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A review by fiekesfiction
Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun
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
2.5
Ellie makes a deal to fake-marry Andrew, because he needs a marriage to gain access to his inheritance. And she could use the money as well. But when she shows up to his great family Christmas celebration, she finds out that his sister is the woman she had a one night stand with a year ago, and she never quite got over her.
As you can imagine, it is a lot of drama. Complete chaos and pretty funny.
Although I really liked the concept and originality of this story, I didn't like it as much as The Charm Offensive but I still had a lot of fun and I really would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun Christmas themed story.
What I liked about this book:
-The absolute chaos/ insane drama that was just hilarious and got out of control
-The family dynamics (everyone but special shout out to the grandma's) (But also compared to Ellie's own family and the conversations about that.)
-Meeting in a book store (I mean that is just perfect.)
-Ellie's friends
-Some of the emotional complexity of the characters
-Lots of representation (including: demi sexual bi main character, main sapphic relationship, Korean, non-binary side character, trans lesbian side character, poly side character, anxiety disorder, ADHD)
-There's specifically some attention to pronouns and characters telling/asking about them in a very simple but nice way.
-The Christmas and snow and happy holiday vibes (that fit with the cheesy drama of it all.)
-Just the jokes between characters and their interactions
-There's things happening constantly (chaos and drama as stated before) which makes this a really fast read that keeps being engaging and entertaining (even through the second-hand embarrassment)
-There's just a good balance between funny moments and emotional ones. Just like in the charm offensive.
-IDK if this is a positive for me perse, but it has a lot of the typical romance tropes like fake-engagement, only one bed, holiday activities (including matching sweaters which... ugh okay.)
What I liked less
-It just annoyed me how a lot of the characters acted and how much miscommunication there was. (Even though there actually is a quote in the book where Jack says something about wanting to avoid miscommunication.)
-There's a lot of weird and unclear stuff about people cheating and how it is handled. It is kind of not really there because it is fake dating, but some of the characters involved did not know that and did it anyway. And I think it sort of gets addressed but not really?
-I really did not like the reason why Ellie and Jack's "one night stand" ended the way it did. I guess this also comes down to miscommunication, but I also think Jack's reaction to this was unfair. (see the spoiler for more detailed explanation I guess.) (view spoiler)
-I don't know how to explain this, but the drama was less funny and more awkward at times. (This is probably a very personal con though.)
-I just don't like it when the romance is sooo fast and so sudden and love-at-first-sight like. And I think especially with the main character being demisexual it felt a bit unbelievable. (Though I am not the person to speak on that representation.) I get that they got to know each other in one day and it 'felt like I've known you forever' but... hmm. (This is another personal preference though.)
-The other romance in this book was very in the background and I was not really invested in it. I guess we just did not get that much information about it but I just did not really care about it as much as I might have.
So my expectations were unfairly high since I loved the charm offensive so much, and this book did not hold that same feeling for me, but it is unfair to hold that against it. So I would recommend this. I think I would love it even more as a movie, because all the drama and jokes would just work so well on screen.
If you liked this, you might also be interested in this similar book I found Make You Mine This Christmas. I have not read it yet, but it is also a fake dating queer Christmas book that sounds somewhat like this one.
As you can imagine, it is a lot of drama. Complete chaos and pretty funny.
Although I really liked the concept and originality of this story, I didn't like it as much as The Charm Offensive but I still had a lot of fun and I really would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun Christmas themed story.
What I liked about this book:
-The absolute chaos/ insane drama that was just hilarious and got out of control
-The family dynamics (everyone but special shout out to the grandma's) (But also compared to Ellie's own family and the conversations about that.)
-Meeting in a book store (I mean that is just perfect.)
-Ellie's friends
-Some of the emotional complexity of the characters
-Lots of representation (including: demi sexual bi main character, main sapphic relationship, Korean, non-binary side character, trans lesbian side character, poly side character, anxiety disorder, ADHD)
-There's specifically some attention to pronouns and characters telling/asking about them in a very simple but nice way.
-The Christmas and snow and happy holiday vibes (that fit with the cheesy drama of it all.)
-Just the jokes between characters and their interactions
-There's things happening constantly (chaos and drama as stated before) which makes this a really fast read that keeps being engaging and entertaining (even through the second-hand embarrassment)
-There's just a good balance between funny moments and emotional ones. Just like in the charm offensive.
-IDK if this is a positive for me perse, but it has a lot of the typical romance tropes like fake-engagement, only one bed, holiday activities (including matching sweaters which... ugh okay.)
What I liked less
-It just annoyed me how a lot of the characters acted and how much miscommunication there was. (Even though there actually is a quote in the book where Jack says something about wanting to avoid miscommunication.)
-There's a lot of weird and unclear stuff about people cheating and how it is handled. It is kind of not really there because it is fake dating, but some of the characters involved did not know that and did it anyway. And I think it sort of gets addressed but not really?
-I really did not like the reason why Ellie and Jack's "one night stand" ended the way it did. I guess this also comes down to miscommunication, but I also think Jack's reaction to this was unfair. (see the spoiler for more detailed explanation I guess.) (view spoiler)
-I don't know how to explain this, but the drama was less funny and more awkward at times. (This is probably a very personal con though.)
-I just don't like it when the romance is sooo fast and so sudden and love-at-first-sight like. And I think especially with the main character being demisexual it felt a bit unbelievable. (Though I am not the person to speak on that representation.) I get that they got to know each other in one day and it 'felt like I've known you forever' but... hmm. (This is another personal preference though.)
-The other romance in this book was very in the background and I was not really invested in it. I guess we just did not get that much information about it but I just did not really care about it as much as I might have.
So my expectations were unfairly high since I loved the charm offensive so much, and this book did not hold that same feeling for me, but it is unfair to hold that against it. So I would recommend this. I think I would love it even more as a movie, because all the drama and jokes would just work so well on screen.
If you liked this, you might also be interested in this similar book I found Make You Mine This Christmas. I have not read it yet, but it is also a fake dating queer Christmas book that sounds somewhat like this one.