Kiss Her Once for Me – Alison Cochrun

Publisher: Atria Books

Date of Publication: November 1st, 2022

Page Count: 368

From the Jacket:

The author of The Charm Offensive returns with a festive romantic comedy about a woman who fakes an engagement with her landlord…only to fall for his sister.

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.

Rating:

Steam: 🔥🔥

“Was is possible to have a hole inside you, cookie-cuttered into the shape of a person you hadn’t met yet? Because that’s how it felt when I talked to Jack. We’re nothing alike and everything alike..”

Looking for the perfect holiday rom com? Look no further! I have read a lot of queer holiday rom coms this year, but Kiss Her Once For Me, has taken the top spot. I feel like I could go on for days and days about how much I adored this one, but Instagram (this review was initially written for Instagram) is not a place where wordy, long-winded people thrive. So here is a bullet list style review (which will still somehow be too long) of some of the tropes you can except and some of my favorite aspects: 

– butch lesbian baker meets disaster bisexual artist (who then spends a lot of time lusting over said baker as she chops wood and smells like bread)

– a unique spin on fake dating/marriage of convenience 

– second chance, sapphic romance 

– a love trapezoid 

– realistic family dysfunction with HEALTHY BOUNDARY SETTING (this is my love language) 

– holiday hijinks galore

– the single best impromptu karaoke session to the single best song, Celine Dion’s, It’s All Coming Back to Me Now (I dare you to find a better song)

– Portland, Oregon setting complete with a Powell’s Books meet-cute 

– the loveliest, booziest, most meddling grandmas 

– all the found family vibes 

– fantastic banter (I lost track of the number of times I LOL’d)

– anxiety and AHDH rep

Kiss Her Once for Me is written in dueling timelines, flashing back to show Ellie & Jack’s romantic past through episodes of a webcomic created by Ellie. I absolutely loved this and thought it was such a clever way to weave in their history throughout the second chance aspect of the story. Thanks so much to Atria for sending me this beautiful finished copy! I so hope you’ll pick this one up! 

A Restless Truth – Freya Marske

Publisher: Tordotcom

Date of Publication: November 1st, 2022

Page Count: 400

From the Jacket:

Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance! The second entry in Freya Marske’s beloved The Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light

The most interesting things in Maud Blyth’s life have happened to her brother Robin, but she’s ready to join any cause, especially if it involves magical secrets that may threaten the whole of the British Isles. Bound for New York on the R.M.S. Lyric, she’s ready for an adventure.

What she actually finds is a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and a beautiful stranger in Violet Debenham, who is everything—a magician, an actress, a scandal—Maud has been trained to fear and has learned to desire. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of loathsome, aristocratic suspects, they must solve a murder and untangle a conspiracy that began generations before them.

Rating:

Steam: 🔥🔥

A sequel that totally lived up to the first book, A Restless Truth was phenomenal! I had such high expectations because A Marvellous Light is an all time favorite of mine. And while I was sad that I only got to see my dear Robin and Edwin once at the very end of the book, these new characters completely captured my heart. I could not get enough of Maud and Violet, and even the grumpy Hawthorn (I so hope book 3 will be his). 

A Restless Truth begins right after the events of A Marvellous Light end. The book opens with a murder and the theft of a magical artifact (and I won’t get too specific here in case you haven’t read book one) and the rest of the story is a sapphic murder mystery on a ship! We get to explore some new magic, there’s a foul mouthed parrot who keeps everyone on their toes, a whole lot of educational pornography, and an absolutely perfect love story. Freya Marske writes such moving and creative (you may recall the magical *literally* butt stuff from the first book) love scenes. They never feel formulaic, but rather varied and perfectly crafted for the characters she’s writing them for. For Maud, this is an education and exploration of sex and what it can mean, and for Violet, it’s her first real go at a real relationship and making herself truly vulnerable. Marske has written some of the most romantic lines I’ve ever read and I have more than I can count underlined in this book. 

I absolutely loved how much self discovery happened for Maud, Robin’s little sister. She is so brave in the light of so many unknowns and absolutely committed to her mission to help out her brother and Edwin. And I don’t even know where to begin with how much I fell for Hawthorn’s character. He is the surliest, most unhelpful man at the beginning of the book, and by the end he is all in to help with Maud’s mission. The rag tag team that develops between Maud, Violet, Hawthorn, and a few others felt like a family by the end and I cannot wait to see where that goes with the next book. 

I cannot recommend this series enough. A Restless Truth is out now and my eternal gratitude to tordotcom for sending me this beautiful copy to read and review! 

Before I Let Go – Kennedy Ryan

Publisher: Forever

Date of Publication: November 15th, 2022

Page Count: 400

From the Jacket:

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything.

It couldn’t save their marriage.

Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she’s is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. It’s hot. It’s illicit. It’s all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?

Rating:

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥

Before I Let Go, is out in the world today and I’m so excited for my fellow romance lovers to have a chance to get their hands on it! Second chance romance—especially involving married or previously married couples—has become my favorite trope, and Kennedy Ryan has created a masterpiece here. This is truly one of the very best second chance romance stories I’ve ever read. The two MCs divorce due to unprocessed grief from some very traumatic events that happened in their lives. I went in expecting some heavy topics and definitely recommend checking CWs for this one if you find those helpful. 

Yasmen and Josiah continue to co parent their children together and run their successful restaurant despite being divorced for two years. They have an undeniably strong connection and love for one another that hasn’t gone away even during their long separation. When Josiah begins to move on and date someone else at the restaurant they share, Yasmen starts to face the fact that she still has very real feelings for him and she’s not ready to let him go forever. I’m not sure I’ve ever read two characters with such intense chemistry. My smoke alarm went off several times while I was reading this one, and if you’ve ever read anything by Kennedy Ryan, you know she can write some seriously good steam.

I felt this book deeply and was rooting so hard for Yasmen and Josiah to be able to overcome their old wounds and find each other again. The scenes involving their children where especially poignant and I loved how hard the two of them work to stay connected and remain friendly co parents for the sake of their kids. The parts of the book where Yasmen has to see Josiah dating someone else, and vice versa, felt like gut punches each time, that soul deep pain that comes when you have to see the person you love most in the world falling for someone new. 

Before I Let Go, HURT. I cried a lot. But it was also so intensely moving and beautiful. Truly a love story that will remain with me forever. I was so fortunate to have an early copy from Forever on Netgalley and luckier still that my sweet friend Simone sent me a print copy so I could underline page upon page of my favorite and most memorable parts.