped up. I'm just so impressed! And I can't wait for Cochrun's next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Toxic parents, cutting off family membersmikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Biphobia and Infidelity
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Biphobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
lennie_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Minor: Biphobia and Fatphobia
rileyswan's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
4.5
"people are always making a fuss about male forearms, which, sure, are nice, but have these people never seen the tattooed forearms of a butch lesbian?"
This book is the most beautiful ode to girls with anxiety, the struggles of career limbo, Christmas with found families, and loving butch lesbians who are hard on the outside but soft on the inside.
Alison Cochrun delivered something astonishing with her debut, The Charm Offensive, and followed through with something completely different yet entirely captivating with Kiss Her Once For Me.
This book follows Ellie Oliver, an artist and barista with a penchant for blaming everything on herself. Last Christmas, she fell in love with a butch named Jack who had a heart of gold, before her own got trampled all over, left to rot in the snow. Things get complicated when she gets fake engaged to a man in exchange for a promise of $200,000, only for that man to be Jack's sister.
Basically, everything is a MESS. There's an angsty love quadrangle, drug-happy grandmas, a cheating father, and too many secrets and lies to realistically keep track of.
And Alison pulls it off perfectly.
Kiss Her Once For Me is painstakingly real, and sad, and gay, which is exactly why you should read it - Christmastime or not.
This book is the most beautiful ode to girls with anxiety, the struggles of career limbo, Christmas with found families, and loving butch lesbians who are hard on the outside but soft on the inside.
Alison Cochrun delivered something astonishing with her debut, The Charm Offensive, and followed through with something completely different yet entirely captivating with Kiss Her Once For Me.
This book follows Ellie Oliver, an artist and barista with a penchant for blaming everything on herself. Last Christmas, she fell in love with a butch named Jack who had a heart of gold, before her own got trampled all over, left to rot in the snow. Things get complicated when she gets fake engaged to a man in exchange for a promise of $200,000, only for that man to be Jack's sister.
Basically, everything is a MESS. There's an angsty love quadrangle, drug-happy grandmas, a cheating father, and too many secrets and lies to realistically keep track of.
And Alison pulls it off perfectly.
Kiss Her Once For Me is painstakingly real, and sad, and gay, which is exactly why you should read it - Christmastime or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia, Drug use, Homophobia, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny and Racism
modernmatilda's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
5.0
An absolutely incredible, warm, magic romance that will leave you believing in the magic of snow days.
Ellie spent last Christmas falling head over heels for a woman in the bookstore. They spent an incredible day together in the snow. But when morning came, everything fell apart. This Christmas, desperate for money, hope, and an escape, she agrees to be fake engaged to her coffee shop's landlord, Andrew, in order for him to inherit family money (and share a portion of the funds with her). But when she arrives at the cabin to spend Christmas with Andrew's family, she meets his sister... the woman from last Christmas.
Seeing characters in romance novels struggle and grow through their mental health challenges is MY FAVORITE!!!!!!
Ellie spent last Christmas falling head over heels for a woman in the bookstore. They spent an incredible day together in the snow. But when morning came, everything fell apart. This Christmas, desperate for money, hope, and an escape, she agrees to be fake engaged to her coffee shop's landlord, Andrew, in order for him to inherit family money (and share a portion of the funds with her). But when she arrives at the cabin to spend Christmas with Andrew's family, she meets his sister... the woman from last Christmas.
Seeing characters in romance novels struggle and grow through their mental health challenges is MY FAVORITE!!!!!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Biphobia
the_true_monroe's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Biphobia, Racism, and Transphobia
librariangeorgia's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
I actually started this after Christmas and finished it on New Years Day - the perfect time to read a Christmasy book...🫣
Timing aside, I absolutely adored this book. Honestly it's hard to find a sapphic book that's not tacky and cheesy. This one though, was so good!
It's a rom-com style book that starts on Christmas Eve 2021 and then jumps to the run up to Christmas in 2022. It's so cute, funny and most of all, relatable.
I loved it and i'll definitely be rereading this Christmas!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
sarah2438's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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? Yes
4.0
In my heart, I know this is 3.75 stars. But I don't do quarter stars, only half, so I'll round up to 4.
This is cute! It had some of my favorite romance tropes-- including one bed, fake dating, and just one night. Despite all the tropes, it doesn’t feel overly produced (for lack of a better word) like Love Hypothesis felt for me. Ellie is adorable and relatable for my anxious heart. The struggles of our characters felt real, even if I didn't totally buy the reason for the 3rd act breakup. (The "I don't care about these very legitimate things to be angry about, I care that you didn't *believe in us.*") Another thing I was less than a fan of was all of the pop culture references. Those are a turn off for me in books, and it means this book will feel dated in a year.
Even though it wasn't perfect, I still enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for some LGBT+ in their romance.
This is cute! It had some of my favorite romance tropes-- including one bed, fake dating, and just one night. Despite all the tropes, it doesn’t feel overly produced (for lack of a better word) like Love Hypothesis felt for me. Ellie is adorable and relatable for my anxious heart. The struggles of our characters felt real, even if I didn't totally buy the reason for the 3rd act breakup. (The "I don't care about these very legitimate things to be angry about, I care that you didn't *believe in us.*") Another thing I was less than a fan of was all of the pop culture references. Those are a turn off for me in books, and it means this book will feel dated in a year.
Even though it wasn't perfect, I still enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for some LGBT+ in their romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content