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kelly_e's review
- 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
3.25
Author: Alison Cochrun
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: November 1, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Thoughtful • Nostalgic • Messy
📖 S Y N O P S I S
One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.
Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The Charm Offensive was an absolute hit for me, so of course, I was keeping an eye on new books from Alison Cochrun. It just may have taken me over a year to finally pick up Kiss Her Once For Me. Unfortunately, this one didn't have the same experience as her debut.
Honestly, the premise sounded kind of ridiculous, so I knew going in, I'd have to suspend belief in order to appreciate this big hearted romcom. Marriage-of-convivence is a trope I often struggle to become fully invested in and it was no different with this one, especially when you add in the love triangle and lack of communication elements. Additionally, I wouldn't necessarily classify this as a holiday read, rather it just has strong winter vibes.
This book delivers an incredibly diverse cast of characters with representation spanning ADHD, anxiety disorders, bisexuality, demisexuality, and nonbinary. It was just all very well done. I also found myself appreciating the growth of the main character, the self-discovery theme, and the quirky family more than the actual romance aspect.
Overall, Kiss Her Once for Me didn't live up to my expectations, yet I don't know if it was really the book itself or rather just it containing elements that I don't love. I am curious and looking forward to see where Here We Go Again, Alison Cochrun's upcoming 2024 release will land for me.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• cozy romance
• queer romcoms (demisexual rep)
• love triangles
⚠️ CW: toxic parental relationship, emotional abuse, child abuse, biphobia, transphobia, lesbophobia, homophobia, mental illness, generalized anxiety, panic attacks/disorders, alcoholism, infidelity, sexual content, alcohol, abandonment, cursing, drug use, classism, bullying, gaslighting, ableism, racism, body shaming, fatphobia, death, misogyny, sexism, divorce
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Your trauma is something that happened to you; it’s not who you are."
"We all have seasons of needing and seasons of giving."
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Homophobia, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Biphobia, Child abuse, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexism, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Ableism, Cursing, Drug use, Classism, Bullying, Racism, Body shaming, Death, and Misogyny
generalized anxiety, divorcereadandfindout's review
3.5
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 2.5 stars
Graphic: Classism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Child abuse
Minor: Ableism, Gaslighting, Racism, Misogyny, Transphobia, Death, and Body shaming
turnthepages_nl's review against another edition
4.0
The ADHD rep was great and really casual, the anxiety woven though the whole story.
The messaging of this book was just really nice and the new/found family aspect really wholesome. But the cheating knocked a star off for me...
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Biphobia, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Transphobia, Drug use, and Death
imstephtacular's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Mental illness
Minor: Bullying, Medical content, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Death, Cancer, Vomit, Sexism, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Racism, and Grief
bg_oseman_fan's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Mental illness, Outing, Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Cursing, Transphobia, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Drug use
dododenise's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I knew this was second chance romance when I went into it, however, this book was so well loved I wanted to give it a try anyway.
But besides that, Ellie is just an older version of me (beside the fact I got GAD without the help of parental abuse, and i’m deeper into the ace spectrum than she is). I adored the way the book portrayed her anxiety. I knew from the charm offensive that Alison is ridiculously good at portraying mental illness and she did it again here.
Just personally I struggled with enjoying the story because of that, as I use reading as a form of escapism and seeing my own anxieties on the page doesn’t exactly help escaping those anxieties.
I’m quite disappointed with the way Ellie’s demisexuality was portrayed. I would much rather say she is greysexual. Of course everyone can use those terms individually, but being able to feel sexual attraction within a few hours of building a connection seems beyond the scopes of what I see as realistic within the label of demisexuality.
Overall, mixed feelings about this book, with very good parts and very meh parts.
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol
Minor: Death
headinthepages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Abandonment, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Death
frantically's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Outing, Sexual content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
Minor: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Classism, Death, and Emotional abuse
skudiklier's review
- 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
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.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Sexual content, Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing, Biphobia, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Cancer, Stalking, Outing, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Toxic parents, cutting off family membersmegwilli's review
4.5
Moderate: Death and Infidelity