Books are food for my soul! Pull up a beach chair and stick your toes in the sand as the Jersey surf rolls in and out, now open your book and let your imagination take you away.

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun (Book Review)

 





Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 1, 2022
Format: Hardcover (BOTM) - 345 pages
               Paperback - 345 pages
               Audiobook - 10 Hours 38 Minutes
               Kindle - 2113 KB 
               Nook - 3 MB
ISBN (HC/PB): 978-1982191139
ASIN (Audiobook): B09XRG94Q6
ASIN (Kindle): B09RX41673
BNID: 978-1982191146
Genre: LGBTQ Holiday Romantic Comedy



Buy The Book:



Disclaimer: I purchased a copy of the book from my monthly book club subscription from Book Of The Month (BOTM) and Authentic Books. 



Book Description:

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.

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.




Book Excerpt: https://a.co/89d7jRF




My Book Review:

In Kiss Her Once For Me, author Alison Cochrun weaves an entertaining LGBTQ holiday romantic comedy tale that follows the trials and tribulations of Ellie Oliver, when she finds herself in a fake relationship with a man while being in love with his sister!

Author Alison Cochrun weaves a sassy tale full of humor and drama that easily draws the reader into Ellie's story as a down-and-out animator who finds herself in a crazy predicament when she agrees to be in a fake relationship with Andrew Kim-Prescott, a wealthy real estate investor, who needs to be married in order to receive his grandfather's inheritance. While at Andrew's family cabin for the Christmas holiday, Ellie discovers that a one-night stand she had last Christmas Eve with a woman is Andrew's sister Jack (Jacqueline)! Follow along as Ellie gets caught up in a hot mess of a situation when the week at the cabin turns into a love trapezoid between Ellie, Andrew, Jack and Jack's BFF Dylan. What should Ellie do: go through with the fake relationship in order to get ten precent of Andrew's inheritance, or tell the truth and profess her love for Jack? 

In Kiss Her Once For Me, the focus is on how Ellie deals with the challenges in her life in addition to the complication of being in a flux over her feelings for Jack while in a fake relationship with Andrew. This is a slow building story that meanders along alternating between the present day with Ellie's webcomic series that she creates about what happened with Jack last Christmas Eve. There is a lot of drama, angst, and dysfunction that follows the characters while at the family cabin, sometimes it drags on a bit too much, but the redeeming quality is the hysterical antics of Andrew and Jack's grammies Meemaw (Barbara) and Lovey (Laverne), who make the story a bit lighter and gave me the giggles. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I loved the holiday theme that was created at the cabin, who doesn't love baking Christmas cookies, snowball fights, ugly Christmas sweaters, and decorating the Christmas tree. 

Kiss Her Once For Me is the second LGBTQ holiday romantic comedy that I read during the holiday season, and while it is not a usual genre that I read, I did enjoy the story, but I wasn't used to the queer trope or the explicit sex scenes that are usually not included in a generic rom-com story. That being said, I couldn't help but follow along as Ellie, Andrew, Jack, and Dylan found a second chance at romance through an angsty and emotional roller coaster ride of a Christmas holiday. 



RATING: 4 STARS 





About The Author




Alison Cochrun is a high school English teacher living outside Portland, Oregon. When she's not reading and writing queer love stories, you can find her torturing teenagers with Shakespeare, crafting perfect travel itineraries, hate-watching reality dating shows, and searching for the best happy hour nachos. You can find her on Instagram or at her website www.alisoncochrun.com.












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