Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Kiss Her Once For Me

Title: Kiss Her Once for Me
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."

Content Warnings

readandfindout's review

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medium-paced

3.5

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 2.5 stars

Content Warnings

itsame_dio's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

I had a good time, it’s the ending that through me off. First, I wish that we had more time for the friendship with Ellie and the side characters and that there was more scheming (??? That’s not the right word) with her and Andrew. Like I wish we saw them hang out more and more of their fake relationship, but my biggest problem is the ending.

1. I don’t understand why Jack was mad at Ellie and why she had to apologize?? At first Jack was mad Ellie got fake engaged w/ her brother for money and that kinda pissed me off because who is Jack to judge someone for caring about money?? Jack is doing a poverty cosplay but she still has resources to fall back on, Ellie literally has nothing!!

2. Then she’s mad that Ellie “didn’t believe in her” and idek how she came to that conclusion.

3. And it’s also somehow Ellie’s fault that she left last Christmas but JACK is the one who lied (by omission) about having a wife!! I wouldn’t stay to listen to anything you had to say cuz if you lied about that how would I believe that you’re telling the truth about you’re “getting a divorce” (literally the oldest trick in the book)

4. Ellie also somehow made Jack sleep with her even tho she thought Ellie was engaged to her brother?? Like how is your lack of self control anyone else’s fault but your own

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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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bg_oseman_fan's review

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.75

It’s a sign of a well written book when even though you know what’s about to happen, you are so engrossed in the story that it doesn’t much matter. Steering into fake dating, love triangle (i mean trapezoid), only one bed, tropes could have easily crashed and burned. instead the characters shine. the lead characters grow and their flaws are addressed frankly and honestly in a way many romance focused books don’t. Parts of this book were too saccharine and could have been more critical of tropes, but I enjoyed Alison’s writing so much!

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the_vegan_bookworm's review

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emotional hopeful 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

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skudiklier's review

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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.

Content Warnings

rileyswan's review against another edition

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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.

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