History & Criticism
![Alison Cochrun - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_alison_cochrun.jpg)
Kiss Her Once for Me: A Novel
A Best New Holiday Romance by PopSugar, BuzzFeed, Refinery29, and more!
The author of the "swoon-worthy debut" (Harper's Bazaar) 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.
The author of the "swoon-worthy debut" (Harper's Bazaar) 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.
Editorial Reviews
"Cue snowbound high jinks, four-way romantic entanglements, a hilarious set of relatives and enough musical earworms to last you till January. That's right, this is the queer women's "While You Were Sleeping" you didn't know you needed this Christmas season."
-The New York Times
"Fans of Alison Cochrun's debut, The Charm Offensive, will love her new queer romance . . . . Read this sexy, insightful, and utterly charming book."
-Buzzfeed
"Cochrun's cozy second novel is chock full of holiday cheer, pop music, and queer happy endings… Ellie and Jack's love story is gentle, and readers will appreciate every grand gesture, whether it takes place on a snowy bridge, a ski lift, or even a dingy dive-bar bathroom. A heartwarming queer romance reminiscent of Wham!'s ‘Last Christmas.'" -Kirkus Reviews
"[T]his holiday-themed romance is sure to warm even the coldest reader's heart."-Library Journal
"A sparkling winter wonderland, quirky family traditions, and a messy ‘love trapezoid' make the yuletide gay in this earnest queer rom-com… it's delightful to watch this clever spin on the fake dating trope unfold. This is a winner." -Publishers Weekly
"Dizzyingly adorable and brimming with laugh-out loud humor, Kiss Her Once for Me is the new rom-com gold standard. Alison Cochrun writes with palpable compassion, tenderness, and heart that makes every page a memorable one. I swooned, squealed, and shrieked my way through this absolute masterpiece."-Mazey Eddings, author of Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake
"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
"Kiss Her Once for Me is a gift of a story. Capturing the festive charm and nostalgia of the season, the fresh-fallen-snow wonder of falling head over h...
-The New York Times
"Fans of Alison Cochrun's debut, The Charm Offensive, will love her new queer romance . . . . Read this sexy, insightful, and utterly charming book."
-Buzzfeed
"Cochrun's cozy second novel is chock full of holiday cheer, pop music, and queer happy endings… Ellie and Jack's love story is gentle, and readers will appreciate every grand gesture, whether it takes place on a snowy bridge, a ski lift, or even a dingy dive-bar bathroom. A heartwarming queer romance reminiscent of Wham!'s ‘Last Christmas.'" -Kirkus Reviews
"[T]his holiday-themed romance is sure to warm even the coldest reader's heart."-Library Journal
"A sparkling winter wonderland, quirky family traditions, and a messy ‘love trapezoid' make the yuletide gay in this earnest queer rom-com… it's delightful to watch this clever spin on the fake dating trope unfold. This is a winner." -Publishers Weekly
"Dizzyingly adorable and brimming with laugh-out loud humor, Kiss Her Once for Me is the new rom-com gold standard. Alison Cochrun writes with palpable compassion, tenderness, and heart that makes every page a memorable one. I swooned, squealed, and shrieked my way through this absolute masterpiece."-Mazey Eddings, author of Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake
"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
"Kiss Her Once for Me is a gift of a story. Capturing the festive charm and nostalgia of the season, the fresh-fallen-snow wonder of falling head over h...
Readers Top Reviews
Julie Brown
Unlike most fake relationship books, this one was less about the comedy and more about the emotional roller coaster of the characters. Beautifully written.
Bianca KooszJulie
This book was amazing. I didn’t expect it to be so good because I don’t really love Christmas but the characters are so well written, I related a lot to Elle, mentally I kind of am Elle and I didn’t expect to feel so seen in this book. This really is the sapphic holiday romance movie we deserved but never got. Except it a book and not a movie but if you to were thinking of re watching happiest season to get the gay Christmas vibes even tho you hated how it ended you should read this instead because this book is truly amazing.
