On a miserable Christmas Eve Ellie met Jack. All alone in a new city while crying in an aisle of a bookstore Jack reached for the same book as Ellie and sparks flew. With snow falling fast around Portland Jack and Ellie decide to make the most of the magic in the air and by nights end Ellie had fallen hard but by the next morning she realized that Jack wasn't honest about who she was and Ellie fled. Always dreaming of what could have been if she had stayed. A year later, her life in pieces, no job, and an eviction looming Ellie is handed a proposition from a friend - fake marry him for a year so he can collect his inheritance and her financial worries will be solved. Not left with too many other options, Ellie agrees. Step one in pulling off their plan - spend the holidays with Andrew's family but when it's time to meet his sister...there is Jack, just as Ellie remembered her from that magical Christmas Eve one year ago. With her dire financial situation always hanging over her head Ellie must stay focused as to why she's here but can't help the pull of her heart challenging her to risk it all. To me...a rom-com read shouldn't be stressful and that's exactly what this book was. It was just a little too angsty for me to settle into as a holiday read, let alone a romance. I get it real life is messy and not all stories are smooth but in my Christmas reads I'd like them to be. "Kiss Her Once for Me" just missed the mark for me.

Jack and Ellie meet on a snowy Christmas Eve in Powell’s bookstore and they share a whirlwind day together, catching feelings. But things don’t play out as anticipated. Fast forward a year and Ellie’s life is a mess. She’s lost her dream job and is working at a coffee shop, doing her art in the form of an online webcomic as her emotional outlet. When a chance encounter with the coffee shop’s landlord, Andrew, offers Ellie a chance at life-changing money in exchange for a little ol marriage to claim his inheritance, Ellie reluctantly takes it. Now, she’s got to meet Andrew’s family over the holidays and make the engagement convincing. When Andrew introduces Ellie to his sister, Jack is the last person on the planet she expected. This is the first novel I’ve read by Alison Cochran and I have to say I’m not disappointed. In fact, I’d definitely say I’m now a fan. I absolutely love the holidays - from the food to the fashion to the films - so a queer holiday romance, sign me the hell up. In this novel, we’ve got so much awesomeness that just jump off the pages, it makes me giddy. This book has a wonderful balance of humor and heartfelt moments and even a few tears shed from yours truly. While I’m not a fan of flashbacks or instalove - Cochran executed it so well, I couldn’t help but enjoy it. I loved loved loved the family (especially Jack and Andrews's two grandmas) dynamic in this story. There were many laugh-out-loud moments and the banter between the characters is stellar. I really admire the neurodivergent representation in this book as well as the touches on the mental health aspects of familial relationships and the vulnerability of these characters end up having with each other. I really enjoyed this book. The author did a wonderful job of weaving humor, seriousness, witty dialog, and navigating expectations. This will definitely be a holiday re-read for me.

I was pretty underwhelmed with this book. The main character, Ellie, had so much potential but the way she was written just made her fall flat to me. She is a complex character that at times felt very "woe is me" and pessimistic. I think Ellie's overall negative/crybaby attitude is what really caused my dislike for the character. The author is also extremely repetitive. The only thing I know about Jack's appearance is her "half-moon smile," which is repeated about 100 times in the book and is literally the only way the author could think to describe this character. Every time I read that phrase I wanted to scream! The last thing that was difficult for me to get over is that the author would place just big, mouthy words in places where it didn't fit. It seemed like they were just sticking these big words to prove they knew the big words and could use them somehow. The writing is plain and simple, and the use of these complicated words seemed unnecessary for the sentence.

