6 Times We Almost Kissed Blog Tour

Title: 6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did)
Author: Tess Sharpe (she/her)
Genre/s and Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult, LGBTQ+, Queer, Fiction, Mental Health
Goodreads synopsis:

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.
 
Penny and Tate have always clashed. Unfortunately, their mothers are lifelong best friends, so the girls’ bickering has carried them through playdates, tragedy, and more than one rom-com marathon with the Moms. When Penny’s mother decides to become a living donor to Tate’s mom, ending her wait for a liver transplant, things go from clashing to cataclysmic. Because in order to help their families recover physically, emotionally, and financially, the Moms combine their households the summer before senior year.
 
So Penny and Tate make a pact: They’ll play nice. Be the drama-free daughters their mothers need through this scary and hopeful time. There’s only one little hitch in their plan: Penny and Tate keep almost kissing.
 
It’s just this confusing thing that keeps happening. You know, from time to time. For basically their entire teenaged existence.
 
They’ve never talked about it. They’ve always ignored it in the aftermath. But now they’re living across the hall from each other. And some things—like their kisses—can’t be almosts forever. 

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Book Shop | Blackwell’s

Full Review

Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours for including me in the tour for this book and sending me a physical ARC from The Novl in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.

6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) is a YA contemporary. The cover is so fun, but it has hidden depths and a lot of emotional trauma. This book follows Penny and Tate in a dual POV along with text exchanges between characters. Penny and Tate have been in each other’s orbit forever, but when Penny’s mom donates part of her liver to Tate’s mother, the two girls become roommates. The girls come up with a truce, maybe this will keep them from almost kissing again.

This book made me cry and that’s not something that happens commonly. I finished last night and wow it had ALL the emotions. The way grief, trauma and PTSD were portrayed in this book has the reader in the emotional trenches. We’re there with Penny as she claws her way through her grief. We see Tate as she navigates a complicated parent situation and trying to be there for Penny. The way these two were there for each other made me ache. Girls caring for girls is the energy I want to see in 2023.

I wouldn’t call this a lighthearted novel because a lot of it is heavy, but it’s done in a way that we can tell Sharpe cares deeply for these characters and what they’ve gone through. 6 Times is a book I won’t forget in a long time. 6 Times also has idiots to lovers energy and I want more of this for sapphic books.

Rep: white bisexual cis female MC with anxiety, PTSD, and intrusive thoughts, white bisexual cis female MC, white cishet side character with AF1 liver disease, various white cishet side characters.

CWs: Death, death of parent (from drowning/rafting accident), grief, emotional abuse, mental illness (anxiety, PTSD), intrusive thoughts, medical content, chronic illness, toxic relationship (familial, MC to SC). Moderate: Medical trauma, sexual harassment, past sexual assault mention, cancer, injury/injury detail, self harm, underage alcohol consumption. Minor: Bullying, infidelity, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt.

Check out the rest of the tour schedule and posts here!

About the Author:

Born in a mountain cabin to a punk-rocker mother, Tess Sharpe grew up in rural northern California. She lives deep in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a growing colony of formerly feral cats. She is the author of Barbed Wire Heart, the critically acclaimed YA novel Far From You and the upcoming Jurassic World prequel, The Evolution of Claire.

She is also the co-editor of Toil & Trouble, a feminist anthology about witches. Her short fiction has been featured in All Out, an anthology edited by Saundra Mitchell.

Tess is represented by Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Literary Management. Please send all rights inquiries and blurb requests to Jim.

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