WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU WRITE A WEBCOMIC ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP YOURE CURRENTLY IN WHEN THERES 200K ON THE LINE THAT COULD KEEP YOU FROM BEING HOMELESS okay. i loved this. it's cute, dramatically messy, sweet, and incredibly warm with all its snowy christmas vibes. while you were sleeping (in all its cheesy glory) is one of my favorite romcoms of all time, and alison cochrun nailed this sapphic retelling. her version retains the most important themes from the original (bone-deep loneliness and the idea of falling in love with an entire family, tropey holiday sweetness, conflicted romantic chemistry with supposed love interest's sibling) while adding new depth (ellie's anxiety and fear of failing, intergenerational pain, poverty and socioeconomic privilege). the film touches on parent issues and money stuff, but the book takes time to explore them much more deeply.

Speaking of Ellie, I found her to be really relatable. I wasn’t super fond of her personality, but when she would describe her fear of failure and her social anxiety, I completely related to everything she said. The anxiety scenes really captured how my anxiety presents itself, so it was really special to me to have the anxiety representation in this book. Additionally, after spending less than 1 day together, they don’t talk to each other for an entire year, yet I’m supposed to believe they’re still madly in love… 😐 I couldn’t even understand how complete strangers fell in love in like 6 hours, let alone how that love didn’t falter after 1 year. I can picture her face because it’s my face, except I still have the curly brown hair Linds calls “frizzy” and the pale skin that makes me look “washed out.” If my mother isn’t asking me for money, she’s probably criticizing my appearance. Overall, I wasn't overly in love with this one. I didn't really like any of the characters, maybe just Andrew's grandma, but that's it. I did enjoy the family Christmas traditions though. I don’t let myself think about the brief moment last Christmas when I thought I’d found someone to ease the ache, a person to call home.

don’t get me wrong, i hate that i didn’t like this because it’s about lesbians!!!! that’s literally me!!!! i’ll begin by listing the things i liked because they’re (sadly) few and far between. Her claims of providing for my basic needs are greatly exaggerated. When I was twelve, I’d asked my mother for money for new art supplies. Linds hadn’t taken it well. Thanks to the author, Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

But I’m always alone, have always been alone, and just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean there’s any reason for that to change. You can feel just as lost and aimless at Christmas as any other time of the year. Basically every “cute” (more like awkward) moment they had together was forced by the family (or the bad weather lol). None of it felt organic, which made it hard to enjoy. You might be wondering why would I stop reading a book when I got so far in, and it boils down to demisexuality being misrepresented in this story. I briefly consider ignoring the call, but Catholic guilt, solidified in infancy, wins out. “Hey, Linds—”Not to be a grinch but like… Respectfully: I just didn’t care about their family traditions: cookie making, snowball fights, decorating, family photos, Christmas songs…… god I was bored 😪 (no offense) In this witty and heartwarming romantic comedy—reminiscent of Red, White & Royal Blue and One to Watch—an awkward tech wunderkind on a reality dating show goes off-script when sparks fly with his producer.

Ellie’s relationship with her abusive mum was definitely interesting. It shows that even though someone is obviously manipulative and draining, it can still be hard to cut them out of your life. Beautifully tender and delightfully sexy, Kiss Her Once for Me is the holiday romance of my dreams. A cozy, cinnamon-scented hug of a book. -Ashley Herring Blake, author of Delilah Green Doesn't Care No one is more disappointed about this rating than me. My 1st ever ARC, of one of my most anticipated releases of 2022! And I ended up not really liking it… This book simply wasn’t for me.A struggling artist strikes up a marriage of convenience with her one-night stand’s brother in this holiday romance. Leave it to Portland, Oregon, to be simultaneously so delighted and so horrified by such a modest amount of snow. Honestly, I wished Ellie had ended up with Andrew. At least he was capable of recognising when he messed up.