BookishSelkieBian
Kiss Her Once for Me is one of my favorite novels of 2022. I was spellbound by Jack and Ellie as they navigate a complicated holiday season. One year ago, Ellie met Jack on a snow day. They spent the day together and haven’t seen each other since. This year, Ellie gets roped into a scheme to help the beautiful Andrew collect his inheritance as his fake fiancée. Upon arrival at the family cabin for the holidays, Ellie is stunned to realize Andrew’s sister Jaqueline is actually Jack. Shenanigans ensue as Ellie and Jack uncover what truly happened on the snow day last year… This is such a beautiful queer romance! I related so strongly to Ellie and loved the bi and demisexual rep. It felt extremely accurate and I loved how Ellie talked about her sexuality and how she feels attraction/love. Alison Cochrun was so artful in how she interspersed the flashbacks between then and now. I enjoyed how the story behind their first meeting slowly unspooled in tandem with their present day interactions. The romance between Jack and Ellie is searing hot, Cochrun nails the impact of every casual touch and stolen glance. Their reunion is aching and slowburn, filled with heat, and I couldn’t stop reading! Needless to say, I ship them and can’t wait to re-read Kiss Her Once for Me! I could see and appreciate the references to When You Were Sleeping, but Kiss Her Once for Me is an original and clever romance. I would recommend this to anyone, but especially to fans of Casey McQuiston (One Last Stop) and Written in the Stars (Alexandria Bellefleur).
Nicole PiersonBoo
While I enjoy Alison Cochrun's writing style, I went into this one with low expectations. The Charm Offensive didn't really work for me. There was almost too much neurodivergent representation in TCO; it made me anxious to read about anxiety on every page. Here, though, while the rep is included, it doesn't overpower the story. It made sense and flowed well. Kiss Her Once for Me had a lot of the things I love in a holiday book: it was just the right amount of holiday: snowball fights, cookie baking, and Christmas trees. Plus, it takes place in the PNW, has forced proximity, fake dating, and the cutest grandma characters that ever did exist. My favorite part of this book was the friendships the MC has with several of the side characters, as well as the fact that she empowers herself and grows as a person in tandem with the romance but not because of the romance if that makes sense. I think my biggest issue with the story was the love interest and the miscommunication between the two. I wasn't 100% sold on the romance, and while they had some really great moments, I didn't love them together. I didn't hate them; I didn't wish they weren't together, but I didn't care if they ended up together. If it weren't for the rest of the story that I adored so much, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this at all, but I really enjoyed the rest, like 5 stars enjoyed! I still think soooo many people would enjoy this. It really does have a ton going for it, and I think many people will love the actual romance more than I did. Trigger warnings for anxiety, terrible family members, and brief mentions of homophobia, racism, and biphobia. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book. All of the opinions above are my own.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter One Chapter One
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
There is almost an inch of snow on the ground, so naturally, the entire city is on the verge of collapse.
Since buses are delayed, I tighten the red, hand-knitted scarf around my neck and plow angrily down Belmont Street. Cars are Tetrised bumper to bumper from the arcade all the way to the dispensary because no one here knows how to drive in the snow. Schools have prematurely closed for the day, and children appear in every doorway and walkway, dancing joyfully, catching snowflakes on their tongues. Up ahead, I watch two kids attempt to make snowballs that are at least 90 percent dirt.
Leave it to Portland, Oregon, to be simultaneously so delighted and so horrified by such a modest amount of snow.
And, quite frankly: fuck the snow.
By most meteorological definitions, this doesn't even constitute snow. It's small and wet, falls too quickly, and halfway melts into the concrete as soon as it lands. Still, it's enough to delay the buses and completely derail my day.
I reach into the pocket of my puffy jacket and pull out my phone to check the time again.
Three minutes. I have three minutes and ten blocks to go, which means I'm going to be late for work. And if I'm late for work, I definitely won't get the promotion and pay raise I so desperately need. And I'll probably get fired. Again. And if I get fired again, I'll probably lose my apartment.
Two days ago, the neon-yellow flyer appeared in the slit of my front door, informing me of the raise in rent January first. Fourteen hundred dollars a month for four hundred square feet of subterranean hellscape in Southeast Portland.
If I lose my apartment, I will have to find housing in a city with a horrible housing crisis. And if I can't find a new place to live…
The anxiety extrapolates and catastrophizes all the way to its natural conclusion: if I'm late for work again, my trash heap of a life will finally be put in the compactor and crushed into a cube of steaming hot garbage once and for all.
Why does Portland snow always insist on ruining my life?
The image creeps in. The girl with fire in her eyes and snow in her hair. Dancing on a bridge at midnight. The sound of her laugh in my ear and her breath on my throat and her hands-
But no. There's no point in torturing myself with the memory of last Christmas.
I look down to check the time again just as my phone buzzes with an incoming call. The cracked screen on my iPhone 8 flashes with the name Linds along with a photo of a woman holding a two-gallon alcoholic beverage outside the Bellagio.
I briefly consider ignoring the call, but Catholic guilt, solidified in infancy, wins out. "Hey, Linds-"
"Did you Venmo me that money?" my mother starts as soon as the call connects. It's abundantly clear that no, I did not Venmo her the money, or else Lindsey Oliver would have no reason to call me.
