Kiss Me, Maybe
Gabriella Gamez
When a late bloomer goes viral for coming out, she decides to use her newfound fame to get her first kiss—with the help of a sexy bartender. Librarian Angela Gutierrez has never been kissed. But after posting a video about her late bloomer status and ace identity, she's finally ready to get some firsts out of the way. Using her new influencer status to come up with a scavenger hunt idea in which the winner earns her first kiss, Angela realizes she may need some help to pull off the event. Enter Krystal Ramirez, hot bartender and Angela’s unrequited crush of five years. Despite vowing that romantic love isn’t for her, Krystal seems awfully determined to help Angela pull off the scavenger hunt and find true love. There’s just one the connection between Angela and Krystal is getting stronger and stronger the more they hang out, until Angela isn’t sure she wants to go through with the scavenger hunt after all. But Krystal is convinced that she isn’t capable of love and before long, Angela realizes she's falling head over heels for a woman who may never love her back.
Publication Year: 2025
This book is not what I expected and I'm okay with that.
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0I received an ALC of this book from NetGalley & Hachette Audio. This is the second book in Gabriella Gamez's Librarians in Love series, and we get glimpses of Marcela and Theo from The Next Best Fling here. I enjoyed having the context of the first book, but don't think reading them in order is a deal breaker. Angela Gutierrez is a 27-year old library assistant who makes an accidental thirst trap and goes viral. She uses that as a jumping off point to explore her identity as an ace lesbian. She and the bartender she's been crushing on, Krystal, come up with a plan to create a scavenger hunt that will lead to Angela's first kiss. There is some great family stuff here, including the reality that not everyone in your life is going to accept who you are, and sometimes it's not worth the fight to "get them on your side." For me, the scavenger hunt and plot with a local artist got a little muddled, and the end was a little bit of a low with who's admitting they're in love with who and when. Overall I enjoyed this book, and Ruby Corazon's narration added to the enjoyment of the book for me.
0Thank you to Forever, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for giving me access to both the e-ARC and ALC in exchange for honest reviews. Honestly, I really enjoyed this book, and it's disappointing seeing that others don't feel the same way. I personally have struggled with similar insecurities and catastrophizing thoughts like Angela for longer than I realized, and also didn't realize until more recently that those things I was/am struggling with could mean I'm on the ace/aro spectrum. I am of course going to do more of my own personal research into the community, but this book has made me feel really seen, and understood. And honestly, I like that the characters are messy and imperfect. It just makes them more realistic human beings. The supporting characters are good at moving the story along, as well as being simultaneously supportive and calling the main characters out on their shit. The narration for the audiobook was amazing as well. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and genuinely recommend it.
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