(3.5 stars) I’m not quite sure why this story didn’t completely grab me. It’s got a lot to offer: a main character (Ellie) who has anxiety and is working to overcome the disadvantages life has thrown at her; a meet-cute; a fake engagement trope; a diverse cast of characters who aren’t cardboard stereotypes; and lots of Portland, Oregon flavor. (I loved all the local color, since I know the Portland area pretty well.) But somehow it didn’t fully engage me. It could be because I didn’t realize it was a Christmas-heavy story when I picked it up (and Christmas books aren’t my thing). Or it could be that I’d just finished another book with a wonderful main character who is dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. Or it could be that the timeline in this book was a bit confusing, going back and forth between last Christmas” (2021) to “this Christmas” (2022), along with excerpts from Ellie’s web comic, which was based on her experiences. Things kind of blurred for me. So YMMV (your mileage may vary). Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

KISS HER ONCE FOR ME by Alison Cochrun is a complete delight. Indeed, for fans of holiday romance who have long wondered: where on earth is queer "While You Were Sleeping?" Superfans of Cochrun's debut, THE CHARM OFFENSIVE will not be disappointed.

This book was wonderfully written! It made me laugh, cry, made me angry at times. It's an amazing tale of two women falling in love while trying to pretend they aren't and it really helped me get into the holiday spirit this year! I read it in about two sittings, but I would've read it in one of I'd had the time.

Kiss Her Once for Me is a sweet, but not always sunshiny, sapphic holiday romance that I couldn’t put down. Alison Cochrun creates lovable yet flawed characters and puts them in situations that are sometimes humorous, sometimes tear-jerking, and always entertaining. 4.5/5 stars Last Christmas Eve, artist Ellie met Jack, a butch baker, and they spent a magical day together in the snow instead of a lonely, solo holiday in Portland. But things went awry the next morning, leaving each one heartbroken. A year later, things aren’t going so well for Ellie. She lost her job as an animator, got passed over for a promotion at the coffee shop where she’s a barista, and is about to be evicted from her dismal apartment. When Andrew, the coffee shop’s young, gorgeous landlord overhears her complaints, he offers her a proposition. Pretend to be his fiancé so he can access his inheritance, and once they are married, he’ll give her a percentage to pay her off debts. Ellie buys in, but once she heads to Andrew’s family’s mountain house, she stunned to discover that Jack is Andrew’s sister. Awkward! I loved this fake dating set up where the romance isn’t between the couple who is fake dating. It adds layers to developing trust and who characters share their truth with. These are all imperfect characters, but are still incredibly likable, even with realistic portrayals of anxiety and ADHD. By the time the characters finally are snowed in with only one bed—not a spoiler for any good holiday romance—no one was pulling for this couple more than me. While reading this story, I kind of felt like Ellie: there is a sense of impending doom, and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out exactly when this crazy plan would blow up in her face. That said, I loved that nothing went entirely as expected. The chemistry between Ellie and Jack is no match for Ellie’s partnership of convenience with Andrew. Not only did I love the two of them together, it was great seeing them accept each other, warts and all. And, I can’t say enough about the delightful secondary characters; from the grandmas to grumpy Dylan, they light up every scene. Kiss Her Once for Me is an adorable holiday romance that touches on some more serious issues. Ellie and Jack both have a lot to work through in regards to both their realities and perceptions of their lives. This book is a worthy follow up to The Charm Offensive, and I can’t wait to see what Alison Cochrun writes next.

3.5* Kiss Her Once For Me was an entertaining, slighty angsty, somewhat frustrating read. I really liked the idea of the story, it just took me a little longer to become engaged than I hoped. And it wasn't as romcom-y as I thought it would be, mainly due to the fact that Ellie has a lot of stuff to deal with. I think that's part of the reason I didn't love this as much as I would have liked. I guess I was expecting a fun, messy, light-hearted romp and what I got was a story that was heavier, and more stressful than it appears on the surface. I enjoyed the chapters from the past- getting to know Ellie and Jack as they were getting to know each other. Although I wish we had found out sooner what caused Ellie to leave so quickly the next morning. The lack of communication played a big part in my frustration with this book. Th first half of the book was a little slow, but the ending definitely made up for it, and thus my rounding up to 4*.