Six Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did)

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Fortunately, Tate and Penny are blessed with two absolutely amazing and kind-hearted friends, Remi and Meghan, who step in to help without even being asked.

This is one of the best written books--it's strong and gorgeous with tension and heartbreak searing across every page. YMMV on this one, but for me, the attempt to have it read like a fanfic, with typical fanfic style writing (lots of asides in brackets, lots of short sentences, each afforded a whole new line) got frustrating after a bit. Unlike anything I’ve read before… immediate, gripping, incredibly tense, heart-breaking, heart-warming and FUN! I definitely recommend checking this one out if you’re looking for a sapphic YA romance that also deals with family trauma. sharpe doesn't shy away from engaging with difficult themes and showing them in all their complexity.

Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe is a beautiful young adult novel that follows the lives of Penny and Tate, two girls who have always clashed but whose paths constantly cross because of their mothers' epic friendship. But also warmth in my chest afterward, for those two girls who cared for each other, even though they didn’t realize it themselves and almost kissed so many times. Lesbian not-quite-enemies to lovers romance with plenty of pining, angst and complicated mother-daughter relationships. Six moments lead us to two girls, one kiss, and three little words that were maybe always true in this gorgeous novel perfect for fans of Nina LaCour and Jenny Han. Prepare yourself for a very emotional ride with this book that will make the happy ending feel even better.

But when an almost-kiss goes from almost to I am now wearing your lip gloss, Penny and Tate have no choice but to finally face the music … right? I do not love that dynamic, I find it incredibly horrible to experience, but instead of ruining the book (which has definitely happened to me before) I can respect it because Sharpe did such a great job with. They’re not really friends and they don’t hate each other either, but they definitely have some type of feelings for the each other.Times We Almost Kissed is rife with deep messages on family dynamics, but at its core, it is an intensely sweet and heartwarming love story.

This was superb and now I'm going to go away and try and process all of the mixed emotions this book has left me feeling. Although I loved the slow burn romance, towards the end I did start to feel a little frustrated with the wait, and I don't exactly know why Yreka was something they Did Not Mention. instead, there are genuine conversations, movements towards growth, and acceptance and acknowledgement of hurts caused from all parties. Ones that aren't mentioned: underage drinking, reference to cheating (past, happened to an MC but it wasn't too heavy - an ex cheats on her).She completely neglected her child during the worst time in her life, and to me that's unforgivable.

I read a lot of 5 times fanfics and decided I should turn the structure into a very slow burn, angsty YA Romance novel about two girls almost kissing and then being super in denial about it every time it happens while everyone else in their lives is like “Those two. Try being seventeen, grieving for the loss of your dad and the distance that put between your mom and you, processing almost kissing someone several times, all while having to live in the same house, across the hall, from the girl you’re obsessed with. Since their moms are best friends, Tate has always been in Penny’s life but it’s only rather recently that Penny’s feelings for the other girl seem to have shifted from driving her crazy to wanting to kiss her. An incident forces them to have to live together and they agree to get along, at least in front of their mothers.If you can handle a heartbreaking and emotional but also really lovely story, with incredibly connections and complex dynamics, you need to pick this up. First of all, the audiobook is narrated by the author and my previous experiences of authors narrating their own books weren’t great but this one was excellent. Penny’s mother, Lottie, is a parent who has shut down, so wrapped in her own grief that she can’t even see her child’s pain. She enjoys running, reading, snarking on YouTube personalities, and working on her future novel when she's not writing professionally. At 17, Tate and Penny task themselves with caring for their mothers, taking care of all the arrangements for the surgery, and managing the finances of their homes by taking on extra work shifts and even selling their few prized possessions.