"Not yet."
"Elena. Lovey. Baby girl." Linds adopts her best mom voice-the one she probably learned from watching Nick at Nite reruns while stoned through the better part of the late nineties. Lindsey Oliver insists everyone, including her only child, calls her Linds, while she exclusively calls me Elena despite the fact that I'm Ellie, that I've always been an Ellie, that Elena fits me like a too-tight pair of jeans.
"I really need that money, sweetheart. It's just two hundred dollars." I can perfectly picture my mother's pouting face on the other end of the line. Her dark brown hair, which she dyes a stark blond; the natural waves she straightens every morning; the pale skin she's eradicated through numerous tanning salon punch cards; the high cheekbones she highlights through contouring.
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.
"I promise, this will be the last time I ask," she insists.
"I'm sure it will be," I huff as I jog to catch the tail end of a "Walk" sign. Not for the first time in my life, I regret that my only means of physical exercise is the occasional kitchen dance party while I wait for my frozen burrito to heat up in the microwave. "I'm just a little strapped for cash at the moment with my...
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
There is almost an inch of snow on the ground, so naturally, the entire city is on the verge of collapse.
Since buses are delayed, I tighten the red, hand-knitted scarf around my neck and plow angrily down Belmont Street. Cars are Tetrised bumper to bumper from the arcade all the way to the dispensary because no one here knows how to drive in the snow. Schools have prematurely closed for the day, and children appear in every doorway and walkway, dancing joyfully, catching snowflakes on their tongues. Up ahead, I watch two kids attempt to make snowballs that are at least 90 percent dirt.
Leave it to Portland, Oregon, to be simultaneously so delighted and so horrified by such a modest amount of snow.
And, quite frankly: fuck the snow.
By most meteorological definitions, this doesn't even constitute snow. It's small and wet, falls too quickly, and halfway melts into the concrete as soon as it lands. Still, it's enough to delay the buses and completely derail my day.
I reach into the pocket of my puffy jacket and pull out my phone to check the time again.
Three minutes. I have three minutes and ten blocks to go, which means I'm going to be late for work. And if I'm late for work, I definitely won't get the promotion and pay raise I so desperately need. And I'll probably get fired. Again. And if I get fired again, I'll probably lose my apartment.
Two days ago, the neon-yellow flyer appeared in the slit of my front door, informing me of the raise in rent January first. Fourteen hundred dollars a month for four hundred square feet of subterranean hellscape in Southeast Portland.
If I lose my apartment, I will have to find housing in a city with a horrible housing crisis. And if I can't find a new place to live…
The anxiety extrapolates and catastrophizes all the way to its natural conclusion: if I'm late for work again, my trash heap of a life will finally be put in the compactor and crushed into a cube of steaming hot garbage once and for all.
Why does Portland snow always insist on ruining my life?
The image creeps in. The girl with fire in her eyes and snow in her hair. Dancing on a bridge at midnight. The sound of her laugh in my ear and her breath on my throat and her hands-
But no. There's no point in torturing myself with the memory of last Christmas.
I look down to check the time again just as my phone buzzes with an incoming call. The cracked screen on my iPhone 8 flashes with the name Linds along with a photo of a woman holding a two-gallon alcoholic beverage outside the Bellagio.
I briefly consider ignoring the call, but Catholic guilt, solidified in infancy, wins out. "Hey, Linds-"
"Did you Venmo me that money?" my mother starts as soon as the call connects. It's abundantly clear that no, I did not Venmo her the money, or else Lindsey Oliver would have no reason to call me.
"Not yet."
"Elena. Lovey. Baby girl." Linds adopts her best mom voice-the one she probably learned from watching Nick at Nite reruns while stoned through the better part of the late nineties. Lindsey Oliver insists everyone, including her only child, calls her Linds, while she exclusively calls me Elena despite the fact that I'm Ellie, that I've always been an Ellie, that Elena fits me like a too-tight pair of jeans.
"I really need that money, sweetheart. It's just two hundred dollars." I can perfectly picture my mother's pouting face on the other end of the line. Her dark brown hair, which she dyes a stark blond; the natural waves she straightens every morning; the pale skin she's eradicated through numerous tanning salon punch cards; the high cheekbones she highlights through contouring.
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.
"I promise, this will be the last time I ask," she insists.
"I'm sure it will be," I huff as I jog to catch the tail end of a "Walk" sign. Not for the first time in my life, I regret that my only means of physical exercise is the occasional kitchen dance party while I wait for my frozen burrito to heat up in the microwave. "I'm just a little strapped for cash at the moment with my...
