Kiss Her Once for Me: A Novel

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I’m not saying that people can’t fall in love in a day, but it was constantly emphasized that Ellie doesn’t feel sexual attraction until she gets a deep emotional bond with someone. I live right outside of the locations where this book took place, so the setting was very homey and familiar to me. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money. Cochrun effortlessly balances the two timelines, stretching out the narrative tension of how and why Jack and Ellie imploded so soon after their magical day just long enough to keep the pacing propulsive but not too long.

When something more serious actually did come between them, the reactions still seemed realistic and I adored how they both had to grow before coming together again. She's half Korean, although this isn't really something that comes across much re her or any of her family other than a couple of food mentions. I honestly didn't know this new book had demi rep too, and it seems that info was excluded from a lot of marketing posts too.I REALLY liked Jack’s insistence that they communicate, because Ellie’s lack of communication was so frustrating as a plot device. Alison Cochrun’s debut novel The Charm Offensive was an in-house favorite, and it wasn’t hard to see why.

It comes up several times, and the mc says time and time again that she's not this type of person, she doesn't go home with people after the first date, she doesn't have one night stands etc.

He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. I was frequently annoyed by Ellie’s self-pity and stagnation, and (spoilers, I guess) the most satisfying moment for me was when Jack (I think? The writing immediately sucked me in and transported me to their wonderfully awkward but lovely exchanges. I also like that the author took popular tropes (fake dating, marriage of convenience) and gave them an unexpected twist. Also I will say if you liked Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur you would probably love this one!

This whole pinning the guilt on Ellie even continued later in the book, too, for things that weren’t Ellie’s fault. She didn’t come last Christmas, and she won’t come this Christmas, and I’m only setting myself up for heartbreak. HOT romance--whew, the romance between Jack and Ellie is swoon-worthy and absolutely believable despite their meet cute turned insta-love, which is most often eye roll inducing for me but not this time.My mother may switch her career goals as frequently and thoughtlessly as she shuffles through husbands, but she never misses the chance to remind me of my greatest failure. Perfect for fans of Written in the Stars and One Day in December, Kiss Her Once for Me is the queer holiday rom-com that you'll want to cozy up with next to the fire. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancee 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. It was fun and engaging, and the explorations of the main characters’ various traumas/issues and how they drove their behaviour and affected their relationships were nuanced and thoughtful.

Overall though, this is a delightfully funny hot holiday romance about learning how to step outside of fear and go for what we want in life--even if that means we fail from time to time. I get what the title is doing but I’m sorry I don’t want to interpretive dance to Holly Jolly Christmas. And then they don't meet for an entire year, and you want me to believe both are still super attracted to each other? These ladies are two pot-smoking, drinking-sangria-first-thing-in-the-morning grandmas who are the previous wives of Jack and Andrew’s despicable now deceased grandfather. I enjoyed this book a lot even though I have a very low tolerance for reading about 20-somethings who don’t have their lives together!

As the dual narratives unfold, they alternately give readers sweet details of Ellie and Jack’s snow day and catch us up on Ellie’s present. the whole thing at the end about how much love she has for her friends felt a bit hollow when we only see them for, like, 3 pages. In the lead up to the reveal — because of course the truth eventually comes out — there are a ton of festive and wintery activities that make this book very Christmasy in the best cozy way.