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Kiss Her Once for Me

A Novel

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Kiss Her Once for Me

By: Alison Cochrun
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
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About this listen

 Winner of Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ+ Romance
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. Literature & Fiction Romance Romantic Comedy Comedy Christmas Winter Fake Relationship

Critic Reviews

"Naudus leans into the novel’s over-the-top silliness, voicing Ellie with a mixture of pent-up hurt and bubbly optimism. Naudus makes the banter between Ellie and Jack sparkle, gives both of Jack’s grandmas unforgettable no-nonsense voices, and delivers the emotional scenes with just enough feeling to make them seem real."
All stars
Most relevant
So many romance novels follow a trope and some fluff and a little bit of turmoil but this story is different. Its depth of story and character is a strong feature in a well told tale. You fall for the characters that are dynamic and deep while recognising your own flaws within them. It has good doses of humour that leave you in stitches at times and it shows through family dysfunction there is connection and love. The performance was especially strong the character voices on point well done best book I’ve read in 2023

Fell in love with this story

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M8, this narrator needs to not go from whispering to shouting. I made me feel like I was experiencing whiplash.

A Crumb of Consistency

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Decided to give Kiss Her Once for Me as second chance for Pride month this year and I guess I enjoyed it half a loaf of bread more than I did the first time. It might be because I could kind of just tune out whenever Andrew spoke, or perhaps it was just that I knew when to expect the tension and how soon it would dissipate.

The story still misses the mark for me in a big way, but on second read I liked Elle more than I did the first time. The winners for me though remain Jack, Meemaw, and Lovey.

I don’t see myself reading this again any time soon, but maybe I’ll give it a third go in the distant future, who knows!

Three stars

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Loved the messy relationship plot. Felt that the narrator really got across jacks persona well. Overall really enjoyed it.

Enjoyed the story, I would recommend

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solace in a character who overthinks everything, and the patience of healing. how important chosen family is.

thoughtful, introspective, connection

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.